Symphonic Metal

Front cover of Dark Passion Play by symphonic metal band Nightwish

What is Symphonic Metal?

According to Wikipedia, it is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements (classical music material, operatic lead vocals, participation of acoustic guitars, various kinds of keyboards or an orchestra rather than just electric guitars, etc.)

In an article about Metal genres on Metal Crypt, when addressing Symphonic Metal, Sargon wrote:

This is a problematic subset, as virtually no bands would be described as simply ‘symphonic' without some other label being attached as well. There are Symphonic Power Metal bands (Nightwish, Dark Moor, Kamelot), Symphonic Death Metal bands (Hollenthon, Eternal Tears of Sorrow), and Symphonic Black Metal bands (Dimmu Borgir, Emperor). But not really any that define themselves as that and nothing else. "Symphonic" remains an adjective, not really a genre in and of itself. The first band to use symphonic touches in their metal was undoubtedly Savatage, on their epochal "Gutter Ballet" album. They proved that orchestral music could combine with heavy metal to produce a powerful new sound. On later recordings they exploited this further and forged into new territory as a band. Later the Italian school of Power Metal picked up on this and bands like Rhapsody added epic symphonic stylings to their music. The late 90's saw the trend expanding with bands such as Nightwish and Dark Moor pushing the sound even farther. Even trend-whores Metallica got into the act with the much maligned but entertaining "S&M" which featured orchestrally enhanced versions of old band classics. As things stand now, more and more bands from all genres are adding an orchestral flourish to their sound, and it remains to be seen what will come of it.

To illustrate what Sargon said, here is a list of 1459 symphonic metal bands around the world. Have a look and you'll see that none of them is merely classified as 'Symphonic Metal'.

Finally, see for yourself what a symphonic song may sound like: