The State Of Symphonic Metal (2020)
As a fan of Symphonic Metal, things have been starting to look pretty bleak for the past few years. Even though more experienced listeners will probably say the downward trend has been happening for quite a while now, these past three years have been especially rough when it comes to straight up Symphonic Metal. Strides have been made in better incorporating symphonic elements into other Metal sub-genres, see Wilderun's 2019 album Veil of Imagination, Twilight Force's 2019 album Dawn of the Dragonstar, and Fleshgod Apocalypse / Septicflesh pushing the Symphonic boundaries on the Death Metal side of things, but it feels like the original Symphonic Metal style has pretty much grinded to a halt, whether it's the Therion style or the Nightwish/Kamelot style.
Nightwish's new album Hvman. :||: Natvre. was the breaking point for me, even though I still really enjoy the style of Endless Forms Most Beautiful on the whole. I wasn't impressed by pretty much anything on that record, especially the 31-minute classical orchestral track that makes me think that Nightwish is really trying their damndest to get as far away from Metal as they can without completely reworking the band. Kamelot's 2018 album was a standard and generic disappointment, Rhapsody of Fire has been continuing their downward trend into obscurity, and many of the mildly popular Symphonic Metal bands have been going in a pop-metal direction to try to stay relevant, I guess. This includes Within Temptation, Delain, and solo projects like Russell Allen / Anette Olzon.
I took some time to check out some more deep cuts of 2020 Symphonic Metal and, sadly, it doesn't get too much better in my opinion. Terra Atlantica's Age of Steam, Fairyland's Osyrhianta, Seven Spire's Emerald Seas, and Serenity's The Last Knight all fall into the same category of having neat symphonic elements but zero energy and almost no memorable songs or moments. Many Symphonic Metal albums nowadays seems to plod along with the same sort of generic power metal riffing with some string melodies thrown in the background that don't really amount to much. It's been tossed around quite a bit that Symphonic Metal is a "parody of itself" at this point, and while these thoughts aren't meant to be complete doom and gloom about the genre, I'm just really curious as to where it goes from here. Epica are the current cornerstone for me, with their 2016 album being really solid and they have a new one slated for early 2021, so that's something to look forward to.
I'm curious to hear some other thoughts about Symphonic Metal right now, and especially some modern recommendations to show me some bands that are doing it right nowadays. There have been some solid releases that have a ton of symphonic elements but aren't really Symphonic Metal this year, like Aeternam's Al Qassam, Finntroll's Vredesvävd, and the especially evil Eternity of Shaog from Esoctrilihum. But in terms of classic, straight up Symphonic Metal, I've been at a loss this year and would love to be proven wrong.
I honestly even don't care for Fleshgod that much, even though I do think they're doing solid work. I'll be checking out those live albums since I'm pretty curious as to how Kamelot sounds nowadays with performing their old material, since their new stuff has become so generic since Haven, like you said. Definitely check out Dawn of the Dragonstar, "With The Light Of A Thousand Suns" is probably the best orchestral piece to come out of Metal in 2019. There's even an orchestral version in the deluxe edition that sounds just as good without the Metal guitar, drums, and vocals, which is a pretty impressive feat.
It's just hard to even imagine where all these bands can go from here, since writing generic Symphonic Metal isn't working out for anyone right now. Which is a shame, because "meat and potatoes" Death Metal and "generic" Black Metal still seem to have their place in the new, modern releases, but man is generic Symphonic Metal such a slog to get through in comparison. I'm not even a big fan of meat and potatoes Death Metal and I'd rather relisten to this year's Skeletal Remains or Necrot than try and go back to Terra Atlantica or Seven Spires. Maybe because the albums are longer and more drawn out in general rather than the straight-to-the-point Death Metal? Not really sure, but man, Symphonic Metal really needs something new right now. I'd even take a return to the classic form at this point, let's regress a bit so maybe the genre can progress again, who knows.
Here's a symphonic metal compilation video I found on YouTube. Enjoy its classic form while it's still around!
I took the opportunity to use the new Leaves' Eyes record to talk about what I outlined in this thread, and sadly they fall into the same expected traps.
Review below: