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black-arcana · 1 year

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A beginner’s guide to symphonic metal in 5 albums

Few genres do grandiose like symphonic metal. As the name suggests, it marries the scope and ambition of classical music to the power of metal. The result is orchestral, opulent and sometimes OTT, but it’s a hard heart that is completely resistant to it.

The seeds of the sound were sown in the 80s, when diverse trailblazers such as Celtic Frost and Savatage began incorporating orchestral instruments into their music. But it began to accelerate in the late 1990s, with bands such as Therion, Nightwish, Within Temptation and cult favourites Haggard began to properly fuse the two genres.

Today, symphonic metal has become an unlikely commercial force. Nightwish and Within Temptation are festival headliners, while a constant stream of newer bands have emerged in their wake. For anyone who is new to this grandest of genres, these are the five albums to start with.

Therion – Secret Of The Runes (2001)

Therion remain the original and – the purists would have you believe – the best of all the symphonic metal acts. Named in honour of Celtic Frost’s second album To Mega Therion, the Swedes have been led by multi-instrumentalist Christofer Johnsson since 1987. While others have prospered by ‘sexing-up’ the genre’s principles, the Therion experience remains a pure one – sackcloth and ashes, almost. Take our word, it’s a beautiful thing.

After Forever – Decipher (2001)

The second album from this pioneering and much-missed Dutch outfit, who ran from 1995 to 2009, Decipher employed live classical instruments and a full choir to complement the stirring soprano delivery of Floor Jansen (now, of course, with Nightwish). Soon afterwards Mark Jansen quit, taking his growled co-vocals along to the guitarist’s next band of note, Epica. The album’s grandiose arrangements still sound masterful today.

Within Temptation – The Silent Force (2004)

Although you’re likely to be distracted by the captivating strength of Sharon den Adel’s upfront vocal dynamism, Within Temptation’s symphonic aspirations reached their most querulously romantic apex on this goosebump-inducing masterwork of the form. Although the guitars were louder and crunchier than on 2000’s Mother Earth, and the open- hearted pop savvy was at full widescreen pelt, this 2004 follow-up confirmed the band’s special affinity for wizardly orchestral bombast, here performed by the Ego Works Session Orchestra, under the noted Russian conductor Felix Korobov.

Epica – The Quantum Enigma (2014)

Formed by former After Forever guitarist Mark Jansen, Epica played a crucial part in the development of symphonic metal via a string of consistently impressive releases, but with The Quantum Enigma – their sixth studio record – the Dutch band raised the bar to a whole different level, hiring a live chamber choir and a string orchestra to enhance a collection of tunes that is uniformly strong. Throw in the soaring vocals of flame-haired mezzo-soprano Simone Simons and the results are seismic.

Nightwish – Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015)

You could pick anything from 2000’s Wishmaster onwards, but the Finns’ first album with Floor Jansen represents Peak Nightwish in terms of a grandiosity. A high-concept exploration of evolutionary science, featuring narration from scientist Richard Dawkins, it’s an absolute triumph. From the full-pelt throttle of Shudder Before The Beautiful and cinematic bombast of Weak Fantasy to the life affirming anthemia of Alpenglow, it’s a constant stream of brilliance. Then there’s The Greatest Show On Earth, a 25-minute show-stopper most bands could only dream of writing. It’s no surprise this was the record that turned Nightwish into festival and arena headliners.

#therion #secret of the runes #after forever #decipher #within temptation #the silent force #epica #the quantum enigma #nightwish #endless forms most beautiful

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handsofdarkness · 1 year

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❖ WITHIN TEMPTATION ❖ Memories ❖

#within temptation #The Silent Force #Memories #WT gifs #Happy New Year to all the WT dragons out here #starting the year with this gem #forever one of theirs favorite videos #the aesthetics is so beautiful #and it translate the song very well

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brokenpiecesshine · 4 months

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Within Temptation on Instagram, 18/01/2024.

