Industrial/classical? Industrial/classical metal?

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Veresae
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02 Apr 2008, 6:42 pm

'Ello. I'm wondering if anyone knows of any bands that combine industrial with classical, or industrial with classical and metal. And I'm not talking about slight symphonic elements (a la Flesh Field), but an actual heavy classical emphesis to go along with the industrial emphesis--something that combined the sound of a high-class movie soundtrack with brutal synthetic cacophany, something that sounds like it has an entire orchestra backing it up but at the same time is dark and possibly danceable. Maybe operatic vocals?

For industrial/metal/classical, the closest thing I can think of would be Dimmu Borgir's "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia" album, and while I do love that album, its industrial elements are mostly limited to only a few songs. So it's just not quite what I mean.

Some might think that the combination can't be done. I disagree. I think that classical can be bent to mix with industrial, since it is so flexible. If they can make classical mix with dancey-synth in "Hindi Sad Diamonds" from the "Moulin Rouge" soundtrack (just the verson on the album, not in the actual film), then they can make classical mix with industrial. Or consider E Nomine, with its chanted vocals and dance beats. What about Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, which set out to make experimental rock but with "industrial music's emphesis on texture" and with "a strong base in contemporary classical music," with its "compositional approach"?

Very strange arrangements are very much possible. Would it be impossible to combine what sounded like a Danny Elfman movie soundtrack with something that sounded like Skinny Puppy or Angelspit? I think not. Industrial uses interlocking layers of rhythmic sound to create a certain texture--the classical elements could be one of the prominent layers. It would just be hard, a tough balancing act.

The biggest problem would be that in making sure that the production values were decent--since industrial and classical aren't the most radio-friendly genres this wouldn't exactly be the most marketable combination, though it would definitely have an audience, I think. It's just that--if you look at most industrial in particular, much of it is extremely low budget, often with bad sound quality and mixing, and something like this just wouldn't WORK with a low budget. It'd need a whole orchestra to sound right IMO...well, like how it sounds in my head. Hmm. It's a shame I'd never want to be a musician, hahahah.

Anyway, can anyone recommend to me some bands that combine these genres in such a way?



TheLadyMary
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03 Apr 2008, 4:11 am

Only thing that comes to mind would be something like E Nomine. It's not exactly classical wrapped into industrial but it's very choir influenced, even some Gregorian like chanting. Other than that I am drawing a blank.

I'd link you their Wiki but it seems I am not allowed...



patrick6
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03 Apr 2008, 5:03 am

In my opinion, any of those genres mixed with the other would sound horrible. They are way different types of music. Metal mixed with classical elements would just sound silly. Metal should be HEAVY, it shouldn't have light classical elements added to it. Dimmu Borgir doesn't really sound industrial on any of their albums in my opinion, they just like to use keyboards while making dark music. If anything would mix well, it would have to be metal and industrial since they are both generally dark genres of music. Classical, being light and peaceful sounding just would never mix right with metal or industrial.



Veresae
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04 Apr 2008, 1:13 am

TheLadyMary wrote:
Only thing that comes to mind would be something like E Nomine. It's not exactly classical wrapped into industrial but it's very choir influenced, even some Gregorian like chanting. Other than that I am drawing a blank.

I'd link you their Wiki but it seems I am not allowed...


That's okay, I know and like E Nomine...I mentioned them in my post, I believe. ^_^

pat666rick wrote:
In my opinion, any of those genres mixed with the other would sound horrible. They are way different types of music. Metal mixed with classical elements would just sound silly. Metal should be HEAVY, it shouldn't have light classical elements added to it. Dimmu Borgir doesn't really sound industrial on any of their albums in my opinion, they just like to use keyboards while making dark music. If anything would mix well, it would have to be metal and industrial since they are both generally dark genres of music. Classical, being light and peaceful sounding just would never mix right with metal or industrial.


Dude, what are you talking about? Symphonic metal like Dimmu Borgir, Nightwish, etc. ALL have classical elements--that's what makes it symphonic! I agree that Dimmu isn't really industrial, as I said, but they do have some slight elements of it just on that one album--just not enough to make it be what I'm looking for.

Classical doesn't always sound light and peaceful. Look at movie soundtracks! Look at Elend, or Dark Sanctuary. Hell, look at Mozart's Lacrimosa, which is very dark and not the least bit peaceful. Elend, however, uses classical in an industrial sort of way--cacophanous and chaotic and brutal.

And no matter how different the two genres are that doesn't mean they can't be bent to mix with each other. Diablo Swing Orchestra combined jazz with metal and opera. That's a pretty hard sounding combination. I have heard many examples of how classical can be bent to mix with industrial, it just hasn't been done yet.



MattD
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04 Apr 2008, 1:49 am

This album combines metal and classical. Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Beethoven's Last Night
http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=4385
Its not very heavy though, it sound more like a musical.

I dont really like it though, i would rate it 3/5



Last edited by MattD on 04 Apr 2008, 2:30 am, edited 2 times in total.

TheLadyMary
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04 Apr 2008, 1:54 am

Veresae wrote:
That's okay, I know and like E Nomine...I mentioned them in my post, I believe. ^_^


Ah, sorry bout that. I start to skim after the first paragraphs usually. Glad you already knew about them though, excellent band.