Cinematic Metal
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Metal arranged like a film score: full orchestral sample libraries or live orchestras and choirs are the lead instrument, not a garnish, with the guitars and blastbeats serving sweeping, soundtrack-scale dynamics. Tempos swing from slow, brass-stabbed dread to relentless 200-plus-BPM double-kick, scored with staccato string ostinatos, timpani, horn fanfares, Latin choirs and trailer-style 'braaam' hits. Mixes are loud, wide and bombastic, riffs doubled by orchestra, growled or chanted vocals folded into the cinematic wall; the mood is epic, apocalyptic and grandiose rather than intimate.
History
Cinematic metal grew where symphonic and extreme metal met Hollywood scoring. Greece's Septicflesh, with composer-guitarist Christos Antoniou, recorded Communion (2008) and The Great Mass (2011) with the Prague Filmharmonic Orchestra and choir; Italy's Fleshgod Apocalypse (Agony, 2011; Labyrinth, 2013) fused tech-death with full classical orchestration and a soprano. Norway's Dimmu Borgir hired live orchestra and choir for Death Cult Armageddon (2003) and Abrahadabra (2010), while Canada's Devin Townsend built widescreen 'wall of sound' records. The aesthetic borrowed openly from trailer-music houses like Two Steps from Hell, and bands such as Septicflesh and Fleshgod staged shows backed by live orchestras, cementing the style through the 2010s.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- The Vampire from Nazareth(2011) — SepticfleshSpotifyYouTube
- Anubis(2008) — SepticfleshSpotifyYouTube
- The Violation(2011) — Fleshgod ApocalypseSpotifyYouTube
- The Forsaking(2011) — Fleshgod ApocalypseSpotifyYouTube
- Born Treacherous(2010) — Dimmu BorgirSpotifyYouTube
- Gateways(2010) — Dimmu BorgirSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Wikipedia — Communion (Septicflesh album)
- The Great Mass
- Fleshgod Apocalypse
- Metal Injection — Septicflesh enlists the Filmharmonic Orchestra of Prague
- Encyclopaedia Metallum (Metal Archives) — Septicflesh, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Dimmu Borgir