Classical and Heavy metal music, at first glance, appear as fully opposite styles. Classical sounds gentle, and yet complex. Metal on the other hand sounds loud and perhaps a bit banal. Classical draws the ears of the elite, and metal draws a less refined ear. However, some bands have found these two seemingly opposite genres have a lot in common. The prog rockers of the 70s found this connection. Of course Queen provides the most famous example of this connection in “Bohemian Rhapsody.” A great many other bands have joined these pioneers. So many bands, in fact, that they have their own genre, often referred to as Symphonic Metal.
Symphonic metal has many forms. Sure – Symphonic metal is essentially heavy metal or hard rock which draws inspiration from classical music, but classical itself is a diverse genre, so symphonic metal is just as diverse. Sometimes symphonic metal will have operatic vocals (often times paired with “growling” vocals, creating a Beauty and the Beast sound). Sometimes symphonic metal will orchestrate the guitars as though they were a string section. The band Apocolyptica forgoes the use of guitars altogether, and uses cellos to play heavy metal. Again, the genre is quite diverse.
If you haven’t guessed – today’s playlist will feature several symphonic metal bands. I’ve included a few famous examples from Queen, Epica, and Evanescence. I’ve also included several bands who you probably do not know. Regardless – I hope you enjoy this playlist.
What’s coming later this week?
Publishing later on this week will be an article about one of my favorite bands – They Might Be Giants. The article follows the same format asย a post about REM I wrote several years ago (originally on a different blog). I’ll share memories and key moments which somehow orbit around TMBG. Again – this is one of my favorite bands, so I am very excited to share these memories with you, my readers.
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