Issue 24 2009

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.