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symphonic melodic death metal

Symphonic Melodic Death Metal

Finland · 1990s
EpicIntenseDarkSadSentimental

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Description

Symphonic melodic death metal blends the twin-guitar melodies, harmonized leads, and energetic riffing of melodic death metal with the grandiose arrangements of symphonic metal and classical orchestration.

Typical tracks combine harsh vocals (growls and screams) with sweeping strings, brass, choirs, and cinematic keyboards. The result is a sound that is both aggressive and emotionally expansive: fast and technically demanding, yet richly melodic and often epic in scale. Lyric themes frequently explore myth, history, fantasy, and existential reflection.

Production ranges from guitar-forward mixes with supportive symphonic pads to fully integrated orchestral arrangements recorded (or convincingly programmed) as if scoring a film. The style is especially associated with Nordic scenes where melodeath and symphonic traditions intersected.


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

History

Origins (mid–late 1990s)

Melodic death metal emerged in Sweden’s Gothenburg scene in the early–mid 1990s, foregrounding twin-guitar harmonies and memorable leads over death metal’s foundation. Around the same time, symphonic metal was flourishing in Northern Europe, bringing keyboards, choir textures, and classical tropes into heavy music. Bands in Finland and Sweden began to fuse these worlds, adding keyboard-driven strings, choral pads, and neoclassical lead writing to the melodeath template. Early adopters established the core vocabulary: rapid alternate-picked riffs, harmonized guitars in minor modes, and cinematic keyboard/orchestral layers.

Expansion and Codification (2000s)

Through the 2000s the style matured as productions grew more polished and orchestral writing more ambitious. Composers increasingly treated the orchestra as a co-equal voice rather than simple accompaniment, drawing from film-score harmony (e.g., pedal-point brass, ostinati, and choir swells). Power metal and neoclassical metal influenced lead phrasing and key-centric modulations, while death metal preserved rhythmic heft. DAW-based orchestration and sample libraries made large-scale arrangements more accessible, accelerating adoption by studios and independent bands worldwide.

Globalization and Modern Era (2010s–present)

In the 2010s, the genre spread across Europe, North America, and Asia, with projects embracing fuller orchestrations (real or virtual), mixed-vocal approaches, and concept-album storytelling. Productions often balance modern metal clarity (tight low end, articulate kicks) with wide, reverberant symphonic soundstages. Today, symphonic melodic death metal sits at the crossroads of extreme music and cinematic composition—appealing to listeners who want both visceral intensity and sweeping, emotionally charged melodies.

How to make a track in this genre

Core Ingredients
•   Guitars: Two rhythm/lead guitars in D standard or Drop C. Use rapid alternate picking, melodic tremolo lines, and harmonized leads (3rds/6ths). Favor minor scales (natural minor, harmonic minor), modal color (Phrygian/Phrygian dominant), and neoclassical sequences. •   Vocals: Predominantly growls/screams. Occasional clean choruses or layered gang/choir parts to heighten the symphonic drama. •   Rhythm Section: Double‑kick runs, gallops, and driving 16th-note patterns at 160–200 BPM. Use strategic blasts for climaxes, but let groove sections breathe to showcase melody. •   Orchestration: Layer strings (legato lines + staccato ostinati), brass (pedal tones and fanfares), woodwinds (doubling countermelodies), choir (pads and hits), harp/timpani/cymbals for transitions. Treat the orchestra as an interacting voice, not mere background.
Harmony & Riffs
•   Build riffs around minor/aeolian with pedal tones and moving inner voices. •   Employ call‑and‑response between guitars and strings; answer a guitar melody with violins or horns. •   Use secondary dominants, ascending modulations, and borrowed chords to achieve cinematic lift into choruses.
Song Structure
•   Common forms: Intro (orchestral), Verse (riff‑driven), Pre‑chorus (rising harmony), Chorus (anthemic lead with choir), Bridge (orchestral interlude or neoclassical solo), Final chorus (key change or expanded orchestration), Coda. •   Interleave instrumental sections: a string ostinato breaks, then guitars re‑enter with harmonized lead; let the orchestra carry reprises of the main theme.
Arrangement & Production
•   Layering: High strings carry main lines; violas/cellos double mid‑guitar lines; brass underpins downbeats; choir thickens choruses. •   Mix: High‑pass orchestral bus to clear sub‑100 Hz for bass/kick; duck pads subtly with sidechain on kick; carve 2–4 kHz for guitar bite and leave 1–2 kHz for vocal clarity. •   Sound Design: Use realistic articulations (legato, spiccato) and humanization in MIDI. Blend a small real ensemble (or soloists) with high‑quality libraries for realism.
Lyric & Theme
•   Epic/fantastical, mythic history, nature and fate, or introspective heroism. Align imagery with symphonic motifs; reprise lyrical phrases over orchestral codas for thematic cohesion.
Practical Workflow
    •   

