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fantasy metal

Fantasy Metal

Germany · 1990s
EpicDreamyDarkIntenseSentimental

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Description

Fantasy metal is a metal style built around high-fantasy storytelling, mythic imagery, and a cinematic sense of adventure.

It commonly blends melodic heavy metal and power metal riffing with symphonic/folk elements (choirs, orchestration, traditional instruments) to evoke medieval, mythical, or “otherworldly” settings.

Songs often feature narrative lyrics about quests, battles, magic, ancient kingdoms, dragons, gods, or invented worlds, and the music emphasizes strong hooks, soaring vocal lines, and dramatic atmosphere.


Sources: Spotify, Wikipedia, Discogs, Rate Your Music, MusicBrainz, and other online sources

History

Roots (1970s–1980s)

Fantasy themes appear early in hard rock and heavy metal through lyrical inspiration from mythology and fantasy literature, alongside the rise of epic and theatrical songwriting in traditional heavy metal.

Formation (1990s)

Fantasy metal coalesced as a recognizable approach during the 1990s, when European power metal and symphonic metal expanded toward cinematic orchestration and overt narrative worldbuilding. Bands increasingly used keyboards, choirs, and grand arrangements to match explicitly fantasy-driven concepts.

Expansion (2000s)

In the 2000s the style broadened and professionalized: albums leaned into concept narratives, visual aesthetics (costumes, cover art, stage lore), and hybridization with folk metal. Festival culture and online fandom strengthened the “scene” identity around fantasy imagery.

Modern era (2010s–present)

Fantasy metal continues as a cross-pollinating umbrella, spanning folk-leaning “medieval” flavors, highly symphonic/cinematic productions, and power-metal-centered heroic songwriting. The genre remains closely linked to fantasy fandoms, gaming culture, and cinematic orchestral production values.

How to make a track in this genre

Core instrumentation
•   Start with a metal foundation: distorted electric guitars (often twin leads), electric bass, and drum kit. •   Add “fantasy color”: keyboards/synth strings, choir pads, orchestral libraries (strings/brass), and optionally folk instruments (flute/whistle, violin, hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes).
Rhythm and tempo
•   Common tempos range from mid-tempo march-like grooves to fast double-kick passages. •   Use gallops and driving eighth-notes for a “ride into battle” feel; use half-time or dotted rhythms for heroic, cinematic weight.
Harmony and melody
•   Favor strong, singable melodies and memorable choruses. •   Use minor keys for mystery and grandeur, and switch to relative major (or bright modal colors) for triumphant lifts. •   Modal flavors (Dorian, Aeolian, Phrygian) and pedal tones can evoke medieval/ancient atmospheres.
Arrangement and dynamics
•   Write in “scenes”: intro (world setting) → verse (story development) → pre-chorus (rising tension) → chorus (anthemic payoff). •   Add bridges that feel like plot twists: orchestral breakdowns, spoken passages, choir-only moments, or instrumental “battle” sections. •   Layer harmonized guitar leads and orchestral countermelodies to create a cinematic wall of sound.
Vocals
•   Use clean, expressive lead vocals (often high and theatrical). Choirs, backing harmonies, or call-and-response sections reinforce the epic tone. •   Consider character voices: narrator lines, villain/hero contrasts, or duet structures.
Lyrics and themes
•   Write in complete narrative arcs (quest, war, prophecy, exile, redemption) or in vivid vignettes. •   Use concrete fantasy imagery (names, places, artifacts) and consistent lore; repeated motifs can act as “themes” for characters or factions.
Production tips
•   Balance is crucial: keep guitars and drums punchy so orchestration supports rather than masks the metal core. •   Use reverb and wider stereo orchestration for grandeur, but avoid washing out the rhythm section.

Best playlists

The Sound of Fantasy Metal
The Sound of Fantasy Metal
Every Noise at Once
Fantasy Metal
Fantasy Metal
Chosic
Fantasy Metal Mix
Fantasy Metal Mix
Spotify
Best user-generated playlists
Best user-generated playlists

Main artists

Related labels

Metalism Records
Metalism Records
Northern Silence Productions
Northern Silence Productions
Naturmacht Productions
Naturmacht Productions
Elevate Records
Elevate Records
Casus Belli Musica
Casus Belli Musica

