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Jun 27, 2024 · Classic orchestral metal bands like Nightwish, Epica, and Within Temptation have earned formidable reputations and highlight the best of symphonic metal. Nightwish, with their enchanting melodies and powerful narratives, continue to inspire generations of metal enthusiasts.
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- X Japan - Art of Life
- Sirenia - Riddles, Ruins & Revelations
- Haggard - Eppur Si Muove
- The Young Gods - L’Eau Rouge
- Aesma Daeva - The Eros of Frigid Beauty
- Delain - Lucidity
- The Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction
- Avantasia - The Metal Opera
- Labyrinth - Return to Heaven Denied
- Bal-Sagoth - Starfire Burning Upon The Ice-Veiled Throne of Ultima Thule
In the early 90s, X Japan (née X) were at their height of popularity. With fame and fawning came limitless self-indulgence. Band leader Yoshiki purchased a Hollywood recording complex and dug into his Scrooge McDuck-ian vault to hire London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to join him on Art Of Life’s two-year-long recording journey. Rife with everyt...
Pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a symphonic metal band, Sirenia’s 10th studio album Riddles, Ruins & Revelations embraced the darker side of the human psyche, as themes of addiction and declining mental health took centre stage in this sprawling epic. The Norwegians welcomed huge, melodic death metal elements to an already bustling pa...
Asis Nasseri has overseen Haggard’s development from early 90s prog-death hopefuls to an extraordinary chamber orchestral metal collective, employing oboe, clarinet, flute, kettledrum and crumhorn. With an impressive 28 credited musicians, their third album Eppur Si Muove – based around the life of Italian astronomer Galileo – was an undertaking as...
No one has ever made symphonic metal quite like Geneva’s The Young Gods. If their self-titled debut album’s looped samples of classical music and barbed riffs instigated a cataclysmic new dawn for heavy music, the follow-up was stealthier yet no less devastating. From La Fille De La Mort’s invoking of molten new landscapes from the most pastoral of...
A collective masterminded by obsessive leader/boundary-pusher John Prassas, this Minnesota-based ensemble were unique for a number of reasons, their combination of avant-garde metal with gilded chamber music and modern classical being one of them. Aesma Daeva pushed additional buttons with The Eros Of Frigid Beauty’s use of drum programming, and fl...
Former Within Temptation keyboardist Martijn Westerholt intended Delain to be a studio project, but his ambitious vision melded cinematic orchestration and bombastic metal into an extravagant gothic symphony too good to be kept locked away. Appearances from previous bandmate Sharon den Adel and then-Nightwish bassist Marko Hietala helped Delain’s c...
Devin Townsend is no stranger to the kitchen sink approach. Such was the scope of the third album of his eclectic Devin Townsend Project venture, and the sheer volume of ideas crammed in, that the symphonic elements weren’t actually the headline act. But even with the Canadian’s eccentricity and humour doing their best to hog the limelight on Decon...
The brainchild of Tobias Sammet, this debut album from Avantasia featured a raft of top vocalists, including Michael Kiske of Helloweenand Sharon den Adel from Within Temptation, on a concept album based around the witch trials in Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries. The album lived up to the title, having a massive, almost Wagnerian approach th...
This Tuscany sextet lean more towards power metal than full-on symphonic metal, but their strength lies in how huge they make the traditional guitar/bass/drums/keys line-up sound. The speed and fluidity of Return To Heaven Denied nudged ahead of early Dragonforce and Sonata Arctica on the timeline, but their incorporation of classical guitars, keyb...
The Yorkshire black metallers suffered from horrendous technical issues on this second album, but it forced them to be inventive, and the result is one of the finest symphonic black metalalbums ever released. Not only was it inevitably brutal, they took inspiration from movie composers such as John Williams, turning towards the wildly imaginative a...
- Hywel Davies
- Dave Ling
- Blind Guardian – Nightfall In Middle-Earth (1998) Though some may claim they have more in common with power metal, Blind Guardian also deserve a place on any roll call of symphonic metal’s finest, thanks largely to the way they compose and arrange their songs.
- Rhapsody – Symphony Of Enchanted Lands (1998) Few albums have attained a finer, cleaner blend of orchestral sounds and heavy metal than Symphony Of Enchanted Lands.
- Haggard – Awaking The Centuries (2000) The name of Haggard may be unfamiliar to casual fans of symphonic metal but the Germans have existed since the 1990s, albeit in more death metal-style earlier incarnations.
- Symphony X – V: The New Mythology Suite (2000) New Jersey’s Symphony X have been blending symphonic, neo-classical and power metal with progressive elements for more than two decades to create some of the most striking and colourful music around.
- Hywel Davies
- Celtic Frost - Into The Pandemonium (1987) It’s a real toss-up between 1985’s To Mega Therion and Into The Pandemonium as to which Celtic Frost full-length put more orchestration on display – and that’s if either could even be considered full-on symphonic metal, given the left-field implementation of horns, woodwind and choral voices.
- Nightwish - Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015) While the Finnish band were already among the elite of symphonic metal, Endless Forms Most Beautiful really raised the bar for the genre.
- Cradle Of Filth - Dusk… And Her Embrace (1996) One of Cradle Of Filth’s crucial innovations was the refinement of black metal keyboards, escorting the instrument from its background role as wall of atmospheric noise to its own star in a lush erotic horror soundtrack.
- Within Temptation - The Silent Force (2004) Although you’re likely to be distracted by the captivating strength of Sharon den Adel’s upfront vocal dynamism, Within Temptation’s symphonic aspirations reached their most querulously romantic apex on this goosebump-inducing masterwork of the form.
- Nightwish - Once. Was there even an ounce of doubt that a Nightwish with Tarja Turunen on vocals would take a top spot on this list? And interestingly enough, we have the final record that the band recorded with Tarja, 2004's "Once."
- Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera. Over the years, Blind Guardian made their name synonymous with power metal and symphonic metal. And it's no wonder at all – just take a listen to their 7th studio album, "A Night at the Opera."
- Wintersun - Time I. Now getting nearer to the top of this list, we have Wintersun with their second album "Time I." With a guitar master and a wonderful vocalist Jari Mäenpää, you can't expect to have a weak record at all.
- Rhapsody - Symphony of Enchanted Lands. Back in the old days, when Rhapsody of Fire was Rhapsody, they marched on to define the exact characteristics of power metal.
Sep 15, 2023 · From newcomers to headliners of popular festivals, symphonic metal in any form is an epic affair. Maybe you've already taken a liking to this music or maybe you're brand new to the world of metal? In any case, here you'll find the classics that you should definitely check out!
The Best Symphonic Metal Albums of All Time. View reviews, ratings, news & more regarding your favorite band.