    Sketch main theme on piano/strings; outline verse/chorus riffs on guitar.

     •   

    Harmonize the lead for dual guitars; write counterlines for violins/woodwinds.

     •   

    Program rhythm section; add choir/brass swells at structural peaks.

     •   

    Record guitars/bass/vocals; refine orchestration around the final takes.

     •   

    Mix with a clear low‑end anchor and a wide, cinematic top‑end.

Best playlists

The Sound of Symphonic Melodic Death Metal
The Sound of Symphonic Melodic Death Metal
Every Noise at Once
Symphonic Melodic Death Metal
Symphonic Melodic Death Metal
Chosic
Symphonic Melodic Death Metal Mix
Symphonic Melodic Death Metal Mix
Spotify
Best of Symphonic Melodic Death Metal
Best of Symphonic Melodic Death Metal
volt.fm
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Best user-generated playlists

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Influenced by
Melodic Death Metal
Melodic death metal (often shortened to melodeath) blends the speed, aggression, and harsh vocals of death metal with the harmonized guitar leads, memorable melodies, and songcraft of traditional heavy metal and thrash. It is characterized by twin‑guitar harmonies, fast tremolo riffs, punchy palm‑muted rhythms, and growled or screamed vocals, often contrasted with catchy, clearly articulated lead lines. Compared to traditional death metal, the genre favors stronger tonal centers, consonant interval harmonies (thirds and sixths), and more accessible structures, while retaining double‑kick intensity and occasional blast beats. Production tends to be tighter and clearer than early death metal, and many bands incorporate keyboards for texture. The style is strongly associated with the early–mid 1990s Gothenburg scene in Sweden, though parallel strains also emerged in the UK and Finland.
Symphonic Metal
Symphonic metal fuses the power and riff-driven weight of heavy metal with the grandeur of orchestral music, choral writing, and operatic vocals. It often features full-scale symphonic arrangements—either via live orchestras and choirs or through sophisticated sampling—alongside distorted guitars, bass, and double-kick drumming. Hallmarks include cinematic songwriting, classical harmony (minor keys, modal colors, counterpoint), sweeping string ostinati, brass fanfares, and layered choirs. Vocal approaches range from operatic soprano leads to melodic rock vocals and occasional harsh growls. Lyrically, the genre leans toward myth, fantasy, history, philosophy, and romantic or existential themes, delivering an epic, theatrical atmosphere.
Classical
Classical music is the notated art-music tradition of Europe and its global descendants, characterized by durable forms, carefully codified harmony and counterpoint, and a literate score-based practice. The term “classical” can refer broadly to the entire Western art-music lineage from the Medieval era to today, not just the Classical period (c. 1750s–1820s). It privileges long-form structures (such as symphonies, sonatas, concertos, masses, and operas), functional or modal harmony, thematic development, and timbral nuance across ensembles ranging from solo instruments to full orchestras and choirs. Across centuries, the style evolved from chant and modal polyphony to tonal harmony, and later to post-tonal idioms, while maintaining a shared emphasis on written notation, performance practice, and craft.
Deep Symphonic Black Metal
Deep symphonic black metal is a particularly dense, cinematic branch of symphonic black metal that emphasizes towering orchestral writing, choral colors, and layered atmospherics alongside the genre’s traditional blast‑beats, tremolo‑picked guitars, and rasped vocals. Compared with broader symphonic black metal, the “deep” aesthetic prioritizes depth of arrangement (multiple simultaneous countermelodies, extended pedal‑tone drones, and thick low‑register orchestration), longer through‑composed sections, and a more immersive, film‑score‑like soundstage. Harmony typically exploits natural and harmonic minor, Phrygian and Locrian inflections, diminished/augmented sonorities, and chromatic mediant shifts to heighten drama. Lyrically it tends toward occultism, epic fantasy, supernatural horror, and apocalyptic grandeur.
