I think more than a year is long enough to leave this (rather) successful thread by the wayside.

I've been wracking my brain for a unique genre to portray. So far, i've hit some of the more obscure brands, such as the technical death, progressive, doom... and so on. It dawned upon me that, while i've done black metal, I have NOT done SYMPHONIC black metal, which is something else entirely.

See, the things that exemplify black metal are a basic musical structure, a very... angry... tone, typically a song theme that would give even the most liberal religious person a heart attack... you know, the norm.

Symphonic, however, is musically complex (or, sometimes tedious?). It is a very difficult job indeed, combining punk elements with a full orchestra. Sometimes, it's ONLY similarity with it's father genre is the lyrical theme, which remain anti-theist, at it's very base.

Dimmu Borgir, formerly the quintessential Black Metal band, on par with Emperor and Venom (or at least in the same field) is now the figure-head for Symphonic Black Metal. This point is no more expounded than in their 2010 album "Abrahadabra", which is laden with the orchestral sounds of the Kringkastingsorkestret (the Norwegian Radio Orchestra). Somehow, this sound is a light and dark, heavy and light, the chaos within the peace. Somehow, it works.

Here's the 2nd and 3rd tracks from their album, respectively.









Definitely a unique sound imo. If you are interested, look up their "In Sorte Diaboli" album. Their recently fired clean vocalist adds another element to this fray.

-Kruciff