Amy Lee is pushing back on one of the labels that has followed Evanescence for years. In a new Metal Hammer interview published in Louder on June 5, 2026, the frontwoman said she has never liked being called “goth.” Looking back at the release of “Bring Me To Life” and the way the band was categorized in the early 2000s, Lee said, “The word goth is stupid. I hate that word.”
Lee said that when people started tagging Evanescence as goth, she saw herself more as an alt-rock kid in ripped jeans than as part of a scene label. She was a little softer about the “nu metal” tag, saying labels are just labels and that the band knows who they are. Her point was less about genre snobbery and more about refusing to be boxed in by a description she never felt fit.
The interview also tied directly to the release of Sanctuary, Evanescence’s sixth studio album, which arrived on June 5, 2026. The record is described as a hopeful, 12-track set that nods to the production of Fallen and the string-rich sweep of The Open Door while still pushing the band forward.
The bigger takeaway is that Lee seems less interested in old genre labels than in the evolution of Evanescence itself. Even while acknowledging the early-2000s revival around that era, she is clearly more focused on what the band is making now and how it connects to where they started.