Symphonic Power Metal
Symphonic power metal blends the speed, melody, and anthemic choruses of power metal with full‑scale symphonic/orchestral arrangement techniques. Bands employ rich layers of keyboards and orchestral libraries (or live ensembles), choirs, cinematic narrations, and neoclassical guitar/keyboard lines to create a “film score meets metal” aesthetic. Lyrics commonly draw on high‑fantasy, mythic and historical themes, with conceptual albums and serialized sagas being typical. Tempos are generally fast (often 140–200 BPM), the vocals are clean and soaring (frequently with choral backing), and harmony leans on classical voice‑leading, pedal‑point grandeur, and triumphant key changes.
Neoclassical Metal
Neoclassical metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that fuses metal’s high-gain power and speed with the harmony, counterpoint, and virtuosity of European classical music. It emphasizes fast, ornate lead guitar and keyboard lines modeled on Baroque and Romantic-era idioms—think harmonic minor scales, diminished arpeggios, rapid sequences, pedal points, and dramatic cadences. Performers commonly use techniques like alternate picking, sweep picking, legato, tapping, and precise articulation at very high tempos. Arrangements often feature guitar–keyboard unisons or call-and-response, brisk rhythms, and clear tonal centers, evoking the drama of composers such as Bach, Vivaldi, and Paganini while keeping metal’s aggression and drive.
Progressive Power Metal
Progressive power metal blends the speed, bright melodies, and heroic tone of power metal with the structural ambition and technical depth of progressive metal. Songs often feature fast double-kick drumming, harmonized lead guitars, and soaring clean vocals, while also using odd meters, extended forms, sudden tempo changes, and layered arrangements. Compared with traditional power metal, it tends to be more harmonically adventurous and rhythmically complex; compared with prog metal, it usually keeps a more melodic, anthemic core and a less harsh vocal approach.
Has influenced
Melodic Deathcore
Melodic deathcore fuses the crushing breakdowns, low tunings, and extreme vocals of deathcore with the harmonized twin‑guitar leads, tremolo‑picked melodies, and minor‑key lyricism of Gothenburg‑style melodic death metal. Compared to straight deathcore, it places greater emphasis on memorable melodic motifs, guitar counterpoint, and recurring lead themes. Tempos often swing between fast blast‑beat sections and half‑time breakdowns, while arrangements may add keyboards or orchestral pads to heighten drama without abandoning heavyweight riffing.
Epic Black Metal
Epic Black Metal is a subgenre of black metal that prioritizes grandeur, atmosphere, and melody over the raw aggression and speed typical of traditional black metal. It is characterized by the extensive use of synthesizers to create orchestral, medieval, or fantasy-inspired soundscapes, often drawing thematic inspiration from high fantasy literature, particularly the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. The production style typically features a "wall of sound" approach where tremolo-picked guitars, lush keyboards, and vocals blend into a cohesive, immersive texture. Unlike its parent genre, it frequently utilizes mid-tempo, marching rhythms and programmed percussion rather than constant blast beats, aiming to evoke the feeling of vast landscapes, ancient battles, and mythic journeys.
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