Orchestral Metal
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The heavier, often extreme wing of the family, where full classical orchestras and large choirs are fused to death, black or avant-garde metal rather than melodic power metal. Real recorded strings, brass, timpani and woodwinds (frequently the Prague Philharmonic) sit atop blast beats, tremolo riffing and guttural growls or black-metal rasps, usually at high BPM. The orchestration is bombastic and dramatic — almost film-score scale — but used for menace and grandeur rather than pop hooks. Production is dense and layered, with the orchestra woven through the metal as a co-lead voice, not mere backing.
History
Sweden's Therion pioneered the orchestral approach on 'Theli' (1996) and the choir-and-orchestra epics that followed, while Germany's Haggard built chamber-orchestra death metal with classical instrumentalists on 'Awaking the Centuries' (2000). The heavier modern form was defined by Greece's Septicflesh, who recorded 'Communion' (2008) with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague, and Italy's Fleshgod Apocalypse, whose 'Agony' (2011) welded a full orchestra to brutal technical death metal. Emperor and Dimmu Borgir brought symphonic scope to black metal in parallel. Season of Mist and Nuclear Blast pushed the records, and live shows with full orchestras (Septicflesh, Fleshgod) became the scene's spectacle.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Lovecraft's Death(2008) — SepticfleshSpotifyYouTube
- The Violation(2011) — Fleshgod ApocalypseSpotifyYouTube
- To Mega Therion(1996) — TherionSpotifyYouTube
- Awaking the Centuries(2000) — HaggardSpotifyYouTube
- The Forsaking(2011) — Fleshgod ApocalypseSpotifyYouTube
- Progenies of the Great Apocalypse(2003) — Dimmu BorgirSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Metallum (Metal Archives)
- Wikipedia: Septicflesh / Fleshgod Apocalypse / Haggard
- Season of Mist label notes on Communion
- AllMusic reviews of Agony and Communion