This year we are celebrating 20 years (!) of 'The Silent Force'. We can't believe how fast time goes. Listen to the entire record here: https://wt.lnk.to/tsf | #ThrowbackThursday

#2024 #Within Temptation #Wt #The Silent Force

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bixels · 7 months

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Always an experience watching the leftism leave FNAF fans when someone mentions that Scott Cawthon financially backed fascist politicians.

The switch from posting hardline leftist tweets about boycotts and signal boosts and critical takedowns of politicians and celebrities to ‘ohhh, well. everyone makes mistakes. who can blame him, listen he. he donated money to gay charities too. that makes it ok! a millionaire in his forties is allowed to have political beliefs. does it even matter? just let it go!’ is whiplash inducing. The antivaxxer celebrities have got to go, but this one horror dev who quietly handed wads of cash to antivax lawmakers? He’s chill, he can stay.

The charity thing is so funny too because suddenly utilitarian positive-negative point counting is the way to go. Maybe an abacus would help calculate the net good of donating to the Trevor Project minus donating thousands of dollars to Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump. -10 points if I push a kid in a lake but +11 points if I help an old lady across the street, so I’m chill. You can’t judge me. Hey, maybe. Just don’t push a kid in the lake period. How fucking low is the bar when we’re excusing maxing out the possible dollar amount of donations to Mitch fucking McConnell. That should be like. Default you’re a bad person.

#delete later #personal #not art #rant #you can still be a fan of fnaf 100% but god you’re not obligated to defend its creator #don’t pretend like Scott is cool #“’Scott likes gay people he only voted for trump for his fiscal and defense policies in defendi america from terrorists!’#kid. that’s not good either.#fiscal conservatism kills people too.#the whole thing exposes how weak some leftists are to the image of the ‘well-mannered right wing republican.’ the type who would #respectfully disagree with your right to exist with a kind top of the hat #‘as long as you silently hate me and force a nice smile while shaking my hand it’s ok’#this is why jk Rowling is hated while Scott gets a free pass. just have to hide your hate well enough and liberals will excuse you ig

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kandismon · 15 days

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i'm trying to learn how to draw emma and regina and figured just kinda redrawing some screencaps is the best and most fun way haha

bonus:

#swanqueen #swan queen #emma swan #regina mills #once upon a time #my art #regina is one of the most difficult characters i've ever tried to learn how to draw..........#it's impossible to capture lana's beauty #but i will not give up !!#also hello i've loved SQ ever since ouat aired but the obsession kinda went dormant over the years #and returned full force now #i drew exactly One ouat fanart back in 2012 other than that i've only enjoyed the fandom passively and silently haha #but this time around i think i'll combust if i don't at least attempt the occasional fanart criessss #so here i am

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deunmiu-dessie-sideblog · 2 months

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why 's simon so big? i mean, he's all height, muscles, and sassy, dark attitude. but he's also ur sweet, thoughtful, and silent boyfriend. and it makes me feral, cause he literally towers over u, wrapping u in thick arms and breathing u in. cause let's be honest, the smell of ur perfume/cologne makes him dizzy and warm :( and havin' u buried within his arms, while u whisper sweet nothings and talk about ur day literally soothes every ache 'n his body. i promise u he misses ur scent when he isnt home and sprays somethin' of his with ur perfume/cologne to take with him, just so he can have a small piece of u. anyways my love for this gruff, blunt man runs deep. ˙◠˙

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cjs-51703 · 1 year

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Best manga descriptions ever.

#manga #anime #cells at work #death note #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #fire force #enen no shouboutai #a silent voice #Tokyo ghoul #tokyo ghoul re #but they're all correct tho

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youwerelikeanangel · 6 months

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[Image description: Tweet by bhavani kunjulakshmi that says: Your solidarity with Palestine is accused of anti-semitism? Like your feminism is accused of misandry/man-hating? Like your anti-racism is accused of reverse racism? Like your workers rights’ unionism is accused of treachery? Like your protests are accused of vandalism?

