Music genre that blends heavy metal with classical music
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Symphonic metal
Other names
Opera metal
operatic metal
Stylistic origins
Heavy metal
classical
neoclassical metal
power metal
gothic metal
Cultural origins
Early 1990s, Finland, Scandinavia and the Netherlands
Fusion genres
Symphonic black metal
symphonic death metal
symphonic gothic metal
symphonic power metal
Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitars of metal with different elements of orchestral classical music, such as symphonic instruments, choirs and sometimes a full orchestra, or just keyboard orchestration.
Symphonic metal bands can feature classically trained vocalists, in which case they can be attributed nicknames such as opera metal or operatic metal. Perhaps the most pioneering and prominent examples of symphonic metal bands are Swedish band Therion, Finnish band Nightwish, German band Xandria, Italian band Rhapsody of Fire, American bands Lorna Shore and Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Dutch bands Epica and Within Temptation. Those bands place a large focus on elements prevalent in film scores in addition to the more basic classical components utilized more widely in the genre. Many people who participate in this genre of metal music have a degree in musical thought or have been taught how to sing in a classical style.
Musical characteristics
Nightwish is one of the prime acts adopting the symphonic metal style. The use of keyboards through traditional piano and strings and the soprano vocals of Tarja Turunen, until her departure from the band in 2005, were distinct parts of their original sound.[1][2]
The metal subgenres most typically featuring a subset of symphonic bands are gothic metal, power metal, black metal, death metal and classic heavy metal. As with many other metal bands, those adopting a symphonic style may feature influences from several metal subgenres.
"Heavy Is The Crown (instrumental)"
A piece of symphonic metal music which uses both live instrument performances and music workstation orchestration, performed by L-Train & the Royal Canterlot Symphonic Metal Orchestra.
The Time Has Come, by Capricia
A symphonic/progressive metal song by the band Capricia, who have since turned to video game development. This song is part of the album Of Bird and Cage, which is a concept album written to accompany the video game of the same name that the band deems an interactive album.
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Music workstation keyboards and orchestras are often a key feature of the style, distinguishing symphonic from non-symphonic bands within the same metal subgenre. Other instruments, including guitars, bass and drums, may at times play relatively simple parts in contrast to the complex and nuanced keyboard and/or orchestral parts. Bands that do not use live orchestral instrumentation on their recordings or when playing live typically utilize factory presets on workstation keyboards (i. e., strings, choirs, pianos, pipe organs, etc.) to conjure up a "pseudo-orchestral" sound, where parts are played idiomatically according to keyboard technique. This is particularly characteristic of lesser-known bands on tighter budgets. Some symphonic metal bands abstain from using keyboards entirely, preferring to use orchestral backing tracks pre-recorded by a live symphony orchestra and/or choir during an album session, or recorded using virtual software instruments in a sequencer. This is particularly characteristic of bands that feature deeper and more complex arrangements which could be more difficult for one or two keyboardists to reproduce faithfully in a live performance.
It is more difficult to generalize about the role of the classic metal instruments (guitars, bass and drums), as they vary depending on the metal subgenre to which the symphonic band mostly associates. With varying frequency, symphonic bands may employ these instruments (as well as the lead vocals) to play more simple, catchy melodies than non-symphonic bands, which arguably make the symphonic metal style one of the most accessible in metal.
Songs are often highly atmospheric, though more upbeat than those of many non-symphonic metal bands; songs with morbid themes routinely feature prominent major-key fanfares. Particularly central to creating mood and atmosphere is the choice of keyboard timbre.
Lyrics cover a broad range of topics. As with two of its often overlapping elements, power metal and opera (including symphonic progressive rock), fantasy and mythological themes are common. Concept albums styled after operas or epic poems are not uncommon.
Epica at Wacken Open Air 2018
Abyss of Time - Countdown to Singularity, by Epica
The contrast between Simone Simons' operatic vocals and Mark Jansen's death grunts is a feature of Epica's music, as demonstrated over symphonic power metal in this sample of the song "Abyss of Time - Countdown to Singularity" from their album Ωmega (2021).
