YES. I'm a violist, so I am always in love with groups that marry strings to metal, and Apocalyptica does the best job by far. I mean, headbanging? On cello?!? Eicca Toppinen is awesome, as is his hair.

And I agree, their original stuff is far better than their Metallica covers -- not that they aren't good and all, but their later stuff is much more interesting. Cult and their self-titled album are my favorites, and I don't think it's any surprise that those have percussion on them. They sound damn heavy and good for three/four cellos by themselves, but the percussion adds that extra oomph to make them sound like a true metal group.

Thy Majestie annoys me. I thought that their concept for their albums sounded awesome (enough that I bought one sound unheard), and some of their songs are okay, but overall they're just kind of average. The thing that annoys me most is the extreme overuse of synth strings. It is terribly, horribly obvious, and it couldn't be that difficult to find four string musicians in Italy to record some rather basic string parts. Let the keyboard play keyboard music, for God's sake. However, their latest offering (the one based on Joan of Arc), sounds a bit better. They're still a fairly young group, so maybe they'll improve. Also, their Italian accent makes me laugh when I probably shouldn't be...In the age of ten sEExtee-sEEx XD

Now Haggard is good sympho/classical metal. Very. I have Eppur si Muove and have seen recordings of their live performances (for some reason they're big in Mexico? :confused:), and they are good enough to hire real string musicians to play. Not only that, but they do an excellent job of mixing the two genres while maintaining the energy of a metal band; sometimes mixing in classical will cause the group to just sound kind of soft.

Still, my favorite classical/metal bands are Therion and Hollenthon. Damn good groups, those.

Hollenthon is amazing stuff and I really need to check out Therion. Which album would I start with if I chose to?

I would say Theli or Vovin are good starting points, if you're wanting to hit them when they became an actual sympho-metal group (before that they were morphing from black metal into symphonic...). My personal favorite is The Secret of the Runes, but that's probably due to the extensive use of choir on that particular album, as well as the theme of different Norse myth lands/regions.

You know what? Bite me. I've listened and adored these guys years ago and I know exactly what they're about. Fucking bad ass stuff.

I think my new favorite metal band is hammerfall, they got some great stuff.

Same thing here :). I originally heard their 'Plays Metallica' album, and thought that was pretty amazing & sweet. I kind of dropped them after awhile just due to the lack of power, and I'd pick them back up when I got back more into a mood to play classical sounding usic. Adding a percussionist was the best move they could make. I got one of their newer albums and listened to it - and I thought "holy crap, this is freaking insane and amazing." SO much more power to it, and their original works just have more power to them regardless of the percussion.

Some are ok, some are kick-ass, but most are extremely annoying for me. The thing that annoys me is the LACK or repetition. I think they are fighting back against the ridiculous amounts of repetition that occurs in many modern day songs, but in doing that they forgot that repetition (like a chorus) is what helps to give coherence to a song.

Definitely going to be checking these out.

I wish Hollenthon made a new album already. :(

Yeah, through-composed songs have never really appealed to a wide audience ;). It is a more classical-music approach, but without the compositional chops to back it up it comes across as...erm...confusing. Or annoying. Most of the 'non-repetitive' music modern bands come up with does lack unification, because it doesn't employ the subtle unifying techniques that make most 'classical' non-repetitive songs sound okay (see: Schubert lieder).

Like I said to Dalkaen, Vovin or Theli are probably good starting places for Therion. Hollenthon only has two albums, so really you just pick one or both :). They're both great.

Are they working on one right now? That would be awesome.

I wish Quorthon would rise from the dead. It would be almost as cool as John Lennon coming back from the dead. Just a hair under...

Just got ahold of some Behemoth that I didn't have previously (Zos Kia Cultus album), and goddamn, this band is just really good.
With each song I hear from these guys, the more impressed I get with them. It just matches what I like almost perfectly (same with Nile really).

I also picked up the Kill album by Cannibal Corpse (yeah, late I know), and it's the best Cannibal Corpse I've heard in quite a while. Nice stuff!

