Origins and Evolution
An early symphonic metal band was the thrash metal group Believer, whose song "Dies Irae" on their 1991 album Sanity Obscure foreshadowed the operatic approach used by the bands Therion and Nightwish. According to Jeff Wagner in his book Mean Deviation, the song was a creative watershed in metal, and except for Mekong Delta, no other extreme metal band at the time had merged the genre with classical music so seamlessly. The roots of symphonic metal are found in early death metal and gothic metal bands, who made some use of symphonic elements in their music. Particularly important was Therion's use of a live orchestra and classical compositional techniques; gradually these elements became a more important part of Therion's music than their death metal roots. Another key early influence was Finnish progressive metal band Waltari's album Yeah! Yeah! Die! Die! Death Metal Symphony in Deep C. Following this, operatic female vocals, classical instrumentation, and progressive elements became a staple in Dark Tranquillity's sound.
Nightwish and Within Temptation both released their first albums in 1997, each heavily influenced by Therion's symphonic turn. Within Temptation was more influenced by gothic metal, and therefore musically simpler than the more power metal-influenced Nightwish, but both bands shared two key symphonic metal elements - powerful female lead vocals from Tarja Turunen and Sharon den Adel respectively, and the heavy use of classically influenced keyboard playing.
Many new symphonic metal bands appeared or came to wide attention in the early to mid 2000s, including Rain Fell Within, After Forever, Epica, Delain, Haggard, Leaves' Eyes, Xandria, and Edenbridge, all featuring the characteristic keyboards and female vocals. Power metal, with its relatively upbeat fantasy themes and stylized keyboard sounds, tended to be an important influence on these groups.
The term "symphonic metal" has sometimes been applied to individual songs or albums by bands that are primarily death metal, doom metal, gothic metal, power metal, or even black metal. While this article has mainly discussed symphonic metal as a distinct subgenre, it is worth noting that the term is sometimes used to describe stylistic elements that can be found in nearly any heavy metal sub-genre.
By either definition, symphonic metal tends to be popular in the same regions as the above-mentioned subgenres, mainly central and northern Europe.
Read more about this topic: Symphonic Metal
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