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Bands in this genre may often feature a female lead vocalist, usually a soprano. Male vocalists (baritone or bass-baritone), are also common in gothic metal. Growling, death-metal-style vocals are not unknown but tend to be used less frequently than in other metal subgenres (a notable exception being Mark Jansen in Epica). Backing vocals, often consisting of a choral ensemble or full choir, may be employed.
It is common for bands, particularly female-fronted bands, to feature operatic lead vocals. Such bands may be referred to as operatic symphonic metal[3] and include the likes of Epica, Nightwish (Tarja Turunen, then Floor Jansen), Haggard,[3] Therion, Operatika, Dremora, Dol Ammad, Visions of Atlantis, Aesma Daeva, and Almora, among countless others. The operatic style is not tied exclusively to symphonic metal, but may appear in avant-garde metal, progressive metal and gothic metal. Many bands featuring operatic female vocalists also have a male vocalist who uses harsh vocals for contrast, in a vocal style often referred to as "beauty and the beast".[4]
Origins and evolution
Among the first rock bands to use orchestral elements were Deep Purple, with Concerto for Group and Orchestra, a three-movement epic performed by the band at the Royal Albert Hall in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Moody Blues, with Days of Future Passed, and the Nice, with Five Bridges. Black Sabbath followed suit with "Spiral Architect" and "Supertzar". Other bands began to experiment with heavier songs with arrangements, such as "Ma Ma Ma Belle" by Electric Light Orchestra. Symphonic metal can be traced to some early death metal and gothic metal bands who made use of symphonic elements in their music, notably Swiss extreme metal pioneers Celtic Frost, using French horn on their 1985 release To Mega Therion (which inspired the naming of symphonic metal pioneers Therion) and more prominent symphonic orchestra on their 1987 album Into the Pandemonium. NWOBHM band Golgotha's Orchestral Stab (1988) – later remixed as Unmaker of Worlds (1990) – also combined metal and heavily orchestrated sections.
An early prototypical symphonic metal song was "Dies Irae" by American Christian thrash metal group Believer.[5] Appearing on their 1990 album Sanity Obscure, it foreshadowed the operatic approach used by the bands Therion and Nightwish.[6] According to Jeff Wagner in his book Mean Deviation, the song was a creative watershed in metal, and except for Mekong Delta, no other extreme metal band at the time had merged the genre with classical music so seamlessly.[6] The gothic metal band Saviour Machine, which formed in 1989 and released its first studio album in 1993, has also been referred to as symphonic metal.[7][8]
The band Therion were influential in forming the genre through their use of a live orchestra and classical compositional techniques; gradually these elements became a more important part of Therion's music than their death metal roots. Another key early influence was Finnish progressive metal band Waltari's album Yeah! Yeah! Die! Die! Death Metal Symphony in Deep C. In mid-1996 Rage released Lingua Mortis, the band's first collaboration with the Prague Symphony Orchestra.
Nightwish, Rhapsody of Fire and Within Temptation all released their first album in 1997. Within Temptation's sound was usually defined as gothic metal, being overall simpler than Nightwish's power metal, but both bands shared two frequent symphonic metal elements: powerful female lead vocals from Tarja Turunen and Sharon den Adel respectively, and the heavy use of classically influenced keyboard playing. Haggard, which started as a progressive death metal band, had released some demos and EPs in their early years in a simple death metal style, but in 1997 went a step forward. They changed their style to a mix of classical music with real classical and medieval instruments such as violin, viola, cello, flute, oboe, clarinet, crumhorn, keyboards and death metal, releasing their first symphonic metal studio album.
Many new symphonic bands appeared or came to wide attention in the early to mid 2000s, including Rain Fell Within, After Forever, Epica, Delain, Leaves' Eyes, Xandria, and Edenbridge, all featuring female vocals and the characteristic keyboards. Power metal, with its relatively upbeat fantasy themes and stylized keyboard sounds, tended to be an important influence on these groups.
