To stray away from metal for a second, in a moment of sheer of coordination and grace, I may have tripped and landed on my elbow which damaged my shoulder so that doing anything with that arm hurts. I also may have written this column dosed up on painkillers, so I take no responsibility for how much sense it makes...
This week I’m going to look at a genre of metal close to my heart. Symphonic metal is probably my favourite metal genre out there, so I’m going to try and tell you what it’s all about whilst trying to not sound like a squealing fangirl.
Symphonic metal is a type of metal that whilst still having the traditional elements of metal music also has elements generally associated with classical music, such as orchestras or classical vocals. Symphonic metal is primarily derived from power metal and gothic metal but steps up the use of synthesisers and tends to have different lyrical subject matter. Symphonic metal bands also tend to have female singers. In the early years these tended to be classically trained singers who would sing using their head voice (as an opera singer would), but more recently has seen a trend towards a more ‘normal’ singing voice. However both female and male singers of symphonic metal bands tend to have strong, powerful voices that are needed to be able to cope with the bombastic nature of the music.
The origins of Smyphonic metal can be traced back to early gothic and death metal bands that utilised symphonic elements in their music. The most notable of these bands was Therion, who over time grew further and further from their death metal roots. Therion were also the first band to have symphonic elements as a central part in their music and were also the first band to feature a full live orchestra.
Following on from Therion were Within Temptation and Nightwish. Within Temptation were influenced by Therions style and gothic metal bands, but also drew heavily on nature for their inspiration. Within Temptation also used harsh male vocals in their earlier years, but scaled them back considerably. Nightwish went down a slightly different track, having a much more power metal base for their music, using synthesisers heavily and a trained classical singer.
The early 2000s saw a surge in both the number of symphonic metal bands as well as popularity. Spearheaded by Nightwish, many bands released popular and successful albums. The early 2000s also saw a trend of newer and established bands drawing a stronger influence from power metal, both in the music and the fantasy based lyrics.
Symphonic metal has a stronghold in Europe with both a majority of the bands and the fans being based there. European Symphonic metal bands have found it easier to gain access to quality orchestras (Nightwish has used the same orchestra as was used on the Lord of the Rings films) as the popularity of metal in many countries means that these bands simply make more money than their counterparts from other parts of the world.
10/20/2009
Issue 22 2009
Seeing as this week’s issued is New Zealand themed I thought I would take the opportunity to look at the New Zealand metal and hard rock scene. It would be hard to fit an overview of every New Zealand metal or hard rock band into 500 words, so I decided to just profile a few of the lesser known bands(namely the ones who replied to me in time).
First up is Soulseller, whose bass player took 3 months to send me their EP. Soulseller are a band who were not metal enough to be in the Metal Archives, but are still a damn good listen. The boys from Dunedin will be up in Auckland on December 11th with The House of Capricorn, Second Gear Grind, Arc of Ascent and Dying of the Light for Stonerfest 2009, but in the meantime you can listen to some of their stuff at www.myspace.com/soulsellersouths.
Tranquil Vale are a band that is only starting out, but are already showing a lot of promise. Currently made up of Gabe (guitar/composer) and Sarah (vocals), their music can currently be described as symphonic metal with the obvious influence of Nightwish with some progressive elements. Check out some of their music at www.myspace.com/tranquilvale. They’re also currently on the lookout for additional members, so if you’re interested drop them a line.
Finally are black metal band Winter Deluge. Formed in 2005, the band describes their music as being influenced by the old ways of pagan tradition and the strong forces of nature. Their sound is very atmospheric and melodic but highly violent and fast at the same time. Having already released their EP "Vehement Visions of Nihilism" the band is currently working towards their debut full length album. Check out their MySpace at www.myspace.com/winterdeluge.
Other bands with a deserving mention are Osmium (myspace.com/osmiumband) and Creeping (myspace.com/creepingcrew). These are only a fraction of the bands that exist in the New Zealand hard rock and metal scene, many deserving of more recognition than they get. Earlier in the year I looked at NZ Music Month and how it doesn’t really help those who need it the most, and these bands definitely deserve the help. If you can make it to one of their shows or purchase an EP or album you can get a good dose of good Kiwi music for alot less than what you’d pay for one of a band supported by NZ Music Month. With your help the New Zealand metal and hard rock scene can continue to grow and maybe one day be acknowledged by the bureaucrats.
First up is Soulseller, whose bass player took 3 months to send me their EP. Soulseller are a band who were not metal enough to be in the Metal Archives, but are still a damn good listen. The boys from Dunedin will be up in Auckland on December 11th with The House of Capricorn, Second Gear Grind, Arc of Ascent and Dying of the Light for Stonerfest 2009, but in the meantime you can listen to some of their stuff at www.myspace.com/soulsellersouths.
