Your way in
Symphonic metal 1996
Full orchestra and choir treated as equal instruments, usually with an operatic female lead. Metal's most visible face in the European mainstream.
- Heaviness
- 6
- Speed
- 6
- Melody
- 10
- Where from
- Finland / Netherlands
- Tempo
- 110-160 bpm
- Song length
- 4-7 min
- Written about
- Myth and fairy tale, Grief, Grandeur for its own sake, Narrative across a whole album
- Vocals
- Sung
Why this one
| You said | Symphonic metal | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| No words at all When someone is singing, what should come out? | clean | 80% | ×3 |
| As heavy as it gets How much weight do you want behind it? | 6 out of 10 | 60% | ×2 |
| A steady walk What pace? | 6 out of 10 | 90% | ×2 |
| The nineties Does it matter when it was made? | 1996 | 100% | ×1 |
| The inside of a head What should the words be about? | Myth and fairy tale, Grief, Grandeur for its own sake, Narrative across a whole album | 50% | ×1 |
| Yes. A proper melody. Do you want a tune you could hum afterwards? | 10 out of 10 | 100% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 79% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 6 answers you gave, weighted vocals 3, heaviness 2, pace 2, era 1, about 1, melody 1 out of 10. Symphonic metal leads the next by 1 point. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.
Five records, in this order
- 1The one to put on first
Therion, Theli 1996
Therion - Theli. The moment the choir becomes the lead instrument.
- 2Then
- 3Then
- 4Then
- 5One step further in
Foo Fighters, The Colour and the Shape 1997
Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape. Dave Grohl played nearly all of it himself.
The first is Symphonic metal's own entry point. After it come Symphonic metal's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.
If that is not it
-
Grunge 78%
Punk plus Black Sabbath plus flannel: quiet verse, exploding chorus and lyrics about self-disgust.
On the other branch of the tree entirely, and 5 steps from Symphonic metal.
The way into Grunge -
Post-rock 76%
Rock instruments used for texture and crescendo rather than for choruses. The song climbs for ten minutes and detonates once.
On the other branch of the tree entirely, and 5 steps from Symphonic metal.
The way into Post-rock
Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.
What your answers ruled out
- No words at all put 33 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Black metal, Death metal, Grindcore. Worth 3 of 10.
- As heavy as it gets put 13 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Rock and roll, Folk rock, Country rock. Worth 2 of 10.
- The nineties put 23 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Blues rock, Progressive rock, Rock and roll. Worth 1 of 10.
- The inside of a head put 88 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Punk rock, Hardcore punk, Black metal. Worth 1 of 10.
- Yes. A proper melody. put 12 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Grindcore, Brutal death metal, Cybergrind. Worth 1 of 10.
Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.