Symphonic metal

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Symphonic metal

Development phase: Mid 1990s
Stylistic precursors
Power Metal · Neoclassical Metal · Progressive Metal
Pioneers
Therion · Lacrimosa
Instruments typical of the genre
Electric guitar · Electric bass · Drums · Keyboard
Important local scenes
Fennos Scandinavia · Netherlands · German-speaking area

Symphonic Metal is a collective term for a musical crossover between metal and elements of classical music , as well as the name of a specific, occasionally Opera Metal called, sub-genre of Metal. With the increasing success of the subgenre in the 2000s, its meaning as a collective term declined.

history

As a collective term

Until the 1990s, Symphonic Metal was the name given to the mixing of metal with classic, baroque and sometimes medieval elements. The variants of these elements range from synthetically generated sounds through the use of individual instrumentalists to real collaborations with ensembles , orchestras and choirs . A tendency towards overall musical concepts and progressive elements is considered common. Simon Maria Hassemer names the Krefeld Blind Guardian as a prototype representative of this style of play . Rainbow by Ritchie Blackmore are considered the first performers to present such a mixture . The following Blackmore music groups were also subordinated to the collective term.

With the success of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal as well as the spread of keyboards and synthesizers and the subsequent stylistic developments in the spectrum of metal, different performers resorted to the idea of ​​combining metal with classical musical elements. The 1987 album Into the Pandemonium by Celtic Frost is considered to be groundbreaking for the transfer of this idea to extreme metal .

Therion, here in 2014, are considered to be an important group for the development from the general collective term to a stylistic term

In the following developments in metal, interpreters of the most varied of playing styles resorted to the idea. The gothic metal in his from death-doom outgoing turning to the Dark Wave classic took inspired arrangements, instrumentalists or singers on in their own sound. Paradise Lost brought in a classical singer in 1991 and My Dying Bride a violinist in the same year . The Gothic Metal favored further mutual references between the black scene and the Metal and thus the use of orchestral elements. The symphonic metal played by Therion and Lacrimosa is sometimes attributed to this development, whereby the symphonic metal certainly follows the tradition of Gothic metal, but has hardly any stylistic reference points. Similar development steps, referring to the short-lived Gothic Metal trend, took Trail of Tears and Tristania , which combined elements of Death Doom with elements of the emerging symphonic metal at the end of the 1990s. Performers such as the Australian Rise of Avernus and Mekigah continued this hybrid approach .

In the development of post-metal , with reference to the dark wave, instrumentalists who are more likely to be assigned to classical music were used. Neurosis had cello , flute , trumpet , violin and viola recorded for the first time for the recordings of the album Souls at Zero in 1992 . The use of strings and brass continued in the genre, as did the tendency towards overall conceptual albums.

In Progressive Metal , the arrangements based on classical music are part of the current repertoire. The idea of ​​cooperation with supposedly classical musicians was particularly taken up by Queensrÿche . The band repeatedly worked with Michael Kamen as arranger and, in the late 1990s, was one of the first metal bands to cooperate with a full orchestra.

Rage and Metallica , among others, picked up the idea from the metal mainstream . In 1996, Rage published their collaboration with the Prague Symphony Orchestra Lingua Mortis . Metallica also collaborated with Kamen on their self-named album from 1991. Various metal bands have since entered into similar collaborations. One of the most commercially successful releases of this phase was the Metallica double album S&M from 1999, which was also based on an idea from Kamen.

In Black Metal in the second half of the 1990s, Emperor shaped a sub-genre with synthetically generated elements of classical and neoclassical music.

In other sub-styles of metal such as progressive metal, true metal and power metal there are still frequent references to classical music and collaborations with more classical instrumentalists. Occasionally, such sub-style directions are identified with the term symphonic or epic . Thus Epic Power Metal , Epic Doom and Symphonic Black Metal common names for shades of each undercurrents of metal, take up the classical and orchestral instrumentation.

As a concept of style

Lacrimosa, here in 2009, are considered to be a style-defining group of Symphonic Metal alongside Therion

In the course of the 1990s, an independent and successful way of playing metal with a number of stylistic similarities developed in the spectrum of symphonic metal. The style sometimes called "Opera Metal" has its musical reference points mainly in Power Metal. According to Clifford-Napoleone, the style is based on the fantastic lyrics of Power Metal and combines them with supposedly classical elements as well as with a singer who mostly sings in a high voice. In addition, the musicians often refer to performers of Funeral Doom , Gothic and Extreme Metal as inspiration.

