6 Best SYMPHONIC METAL Bands

Are you a fan of symphonic metal? Have you clicked through because you’re not actually sure what symphonic metal is? Fear not, fellow music man, for I am here to not only explain the term, but to round up the world’s greatest symphonic metal bands in one place for your delectation!

So, first: what is symphonic metal?

As you’ll no doubt already know (and if you don't, my Metal Sub Genres article is here to help), metal is a genre of music with possibly the largest number of active sub genres compared to any other style. Metal fans can get very specific when they denote sub genres with their tropes, and symphonic metal is arguably one of the most specific.

So, what symphonic metal is NOT, first of all:

It is not any metal that has an orchestral element. That would include about 50% of all metal music!

It is not metal played on symphonic instruments, because that is its own thing.

Okay, so what is it?

Symphonic metal is actually an extension of power metal, so it’s a genre of fairly straightforward songs, played with big crunchy guitars and featuring songs about triumph and sailing in battleships etc. It's as much a visual genre as anything, with a strong emphasis on cosplay-style quasi historic/romantic outfits, thematic accessories that help sell the band’s overall ‘narrative’ and a sense of the theatrical that goes beyond the already-quite-theatrical standards of regular metal and power metal.

Here are some of the tropes you’ll expect to find with a symphonic metal band:

It’s an easy genre to poke fun at, but across the world, there’s a huge fanbase for this music. It offers an escape from the humdrum of reality and blandness of regular life. Cosplayers, D&D fans, readers of fantasy novels and other such branches of modern fandom are the main fans of symphonic metal, as well as those who cross over into the scene from more regular metal scenes.

On top of that, there are people who just like the music! In many ways, it’s simply a harder version of melodic pop music with (usually) operatic vocals and melodramatic themes. Whilst it’s a fairly ‘marmite’ sound to many, it’s easy to see why people like it, and those who do, REALLY do!

So, who are the best ever symphonic metal bands? Start with these…

Possibly the band credited with being, if not the originators of the style, then the definitive example of symphonic metal. Originally led by vocalist Tarja Turunen, this Finnish band laid down the blueprint for the genre as far back as 1996: fantastic themes, even more fantastic costumes, and a blend of metal guitars and epic keyboards.

Tarja left Nightwish in 2005, with Annette Olzen replacing her until 2012 when Dutch vocalist Floor Jansen took over, a role that has been hers since. Nightwish are still going strong, releasing their most recent album Yesterwynde in 2024. They are still considered one of the world’s top symphonic metal bands, in addition to their role as pioneers.

If Nightwish are (arguably) the scene originators, then Epica are equals as pioneers at least. Bringing perhaps a more grand and slightly more aggressive sound (befitting their bandname, I guess), Epica are routinely touted as the other big symphonic metal band.

Failing from the Netherlands, Epica initially revolved around vocalist/guitarist Mark Jansen, who wanted to make symphonic metal with a harsher edge. Indeed, the band has an obvious death metal influence, alongside moments of thrash and groove metal alongside the more fantastic celtic and folkloric elements.

Vocalist Simone Simons provides the grandeur and drama, and the band have recently finished touring in support of their Aspiral album.

Only just sitting behind the previous two bands in terms of global popularity are Within Temptation. Another Dutch symphonic metal band, Within Temptation’s debut record was released in 1997, not long after Nightwish.

Early years saw the band use the familiar contrasting male-female vocals, with Sharon den Adel and Robert Westerholt at the mics. Westerholt left in the mid 00s, and the band’s sound became more overtly melodic after this. Still highly gothic in flavour, Within Temptation actually became more and more poppy over the years, though never losing that metal edge, nor that symphonic grandiosity.

Within Temptation have released 8 studio albums, with the most recent being 2023’s Bleed Out.

Unusually for a symphonic metal band, Kamelot are American. Often spoken about as power metal instead of symphonic metal, these Floridians nevertheless have a sound that makes a lot of harmony with the other bands in this article.

More surprising things: they’ve been on the go since 1987 (well before Nightwish) and the name is less a direct King Arthur reference than it is a JFK one. How so? Kamelot’s founding member & guitarist Thomas Youngblood’s mother was a huge fan of the Kennedies, whose family empire was often referred to as ‘Camelot’, in reference of course to Arthur and Merlin.

Anyway, other links to symphonic metal include the romantic linking of keyboard player Oliver Palatoi, who has a child with Epica vocalist Simone Simons.

It’s a small symphonic world!

Kamelot’s progressive metal style features plenty of melodic and symphonic elements. They’ve had three lead vocalists, 13 albums and another expected this year!

Visions of Atlantis are an Austrian symphonic metal band who started off inspired by the myth of Atlantis but have veered more into full on Pirate metal in more recent years. What is pirate metal? Well, it’s symphonic metal where you dress up as pirates, right?

Anyway, Visions of Atlantis started in 2000 and have built a huge worldwide following. Big line up changes occurred in 2013, and since then, French vocalist Clementine Delauney has fronted the band. Male co-vocalist Michele Guatioli joined in 2018, not long before the piratical theme took over. Coincidence? I don’t know, but their 2022 album Pirates was one of their biggest, and featured more strings and choirs than ever.

I’ll finish up with a newer band, Eleine. Relatively new to the scene (they formed in 2014), Eleine present a symphonic metal vibe that’s in-line with the accepted blueprint: melodic female frontwoman, growly male co-vocals, 7 string riffs and an epic sweep of fantasy from synths.

Eleine are Swedish, and actually lean slightly heavier on the metal side of the equation, but still pack plenty of melodic content into their symphonic metal punch. Eleine are led by Madeleine (the end of which is the band name) Liljestam and Rikard Ekberg, and their fifth album is released very soon indeed!

So, those are some of the heavy hitters of the symphonic Metal genre, and if there’s one thing they have in common (well, there’s a lot of things they have in common…) then it’s a clear sense of fun. They are putting together concepts, costumes and theatrical drama, and finding inspiration in their imaginative creativity. I’d say that we could all do with a bit more of that in the world, frankly, and even if you don’t quite gel with the idea of symphonic metal’s more fantastic elements, well, maybe you just haven’t heard the right band for you yet. There’s a whole world of them out there, and this blog has only scratched the surface!

Let this be the starting point for your own symphonic metal adventure!