The term "symphonic metal" has sometimes been applied to individual songs or albums by bands that belong primarily to the basic, non-symphonic style of their subgenre. However, it is worth noting that the term is sometimes used to describe stylistic elements increasingly present in a growing number of metal music subgenres.
The symphonic style in metal subgenres
The term "symphonic metal" denotes any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements; "symphonic metal" then is not so much a subgenre but rather a cross-generic designation. A few bands simply refer to themselves as "symphonic metal", particularly Aesma Daeva, and the term is applied by some to generically ambiguous metal bands like Epica and post-2002 Nightwish. Following heavy metal's tradition of classifying its subgenres based on the differences among the musical structures in the electric, "metal" part of bands' sound, the label "symphonic" is usually prefixed to the subgenre to which a band mostly belongs. No "symphonic metal" band being simply symphonic, a subgenre definition could be attributable to any bands simply defining themselves as symphonic metal. Symphonic heavy metal and symphonic gothic metal bands are the main objects of such neglect of classification, originating the misperception of "symphonic metal" as a coherent and separated metal subgenre excluding symphonic black, death, and power metal bands. Symphonic elements are often implemented in songs by bands of other subgenres.
Symphonic black metal
Symphonic black metal has similar components as melodic black metal, but uses keyboarding or instruments normally found in symphonic or classical music. It can also include black metal bands that make heavy usage of atmospheric keyboarding in the music, akin to symphonic metal or gothic metal. The symphonic aspects of this genre are normally integral parts of a band, and as such are commonly used throughout the whole duration of a song. The prototypical symphonic black metal bands are Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, Emperor and Carach Angren.
Symphonic power metal refers to power metal bands that make extensive usage of keyboards, or instruments normally found in classical music, similar to symphonic metal. These additional elements are often used as key elements of the music when compared to regular power metal, contributing not only an extra layer to the music, but a greater variety of sound. Bands in this genre often feature clean vocals, with some bands adding relatively small quantities of screams or growls.
The first prototypical symphonic power metal song was "Art of Life", a twenty-nine-minute song performed by Japanese heavy metal band X Japan in 1993. A defining role for the style's development was played by Italian band Rhapsody of Fire since their groundbreaking 1997 debut, Legendary Tales, first with a baroque approach influenced by Vivaldi and Paganini, and subsequently with a growing film-score-oriented turn employing full orchestras and choirs. The influence of symphonic and operatic music are equally audible in cognate bands Luca Turilli's Rhapsody and Turilli / Lione Rhapsody. Rhapsody's contributions to symphonic metal are best exemplified by short songs like "Emerald Sword", "Dawn of Victory" and "Lamento Eroico", and long suites such as "Gargoyles, Angels of Darkness", "The Mystic Prophecy of the Demonknight" and "Erian's Mystical Rhymes". Finnish band Nightwish, who debuted the same year, also performed symphonic power metal, their style being well exemplified by songs like "Wishmaster" from the album Wishmaster and the rest of their discography until the year 2000. Since the album Century Child, they gradually decreased their power metal influences, with songs like "Ghost Love Score" from the album Once, "The Poet and the Pendulum" from the album Dark Passion Play and "The Greatest Show on Earth" from the album Endless Forms Most Beautiful as the best examples of their new course making a more extensive use of orchestral elements.
German band Blind Guardian also introduced some symphonic elements in the album Nightfall in Middle-Earth, although it wasn't until 2002 with A Night at the Opera when they established their symphonic power metal style, mainly with the song "And Then There Was Silence". They gradually composed more and more symphonic songs such as "Sacred Worlds" and "Wheel of Time", both featured on the album At the Edge of Time, and "The Ninth Wave", "At the Edge of Time", "The Throne" and "Grand Parade" from their latest album, Beyond the Red Mirror. They also made orchestral versions of previously released songs like "The Lord of the Rings" and "Theatre of Pain", both included on the compilation album The Forgotten Tales. Blind Guardian went deeper into symphonic music with the album Legacy of the Dark Lands, a fully orchestral album composed by singer Hansi Kürsch and guitarist André Olbrich that kept the band's spirit but was credited to the Blind Guardian Twilight Orchestra, as Hansi was the only member of the band to perform on the album.