Tranquil Vale are a band that is only starting out, but are already showing a lot of promise. Currently made up of Gabe (guitar/composer) and Sarah (vocals), their music can currently be described as symphonic metal with the obvious influence of Nightwish with some progressive elements. Check out some of their music at www.myspace.com/tranquilvale. They’re also currently on the lookout for additional members, so if you’re interested drop them a line.
Finally are black metal band Winter Deluge. Formed in 2005, the band describes their music as being influenced by the old ways of pagan tradition and the strong forces of nature. Their sound is very atmospheric and melodic but highly violent and fast at the same time. Having already released their EP "Vehement Visions of Nihilism" the band is currently working towards their debut full length album. Check out their MySpace at www.myspace.com/winterdeluge.
Other bands with a deserving mention are Osmium (myspace.com/osmiumband) and Creeping (myspace.com/creepingcrew). These are only a fraction of the bands that exist in the New Zealand hard rock and metal scene, many deserving of more recognition than they get. Earlier in the year I looked at NZ Music Month and how it doesn’t really help those who need it the most, and these bands definitely deserve the help. If you can make it to one of their shows or purchase an EP or album you can get a good dose of good Kiwi music for alot less than what you’d pay for one of a band supported by NZ Music Month. With your help the New Zealand metal and hard rock scene can continue to grow and maybe one day be acknowledged by the bureaucrats.
Issue 21 2009
For the first issue back after the holidays I’ve decided to delve into another metal genre I enjoy. Earlier in the year I looked at Black metal, so this week I’m going to look at another Northern European dominated sub-genre, Melodic Death Metal.
While at first this sub-genre sounds like an oxymoron, it actually makes these two seemingly opposites work quite well. What Melodic Death Metal does is take the melody of the New Wave of British Heavy metal and combine it with the intensity of death metal. Think Iron Maiden meets Death (the band). The style has evolved over time; originally it took the harmonies from NWOBH and combined them with the vocals and subject matter of death metal. Now, with new influences and new bands different element have been added to the genre, the most notable of these being the keyboard. It has also seen the vocals become more comprehensible, and the subject matter become broader.
The early 90s saw the beginnings of the genre in albums by Carcass and Amorphis, but it never really emerged as a sub-genre on its own until three hugely influential bands from Sweden started releasing albums. In the earlier years At the Gates, In Flames and Dark Tranquillity were very closely intertwined, which gave the starting genre a chance with members carrying traits from one band to another. All three of these bands also come from Gothenburg in Sweden, which has lead to Melodic Death Metal also being call ‘Gothenburg metal’.
Even today many of the top Melodic death bands come from Gothenburg; however it is also prominent over the border in Finland and is spreading across the rest of Northern Europe. This also goes for the popularity of the genre, with it having mainstream success in countries like Sweden and Finland. Melodic Death Metal has also found a following in America in recent years, spawning bands with a similar sound (though in my opinion, not as good). Although most of the American bands have the disadvantage of being less than 10 years old, whereas many of the European acts are coming up on their 20th anniversary and have a vast back catalogue.
If you’re interested in seeing what Melodic Death metal offers, I must of course recommend you check out stuff from Dark Tranquillity, At the Gates and earlier albums from in Flames. Other bands include Arch Enemy (who are here in November), Soilwork and Amon Amarth, who are a Viking themed band.
While at first this sub-genre sounds like an oxymoron, it actually makes these two seemingly opposites work quite well. What Melodic Death Metal does is take the melody of the New Wave of British Heavy metal and combine it with the intensity of death metal. Think Iron Maiden meets Death (the band). The style has evolved over time; originally it took the harmonies from NWOBH and combined them with the vocals and subject matter of death metal. Now, with new influences and new bands different element have been added to the genre, the most notable of these being the keyboard. It has also seen the vocals become more comprehensible, and the subject matter become broader.
The early 90s saw the beginnings of the genre in albums by Carcass and Amorphis, but it never really emerged as a sub-genre on its own until three hugely influential bands from Sweden started releasing albums. In the earlier years At the Gates, In Flames and Dark Tranquillity were very closely intertwined, which gave the starting genre a chance with members carrying traits from one band to another. All three of these bands also come from Gothenburg in Sweden, which has lead to Melodic Death Metal also being call ‘Gothenburg metal’.
Even today many of the top Melodic death bands come from Gothenburg; however it is also prominent over the border in Finland and is spreading across the rest of Northern Europe. This also goes for the popularity of the genre, with it having mainstream success in countries like Sweden and Finland. Melodic Death Metal has also found a following in America in recent years, spawning bands with a similar sound (though in my opinion, not as good). Although most of the American bands have the disadvantage of being less than 10 years old, whereas many of the European acts are coming up on their 20th anniversary and have a vast back catalogue.
If you’re interested in seeing what Melodic Death metal offers, I must of course recommend you check out stuff from Dark Tranquillity, At the Gates and earlier albums from in Flames. Other bands include Arch Enemy (who are here in November), Soilwork and Amon Amarth, who are a Viking themed band.
Issue 18 2009
I was browsing through Borders bookstore the other day when I saw a book entitles “Bang your head” which had a very ‘metal’ looking cover. Now normally I just bypass metal books, I’ve found few have contained anything of interest to me, but this one made me take a closer look. Not because it actually looked interesting, but because of the tag line accompanying it, “The rise and fall of heavy metal”. Fall of heavy metal you say? How come I haven’t heard of this?
After doing some research on the interwebs I learned that this book mostly focuses on the LA scene in the 80’s which eventually got taken over by the grunge movement of the 90’s. But to say that constitutes a fall is a rather gross exaggeration. More like returned to its original state of bubbling just below widespread mainstream popularity. In fact many people would consider the demise of 80s metal as a good thing for metal as whole, bands such as Twisted Sister and Motley Crue didn’t really give metal a good name.
But seeing as this author seemed convinced that metal was dead, I thought I’d use this opportunity to show how popular metal was after the ‘fall’, and how popular it still is today.
I’m going to start out with the obvious and point out the 80s bands such as Twisted Sister and Motley Crue are still around touring and recording albums. Perhaps they’re zombies in disguise?
Going on into the 90s, only a mere few years after this supposed fall we have the likes of Panteras' ‘Far Beyond Driven’ getting to number one in the US and Australian music charts, as well as three of Sepulturas' albums selling over one million copies. The 1990s also saw the start of Wacken Open Air, which by 1998 featured over 70 bands in its line up.
Moving onto the early part of our current decade, we can see the European bands that formed in the mid-90s are starting to gain popularity. Melodic death metal form Sweden was running rampant across Europe and starting to heavily influence American bands. In the year 2000 Children of Bodom released the single ‘Hate Me’, which subsequently topped the Finnish charts and went on to be certified platinum. Staying in Finland, Nightwish released their biggest album ‘Once’ in 2004. This album, along with its pre-ceding single went on to dominate music charts across mainland Europe. It even managed to top the European chart. So for a few weeks in June 2004, a metal band was the highest selling artist in all of Europe.
Currently metal is experiencing a level of mainstream popularity it hasn’t seen in a long time. Unfortunately New Zealands music scene is mostly influenced by America, where metal isn’t a mainstream genre, but in Europe metal seems to be almost common place.
The numbers I got for this article I pulled off Wikipedia in 10 minutes. Maybe someone should introduce the author of ‘Bang Your Head’ to this wonderful creation, just so he knows metal hasn’t fallen, but that you just have to look a little below the surface to find it.
After doing some research on the interwebs I learned that this book mostly focuses on the LA scene in the 80’s which eventually got taken over by the grunge movement of the 90’s. But to say that constitutes a fall is a rather gross exaggeration. More like returned to its original state of bubbling just below widespread mainstream popularity. In fact many people would consider the demise of 80s metal as a good thing for metal as whole, bands such as Twisted Sister and Motley Crue didn’t really give metal a good name.
But seeing as this author seemed convinced that metal was dead, I thought I’d use this opportunity to show how popular metal was after the ‘fall’, and how popular it still is today.
I’m going to start out with the obvious and point out the 80s bands such as Twisted Sister and Motley Crue are still around touring and recording albums. Perhaps they’re zombies in disguise?
Going on into the 90s, only a mere few years after this supposed fall we have the likes of Panteras' ‘Far Beyond Driven’ getting to number one in the US and Australian music charts, as well as three of Sepulturas' albums selling over one million copies. The 1990s also saw the start of Wacken Open Air, which by 1998 featured over 70 bands in its line up.
Moving onto the early part of our current decade, we can see the European bands that formed in the mid-90s are starting to gain popularity. Melodic death metal form Sweden was running rampant across Europe and starting to heavily influence American bands. In the year 2000 Children of Bodom released the single ‘Hate Me’, which subsequently topped the Finnish charts and went on to be certified platinum. Staying in Finland, Nightwish released their biggest album ‘Once’ in 2004. This album, along with its pre-ceding single went on to dominate music charts across mainland Europe. It even managed to top the European chart. So for a few weeks in June 2004, a metal band was the highest selling artist in all of Europe.
Currently metal is experiencing a level of mainstream popularity it hasn’t seen in a long time. Unfortunately New Zealands music scene is mostly influenced by America, where metal isn’t a mainstream genre, but in Europe metal seems to be almost common place.
The numbers I got for this article I pulled off Wikipedia in 10 minutes. Maybe someone should introduce the author of ‘Bang Your Head’ to this wonderful creation, just so he knows metal hasn’t fallen, but that you just have to look a little below the surface to find it.
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