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Influenced by
Power Metal
Power metal is a fast, melodic, and anthemic branch of heavy metal that emphasizes uplifting melodies, soaring clean vocals, triumphant choruses, and virtuosic guitar and keyboard leads. Its lyrical focus often centers on fantasy, mythology, historical epics, and heroic narratives, aiming for a cinematic sense of grandeur. The genre coalesced in the mid-1980s from the speed and melody of NWOBHM and speed metal, then split into two recognizable strains: the more aggressive, riff‑driven U.S. power metal and the highly melodic, keyboard‑rich European style. Hallmarks include double‑bass drumming, harmonized twin‑guitar lines, neoclassical flourishes, and rousing sing‑along refrains designed for large audiences.
Folk Metal
Folk metal blends the power and riff-driven intensity of heavy metal with melodies, instruments, scales, and storytelling traditions from regional folk music. Typical arrangements combine distorted guitars, bass, and drums with fiddles, flutes, whistles, bagpipes, accordions, hurdy-gurdies, bouzoukis, and other traditional instruments. Bands often draw on myth, history, and local folklore for lyrical themes, ranging from epic sagas and battle hymns to drinking songs and pastoral ballads. The style spans a spectrum from aggressive and blackened approaches to upbeat, danceable, and festive moods, making it one of metal’s most diverse and regionally distinctive subgenres.
Gothic Metal
Gothic metal is a fusion of the heaviness and slow, atmospheric pull of doom metal with the dark romanticism and melodrama of gothic rock. It emphasizes minor-key harmony, thick guitar textures, and prominent keyboards or orchestral pads to create a brooding, cinematic mood. Vocals range from deep baritone croons and clean female sopranos to harsh growls—sometimes used together in the "beauty-and-the-beast" style. Lyrical themes often explore love and loss, mortality, melancholy, myth, and the supernatural, presented with a sense of theatricality. While centered in metal, the style borrows from dark wave’s somber synths and gothic rock’s atmosphere, leading to variations that lean toward doom, symphonic, or even alternative-leaning approaches.
Baroque
Baroque is a period and style of Western art music spanning roughly 1600–1750. It is characterized by the birth of functional tonality, the widespread use of basso continuo (figured bass), and a love of contrast—between soloist and ensemble, loud and soft, and different timbres. Hallmark genres and forms of the era include opera, cantata, oratorio, concerto (especially the concerto grosso), dance suite, sonata, and fugue. Textures range from expressive monody to intricate counterpoint, and melodies are richly ornamented with trills, mordents, and appoggiaturas. Baroque music flourished in churches, courts, and theaters across Europe, with regional styles (Italian, French, German, English) shaping distinctive approaches to rhythm, dance, harmony, and ornamentation.
Has influenced
Tolkien Metal
Tolkien metal is a niche form of heavy metal in which the lyrical themes, imagery, and often the overall musical atmosphere are explicitly inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. Musically it usually borrows from epic and melodic metal traditions (especially power metal and some forms of black/folk metal), aiming for a heroic, mythic tone through soaring melodies, dramatic arrangements, and narrative lyrics. Common subjects include specific characters (e.g., Túrin, Fingolfin, Eärendil), places (Mordor, Valinor), and events (the Wars of Beleriand, the War of the Ring), with song structures that often resemble miniature “chapters” or scenes.
Nordic Folk Metal
Nordic folk metal is a style of heavy metal that fuses metal riffing and song structures with Nordic traditional/folk musical elements. It commonly blends distorted guitars, bass, and punchy drums with folk melodies, dance rhythms, and timbres associated with Scandinavia (such as fiddles, flutes, and sometimes nyckelharpa or tagelharpa-like bowed lyres). Lyrically and aesthetically, it often draws on Norse mythology, pre-Christian history, nature imagery, seasonal rituals, and regional folklore, while musically ranging from upbeat, dance-like energy to grand, epic atmosphere. Compared with broader folk metal, the “Nordic” emphasis usually means Scandinavian melodic language, rhythms reminiscent of regional dances, and themes rooted in Norse/Scandinavian cultural memory rather than pan-European folk references.
Andean New Age
Andean new age is a meditative, atmospheric fusion of traditional Andean music with the tranquil textures and spacious production of the New Age movement. Characteristic timbres include quena (end-blown flute), zampoña/panpipes, charango, and bombo legüero, woven together with synthesizers, airy pads, soft percussion, and reverb-rich spaces. Melodies often draw on pentatonic and modal materials common to Andean traditions, but are arranged in slow-to-mid tempos with sustained drones and gentle ostinati that emphasize relaxation and contemplation. The result is music that evokes mountain vistas and pre-Columbian heritage while embracing contemporary studio aesthetics, making it at home in both world-music contexts and wellness, yoga, and ambient listening settings.
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