Several of the most widely known symphonic power metal bands
Saviour Machine, which formed in 1989, has been referred to as symphonic gothic metal.[9][10] One of the first gothic metal bands to release a full album featuring "beauty and the beast" vocals, where death metal vocals are contrasted with clean female vocals, was the Norwegian Theatre of Tragedy in 1995. From then on after the departure of lead singer Liv Kristine in 2003, she and her future husband, Alexander Krull, formed the symphonic metal band Leaves' Eyes. The band is one of the pioneers of the "beauty and the beast" vocal style. The contrasting styles of vocals are also sometimes performed by only one vocalist, an example of this being Ambre Vourvahis of Xandria, combining and layering her clean (and occasionally operatic) vocals with her deep gutturals on the band's 2023 album The Wonders Still Awaiting. Other bands, such as the Dutch Within Temptation in 1996,[11] expanded on this approach. A debut album, Enter, was unveiled in the following year, followed shortly by an EP, The Dance.[12] Both releases made use of the beauty-and-beast approach delivered by vocalists Sharon den Adel and Robert Westerholt. Their second full-length, Mother Earth, was released in 2000 and dispensed entirely with the death metal vocals, instead "relying solely on den Adel's majestic vocal ability", apart from one B-side track that did not make the final album release.[12] The album was a commercial success, with their lead single, "Ice Queen", topping the charts in Belgium and their native Netherlands.[13] Their third album, The Silent Force, arrived in 2004 as an "ambitious project featuring a full orchestra and 80-voice choir accompanying the band".[14] The result was another commercial success across Europe[14] and introduced "the world of heavy guitars and female vocals" to "a mainstream audience".
Within Temptation's brand of gothic metal combines "the guitar-driven force of hard rock with the sweep and grandeur of symphonic music".[14] The critic Chad Bowar of About.com describes their style as "the optimum balance" between "the melody and hooks of mainstream rock, the depth and complexity of classical music and the dark edge of gothic metal".[15] The commercial success of Within Temptation has since resulted in the emergence of a large number of other female-fronted gothic metal bands, particularly in the Netherlands. A typical example of their most symphonic sound can be heard in the songs "Jillian (I'd give my Heart)" and "Our Solemn Hour".
Another Dutch band in the symphonic gothic metal strain is After Forever. Their debut album, Prison of Desire in 2000, was "a courageous, albeit flawed first study into an admittedly daunting undertaking: to wed heavy metal with progressive rock arrangements and classical music orchestration - then top it all off with equal parts gruesome cookie-monster vocals and a fully qualified opera singer".[16] Founding member, guitarist and vocalist Mark Jansen departed After Forever a few months after the release of their second album, Decipher.[17] Jansen would go on to form Epica, another Dutch band that performs a blend of gothic and symphonic metal. Their debut album, The Phantom Agony, emerged in 2003 with music that combines Jansen's death grunts with the "angelic tones of a classically trained soprano, Simone Simons, over a lush foundation of symphonic power metal".[18] The music of Epica has been described as combination of "a dark, haunting gothic atmosphere with bombastic and symphonic music".[19] Like Within Temptation and After Forever, Epica has made use of an orchestra. Their 2007 album The Divine Conspiracy was a chart success in their home country.[20]
This blend of symphonic and gothic metal has also been arrived at from the opposite direction. The band Nightwish from Finland began as a symphonic power metal act[21] and introduced gothic elements on their 2004 album Once,[22] particularly on the single "Nemo".[23] They continued to mix their style of "bombastic, symphonic and cinematic" metal with a gothic atmosphere on their next album, Dark Passion Play, in 2007.[24] The Swedish group Therion also introduced gothic elements to their brand of symphonic metal on their 2007 album Gothic Kabbalah.[25]
^Bowar, Chad. "Highest Hopes review". About.com. Archived from the original on 9 December 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
^"Nightwish – Dark Passion Play Review". Heavymetal.about.com. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
^ abThe Manitoban (PDF-file, page 25): "Opera Metal for the Masses" stored at webcitation.org
^"Albert's Beginner's Guide to Symphonic Metal | Symphonic Metal". symphonicmetal.mit.edu.