The first successful groups in the style include Therion and Lacrimosa. Therion developed their style from Death Metal with reference to Celtic Frost to Metal, which acted with choirs, classical and symphonic arrangements and instruments. The band achieved their international breakthrough in 1996 with Theli . The style described as "Symphonic Opera Metal" was already coined on the previous album Lepaca Kliffoth . Influences from progressive rock became part of the musical concept as well as classical arrangements and soprano and bass-baritone singing. Lacrimosa, a band that was initially considered a group of the New German Death Art or the Dark Wave, increasingly incorporated elements of metal into their music from the mid-1990s. With the album Inferno from 1995, the group combined the mix with classically sounding string arrangements and piano passages. In this phase, the music was subordinated to the collective term Gothic Metal as a musical and sociocultural crossover between Metal and the music of the black scene , a term that continued to be used for later interpreters of Symphonic Metal, regardless of the independent stylistic term Gothic Metal. In 1997 Nightwish , Within Temptation and Haggard made their debut with similar musical concepts as Lacrimosa or Therion. The musicians later gave other performers such as The 3rd and the Mortal , The Gathering , Paradise Lost and Celtic Frost as important inspiration.

The success of the Nightwish group with the albums Oceanborn 1998 and Wishmaster 2000 is used as an essential initial spark for the formulation of an independent genre . After Nightwish reached the German charts in addition to the charts in their home country, many of the other performers orientated themselves optically and musically, especially in their vocals, to Nightwish. Within Temptation singer Sharon den Adel said that after hearing Nightwish she took over the vocal technique from Tarja Turunen . In some cases, similarly acting groups were more strongly marketed by the music industry. The genre singers who followed Turunen set themselves apart visually from previous metal stereotypes and appeared emphatically feminine, often in medieval or fantastic-looking clothes, whereupon the perception as a closed genre grouping increased.

In addition to Nightwish, Lacrimosa and Therion, other groups such as Within Temptation, Xandria , Epica and Delain , some of which were active at the same time, became increasingly popular and successful. Up until the mid-2000s, a whole series of music groups, including major chart successes, established the genre on the music market. Over the course of the decade, the Netherlands, Fennoscandinavia and the German-speaking area emerged as a predominantly European region of origin for the representatives of the genre. Within Temptation, Delain, Epica and After Forever reached the charts from the Netherlands . Besides Therion, Nightwish and Tarja, the equally successful Tristania and Sirenia come from Fennoscandinavia . The equally successful genre representatives from German-speaking countries include Lacrimosa and Xandria, groups such as Beyond the Black , Edenbridge , Krypteria and Leaves' Eyes . With this continued success in the genre, the term symphonic metal as a collective term increasingly faded into the background and was used as a term for the specific style.

Musical classification

The use of a keyboard is typical for the musical style. According to Metal Hammer , the use of a singer is also common. “Often these shine through classical opera singing, mostly soprano - but this is not absolutely necessary. Clear male voices or even growls are also used and form a contrast to the female voice. Musicians from this field often work with symphony orchestras for album recordings. […] Song structures are usually quite complex [and] atmospheric […]. Due to the bombast and epic contained in it, symphonic metal is partly reminiscent of film music or musicals. ”(Metal Hammer) Playing the guitar is often in contrast to singing and, like the interest in classical music, is based on the ideas of progressive rock of the 1960s. Despite a small proportion of English-speaking music groups, the lyrics are mostly written and sung in English.

