Good lord, I think it's the first sign of the apocolypse that I stumbled on a great goth band before you (fwiw, I figured you already knew about them) - I LOVE Within Temptation. I think my favorite piece so far is Stand My Ground (same album - yes, I still call them that :>) - I've really gotten into The Heart of Everything (album).

I also like Nightwish - the full orchestral thing is impressive - Particularly Dark Passion Play (and on that album, esp, The Poet & The Pendulum).

Both are especially wonderful for inspiring writing :>

I also found (for bombast) Cruxshadows (Sympathy for Tomorrow), Machine in the Garden (esp. Corpus Christi) and Deine Lakaien (esp, Don't Wake Me Up)