^Treppel, Jeff (9 November 2012). "The Lazarus Pit: Believer's Sanity Obscure". Decibel. Alex Mulcahy. Archived from the original on 19 January 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
^ abJeff Wagner, Steven Wilson (2010). Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal. Bazillion Points Books. pp. 154–157. ISBN 978-0-9796163-3-4. Archived from the original on 13 July 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
^Magliano, Fabio (1 December 2020). "Eric Clayton (Saviour Machine) – I miei 10 album fondamentali". Metal Hammer Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 7 November 2023.
^Ariatti, Alessandro. "Saviour Machine - Saviour Machine I". Metal Hammer Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 7 November 2023.
^Magliano, Fabio (1 December 2020). "Eric Clayton (Saviour Machine) – I miei 10 album fondamentali". Metal Hammer Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 7 November 2023.
^Ariatti, Alessandro. "Saviour Machine - Saviour Machine I". Metal Hammer Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 7 November 2023.
^Shyu, Jeffrey. "Interview with Jeroen van Veen of Within Temptation". Ssmt-reviews.com. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
^ abSharpe-Young, Garry. "Within Temptation". MusicMight. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
^Taylor, Robert. "Mother Earth review". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 17 April 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
^ abcDeming, Mark. "AMG Within Temptation". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
^Bowar, Chad. "The Heart of Everything review". About.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
^Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Prison of Desire review". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 13 July 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
^Sharpe-Young, Garry. "After Forever". MusicMight. Archived from the original on 28 May 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
^Rivadavia, Eduardo. "The Phantom Agony Review". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 13 July 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
^Bowar, Chad. "The Divine Conspiracy review". About.com. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
^"Epica: 'The Divine Conspiracy' Enters Dutch Chart At No. 9". Blabbermouth.net. 14 September 2007. Archived from the original on 2 May 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
^Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Century Child review". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
^Grant, Sam. "Once review". Soniccathedral.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
^Fulton, Katherine. "End of an Era review". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 13 July 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
^Bowar, Chad. "Dark Passion Play Review". About.com. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
^Bowar, Chad. "Gothic Kabbalah review". About.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
^"10 of the best metal bands from Greece". Metal Hammer. 27 September 2016. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
^Distefano, Alex (5 December 2016). "Children of Bodom Prepare For a Night of Shredding at Observatory". OC Weekly. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
^"MAYAN GUITARIST MARK JANSEN NAMES HIS TOP 3 SYMPHONIC DEATH METAL ALBUM IN NEW DHYANA ALBUM TRAILER". Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
^"Album Review: FLESHGOD APOCALYPSEKing - Metal Injection". Metal Injection. 5 February 2016. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
^"Vote for the Best Metal Song - 6th Annual Loudwire Music Awards". Loudwire. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
^Review: Eternal Tears Of Sorrow - Children of the Dark Waters
^"The 10 Essential Symphonic Metal Albums". Metal Hammer. 2 November 2016. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
^Marcel (13 March 2015). "Make Them Suffer – Mozart Trifft Deathcore" (in German). Impericon. Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
^"MAKE THEM SUFFER's New Song "Ether" Is Pretty Damn Catchy - Metal Injection". Metal Injection. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
^True, Chris. "Winds of Plague - Biography & History : AllMusic". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
^Welsh, Connor. "REVIEW: SHADOW OF INTENT – MELANCHOLY [2019]". New Transcendence. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
^Morin, Max (12 October 2022). "Album Review: Lorna Shore Pain Remains". Metal Injection. Archived from the original on 14 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
^Heaney, Gregory. "Betraying the Martyrs - Biography & History : AllMusic". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
External links
Media related to Symphonic metal at Wikimedia Commons
