Symphonic black metal is a subgenre of
black metal
Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...
that emerged in the 1990s and incorporates
symphonic
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...
and
orchestral elements.
Notable symphonic black metal bands include
Cradle Of Filth
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved originally from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic metal and other metal genres. Their ly ...
,
Dimmu Borgir,
Emperor, and
Carach Angren.
History
The first extreme metal bands incorporating orchestral elements into their music were
Bulldozer
A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous track ...
on their album ''Neurodeliri'' (1988),
Master's Hammer on ''
Ritual'' (1991) and ''
The Jilemnice Occultist'' (1993) and
Sigh on their debut ''
Scorn Defeat'' (1993).
The style on
Emperor's ''
In the Nightside Eclipse'' (1994) had a pioneering influence though and was the main inspiration for many keyboard-based black metal bands following after.
Troll's ''Drep de kristne'' (1995) and
Arcturus' ''
Aspera Hiems Symfonia'' (1996) are other notable early works of symphonic black metal, before the genre was commercialised by the international success of bands like
Dimmu Borgir and
Bal Sagoth
Bal-Sagoth ( /baʊl 'sægɑθ/ ''b-owl SA-goth'') were a symphonic black metal band from Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, formed in 1993.
Originally formed as an epic symphonic black metal band with strong death metal elements, vocalist/lyrici ...
.
Aspera Hiems Symfonia - Arcturus - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic
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Characteristics
Symphonic black metal is a style of black metal
Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...
that incorporates symphonic and orchestral elements. This may include the usage of keyboards to conjure up "pseudo-orchestral" soundscapes with default presets (e.g. strings, choirs, piano, organs, and pads), or full orchestral arrangements. Bands may feature solo instruments such as violins in addition to keyboards and/or orchestral arrangements. Vocals can be "clean" or operatic in style, and song structures are more defined or are inspired by symphonies, and follow a typical riff-based approach. Many of the characteristics of traditional black metal are retained, such as shrieks, fast tempos, high treble
Treble may refer to:
In music:
*Treble (sound), tones of high frequency or range, the counterpart of bass
*Treble voice, a choirboy or choirgirl singing in the soprano range
*Treble (musical group), a three-piece girl group from the Netherlands
*T ...
and tremolo
In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are two types of tremolo.
The first is a rapid reiteration:
* Of a single Musical note, note, particularly used on String instrument#Bowing, bowed string instrument ...
-picked electric guitars. The overall sound and themes can be considered wider than traditional black metal, many groups of symphonic black metal use themes such as vampirism ( Theatres des Vampires, Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved originally from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic metal and other metal genres. Their ly ...
), occultism
The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism an ...
and the paranormal ( Carach Angren). Political themes are more neglected by them as in other black metal subgenres.
See also
* List of symphonic black metal bands
This is a list of bands that perform symphonic black metal, a form of black metal music that incorporates symphonic and orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from ...
References
{{Goth subculture
Black metal subgenres
British rock music genres
Heavy metal genres
Norwegian styles of music