Selection of popular representatives of the genre

Individual evidence

  1. Simon Maria Hassemer: On the reception of the premodern in subgenres of heavy metal . In: Rolf Nohr, Herbert Schwaab (eds.): Metal Matters (=  Medien´Welten ). No. 15 . Lit, Braunschweig 2011, p. 247–262, here p. 256 .
  2. ^ Michael Broyles: Beethoven in America . Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana 2011, pp. 309 .
  3. AVOID: Celtic Frost: Into the Pandemonium. Avant-garde Metal, accessed September 23, 2016 .
  4. ^ Wolf Röben: History . In: Sonic Seducer (Ed.): Starfacts . 15 years of Gothic Metal. No. 6 . T.Vogel Musikzeitschriftenverlag, Oberhausen 2005, p. 4 .
  5. ^ Wolf Röben: History . In: Sonic Seducer (Ed.): Starfacts . 15 years of Gothic Metal. No. 6 . T.Vogel Musikzeitschriftenverlag, Oberhausen 2005, p. 6 .
  6. ^ Peter Heymann: Therion . In: Sonic Seducer (Ed.): Starfacts . 15 years of Gothic Metal. No. 6 . T.Vogel Musikzeitschriftenverlag, Oberhausen 2005, p. 56 .
  7. a b Peter Heymann: Lacrimosa . In: Sonic Seducer (Ed.): Sonic Seducer . Special edition icons. T.Vogel Musikzeitschriftenverlag, Oberhausen 2016, p. 24 .
  8. Wolf Röben: Tristania . In: Sonic Seducer (Ed.): Starfacts . 15 years of Gothic Metal. No. 6 . T.Vogel Musikzeitschriftenverlag, Oberhausen 2005, p. 67 .
  9. Wolf Röben: Trail of Tears . In: Sonic Seducer (Ed.): Starfacts . 15 years of Gothic Metal. No. 6 . T.Vogel Musikzeitschriftenverlag, Oberhausen 2005, p. 57 .
  10. Tony Shrum: Rise Of Avernus: L'Appel Du Vide. New Noise Magazine, accessed June 21, 2018 .
  11. ^ Garry Sharpe-Young: New Wave of American Heavy Metal . Zonda Books Limited, New Plymouth 2005, ISBN 0-9582684-0-1 , pp. 222 .
  12. a b Michael Custodis: Classical Music Today: A Search for Traces in Rock Music . Transcript, Bielefeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-8376-1249-3 , p. 75 .
  13. Michael Custodis: Classical Music Today: A Search for Traces in Rock Music . Transcript, Bielefeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-8376-1249-3 , p. 114 .
  14. ^ J. Bennett: Metal, Mayhem & Murder . In: Albert Mudrian (Ed.): Precious Metal. Decibel presents the Stories behind 25 extreme Metal Masterpieces . Da Capo Press, Philadelphia PA 2009, ISBN 978-0-306-81806-6 , pp. 289 (English).
  15. a b c Symphonic Metal. Metal Hammer. Retrieved September 26, 2016 .
  16. ^ A b Amber R. Clifford-Napoleone: Queerness in Heavy Metal Music . In: Routledge Studies in Popular Music . No. 5 . Routledge, 2015, ISBN 978-0-415-72831-7 , pp. 118 f .
  17. ^ Peter Heymann: Therion . In: Sonic Seducer (Ed.): Starfacts . 15 years of Gothic Metal. No. 6 . T.Vogel Musikzeitschriftenverlag, Oberhausen 2005, p. 56 .
  18. volume. Therion, accessed September 28, 2016 .
  19. ^ Wolf Röben: History . In: Sonic Seducer (Ed.): Starfacts . 15 years of Gothic Metal. No. 6 . T.Vogel Musikzeitschriftenverlag, Oberhausen 2005, p. 4 .
  20. Markus Eck: Nightwish . In: Sonic Seducer (Ed.): Starfacts . 15 years of Gothic Metal. No. 6 . T.Vogel Musikzeitschriftenverlag, Oberhausen 2005, p. 40–43, here p. 40 ff .
  21. Jasmin Froghy: Within Temptation . In: Sonic Seducer (Ed.): Sonic Seducer . Special edition icons. T.Vogel Musikzeitschriftenverlag, Oberhausen 2016, p. 9 .
  22. Jasmine Froghy: Nightwish . In: Sonic Seducer (Ed.): Sonic Seducer . Special edition icons. T.Vogel Musikzeitschriftenverlag, Oberhausen 2016, p. 14 .
  23. Nightwish in the German album charts. (No longer available online.) Musicline.de , archived from the original on September 27, 2012 ; accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  24. a b c Symphonic Metal. Metal Hammer. Retrieved September 26, 2016 .
  25. Jasmin Froghy: Tarja . In: Sonic Seducer (Ed.): Sonic Seducer . Special edition icons. T.Vogel Musikzeitschriftenverlag, Oberhausen 2016, p. 36 .
  26. Lacrimosa in the German album charts. officialcharts.de, accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  27. Therion in the German album charts. (No longer available online.) Musicline.de, archived from the original on September 28, 2016 ; accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  28. Within Temptation in the German album charts. Musicline.de, accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  29. Xandria in the German album charts. (No longer available online.) Musicline.de, archived from the original on October 10, 2012 ; accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  30. Epica in the German album charts. (No longer available online.) Musicline.de, archived from the original on March 11, 2009 ; accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  31. Delain in the German album charts. Musicline.de, accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  32. After Forever in the German album charts. (No longer available online.) Musicline.de, archived from the original on January 11, 2016 ; accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  33. Tarja in the German album charts. (No longer available online.) Musicline.de, archived from the original on September 20, 2010 ; accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  34. Tristania in the German album charts. Musicline.de, accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  35. Sirenia in the German album charts. (No longer available online.) Musicline.de, archived from the original on September 28, 2016 ; accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  36. Xandria in the German album charts. Musicline.de, accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  37. Beyond the Black in the German album charts. (No longer available online.) Musicline.de, archived from the original on September 28, 2016 ; accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  38. Edenbridge in the German album charts. (No longer available online.) Musicline.de, archived from the original on December 3, 2013 ; accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  39. Krypteria in the German album charts. (No longer available online.) Musicline.de, archived from the original on December 4, 2011 ; accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  40. Leaves' Eyes in the German album charts. (No longer available online.) Musicline.de, archived from the original on September 28, 2016 ; accessed on September 28, 2016 .
  41. Paul Hegarty, Martin Halliwell: Beyond and Before: Progressive Rock since the 1960s . Bloomsbury, New York 2011, pp. 266 f .