Symphonic metal shows up in just about every subgenre — death metal, deathcore, power metal, black metal… a nod to the olde is always welcome.
These bands busted out synths, pianos, orchestral instruments and more to create epic pieces of work… ones that prove under-rated and under-appreciated! Check them out and see if one perks up your ears.
Ever wonder what a symphonic metal band fronted by Mikael Akerfeldt would sound like? Hailing from France, Exanimis released their debut album, Marionnettiste, back in 2021. This fully independent album went mostly under the radar, but it’s stupidly fucking good and deserves to be celebrated. It’s both epic and brutal in all the right ways. Seriously, give this one a spin.
The explosion of symphonic deathcore saw the rise of Lorna Shore, Worm Shepherd and Shadow of Intent at the turn of the decade. But all the way from Russia, a dark horse band by the name of Sin Deliverance released a beast in 2021. Ultimate Hatred is packed with machine gun drumming, giant soundscapes and just enough of that tasty symphonic bliss. It’s totally on par with the genre’s most popular bands, yet remains unfairly unheralded.
Scrambled Defuncts‘ genre switch from straight-up death metal to symphonic death metal was strangely controversial, especially for how utterly insane Souls Despising the God sounds. It’s so damn chaotic and tasteful in a proggy way. If you think Fleshgod Apocalypse take a lot twists and turns, you’ve gotta hear this.
Let’s cleanse the palate with some Nightwishy shit. Founded by Morten Veland after he left Tristiania, Sirenia turned out to be a far more interesting project, especially with its first two albums. An Elixir for Existence is everything a symphonic metal nerd desires — epic compositions and a perfect blend between harsh male and soaring female vocals.
More blackened than poops from a bleeding ulcer, Vargrav‘s castle-storming Netherstorm is criminally slept-on. It’s some serious Emperor worship, but with enough creative direction to avoid ripping off the black metal legends. The riffs are so damn huge throughout the entire album… it’s just unrelenting. And the drums will make you wanna march to your death just for the war-torn glory of it all. Amazing stuff from front to back.
You may feel hopeless, but at least you don’t feel as hopeless as Estatic Fear sounds. This album really earns Somnium Obmutum (Dream of Silence) as its title. It’s pure doom, just at the edge of funeral doom, with so many nods to the romantic and medieval eras of music. The band’s follow-up, A Sombre Dance, is the more polished, beautiful and complete album, but Somnium Obmutum is so vastly under-appreciated.
Here’s some shit you probably never expected — pure symphonic metal that sounds like it same straight out of your favorite anime. It’s basically DragonForce meets Crunchyroll meets the symphony. If you can stomach the ultra-major-key, radically uplifting joy of this album, Kamijo‘s Oscar will sit heavy in your rotation for years to come.
Ex Libris have some great studio albums, but we just had to include the band’s triple EP, Ann, for this list. Written about Anne Boleyn, Anastasia Romanova and Anne Frank, the Ann trilogy refuses to be anything but gorgeous. There’s only one more name we need to mention to convince you to listen to this album — Dianne van Giersbergen. She may not be related to Anneke van Giersbergen, but her vocal cords suggest otherwise.
“Let my spirit soar!!!” Damn it… Voices in the Sky is just so hard to dislike. The Finnish boys from Brymir simply have melodic metal in their DNA, and when they add a little symphonic edge, the result is undeniable. Voices in the Sky is a feast for the metalhead’s soul… and one of the most Nordic albums you’ll ever force your neighbors to listen to.
You’re not all gonna agree with this one… you may just view this project as a B-tier Summoning. That opinion is kinda valid, but Caladan Brood‘s Echoes of Battle properly scratches the itch that Summoning‘s Old Mornings Dawn wasn’t able to for some. Echoes of Battle is a beautiful album, rooted in fantasy lore and deep pockets of imagination.
Source: metalinjection.net