Also, have anyone heard of bands Origin or Spawn of Possession? Really kickass music (sorry if they've been mentioned before, to fucking tired to go through the thread now. :p)

EDIT: Oh yeah, I saw someone mention Necrophagist a few pages back. I think they are OK, but I also think that the songs themselves are severely lacking. The playing, and the technical side of it is absolutely crazy, but the songs themselves just lack something for me...
The first album (can't remember the name now) is the best one, but the song Stabwound kick ass as well.

Dragonforce... Hm. Very silly yes, and I can't listen to more than 3 songs before getting bored really, hehe. Still, ocasionally I can really enjoy their music ... But yeah, can't listen to them on a regular basis at all.

Unfortunately no, it seems like they're on hold, possibly disbanded. :( I haven't had news about them in forever. The website does not respond either. Dammit.

Oh well, at least I have the new Ancient Rites. About time it came out too. :D

You may or may not have seen the documentary that came out last year titled Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. As is rather obvious, it is about metal. It looks at the artists, the fans, the history, and the music. It is very well put together, and looks at many subgenres. Interviews abound. Personally, I think the highlight is an unintentionally hilarious interview with a member of Gorgoroth in some dank Scandinavian basement. Highly reccomended.

Anyway, I uploaded it to give you all a chance to see it. Whether you're a veteran or just getting into metal, it's worth a glance. Obviously, they can't do in depth coverage of every band, ever, but they do a very good job of giving an overall impression.

IMDb Page
Official Site
Download It!

Downloading might take an hour or three.

Crap, I gotta get to broadband fast, I've been wanting to see that. Plus I have to fullfill my promise to you over in the hiphop/rap thread, lol.

I'm downloading it now. I'm curious as to how it is.

I'm also curious of the movie that they're making that's loosely based on the Bloody Rise of Satanic Metal Underground book, particularly the Vikernes/Euronymous feud. The feud itself would make an interesting and entertaining movie.

Vikernes is interviewed in this, I believe.

EDIT: No, just mentioned. My mistake.

I saw that documentary a while back, and while I think it still misses a lot of stuff (then again, it would be impossible to cover everything in the time-span of a regular film :p), I believe it's still the best documentary on metal I've seen.
It isn't just on how metal started (Sabbath, and then the bands in the 80s), which most documentaries tend to focus on. It has that, but also on the bands of today (good and bad).

Can't say I learned anything new from it, but it's definetely worth seeing. The guy who did it also feels 'genuine' and real. Not just some dude who wanna make a documentary on something he doesn't know about.

Thumbs up from me.

I was pissed as hell that they weren't allowing non-badge/wristband holders to view the US premiere of that documentary at SXSW/06. I mean, I just had to hop on a bus and I could have seen it, but they wouldn't take my money >___<.

BUT thanks for uploading it, so now I can watch it. I've been meaning to find it for download, and this makes it a lot easier.

I'll have to download that asap... seems interesting.

Hell yes. Gonna be tricky for them to improve on With Vilest of Worms To Dwell though...

Can't wait until August - New Mercenary, new Agalloch.

Yeah that was a pretty good documentary. Definitely better than the shit that VH1 pedals as being 'metal documentary'. I was really fascinated by the interviews with the black metal bands. That was pretty insightful and a stark contrast compared to most metal bands. Good stuff, I might have to get the DVD.

The DVD has a second disc with the full interviews on it. Definitely worth grabbing.

I meant to rent that last week-end, but we ended up renting a bunch of horror flicks instead.

I guess I'll download it, too. Are the extra interviews in this file too? (I doubt it, but just in case.)

No, the other interviews aren't there. I've only browsed through them yet, to be honest.

Hey everyone here can you post/pm me your MSN messenger handles? It would be awesome if we can chat, discussing music is best done in real time..
AIM handles also welcome..=D

AIM: XFatFif

Feel free to bother me...I could use an outlet for my obsession with music...my friends have shitty taste and/or don't care. =(


I've been catching up on some Symphony X lately...The Odyssey is fantastic (the song on the album of the same name in particular).