The oppressor will always find ways to appropriate, co-opt, and manipulate the language of the oppressed to claim victimhood and to justify their violence as self-defense. \End description]

#THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! internalise this don’t let the oppressive force diminish your fight for justice .#free palestine #palestine #x #also i beg of you all do not stop sharing do not become silent . be loud demand justice text your reps call your reps #for germans : hmu for resources on how and who to text to demand for a ceasefire

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tacomedli · 9 months

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The jarring parallel of this:

and this:

#qsmp #philza minecraft #philza #philza qsmp #tallulah #qsmp tallulah #tallulah qsmp #elquackity #quackity #egg a1 #tallulah's in a safe environment #phil being super encouraging and giving her tips #and letting her retry as many times as she wants #elq is stone cold silent #watching coldly as this egg is forced to jump to save their life #over freaking LAVA #AAAAAAAAAAAAAA #medli talks

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greatstormcat · 22 days

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Welcome to Silent Hill - Part 1

TF141 x gn!reader

Series masterlist

TW: MDNI 18+, canon typical violence, canon typical horror, threat, body horror, injury detail, mental instability, memory loss

You blink your eyes open, head ringing with a strange sound that quickly fades as you see the pale light around you. Something claws at the edge of your mind, cold and decaying, a smell of coppery sharpness but it fades quickly. After a moment you manage to focus and push past the disconcentering sensations, but your vision refuses to clear. Swirling white and grey curl before your eyes no matter how many times you blink, and for a moment you panic you’ve gone blind until you lift your hands up and see them before you.

Relieved you sit up and realise you are surrounded with a dense fog, damp air touching your skin and making you shiver through your thin clothes. This is why you can’t see, there is nothing to see beyond a short distance as the fog swallows everything around you, leaving you sitting on a damp patch of tarmac. Panic plucks at your heart as disorientation grips you. Where are you?

Pressing a hand to your forehead you try to remember where you were before you’d opened your eyes. But everything behind your eyes hurts, pain lancing through your skull when you try to think of anything before this very moment. It is like the fog is inside your skull, smothering your memories, and hidden blades slice at your thoughts.

Clambering to your feet, heading spinning slightly, you look around to get what bearings you can. You’re on a road, grass growing either side, white fog obscuring anything beyond that. As you turn to look behind you a large sign looms out of the fog, giving you the only option on where to go to find help. So with no better options available, you trudge stiffly towards the direction of the sign.

‘Welcome to Silent Hill’ it reads.

By the time you make it into the town your feet are tired and sore, and there are dark spots swimming across your vision from the constant white glare of the fog. You’ve never seen anything like it, the fog makes you feel as though you are walking around in a bubble, with no idea what is beyond its boundary.

Buildings suddenly begin to appear either side of you, no lights on behind the doors and windows, and not another living thing in sight. A terrible unease slithers across your skin. There are no people around despite the obvious signs of habitation; cars sit in driveways, children’s bicycles lean against fences. You stumble past a child's playground, the swings rock back and forth slightly as though just abandoned, but no one is there.

Its then you realise there are no barking dogs, no cats, no birds… The whole place feels as though it is holding an inhaled breath, waiting to release it and suddenly return to life. The whole place is waiting for something, but what?

For what feels like the hundredth time you fumble your phone out of your pocket and stare at the black screen, hoping that somehow that useless brick has come back to life. A crack runs across the screen that wasn’t there before, atleast you don't think it was, and it refuses to come on. Either the battery is dead or the whole thing is broken.

Oddly you wish you could see the lock screen, see if there is a photo of a loved one on the screen as you struggle to recall anything about yourself. You know your name, and that you have never been here before, wherever here is, and that is all you know without pain boiling behind your eyes.

“Hello?” you call from time to time, probably not as loud as you should. The fear of being heard is almost as much as not hearing an answer. “Hello? Is there anyone here?”

Its impossible to tell how long you’ve been walking beyond how tired and thirsty you are, and your heart jumps when you find a corner shop in the main street. The door stands partly open and a single lightbulb glows weakly above it. It’s too tempting to pass up as your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth, it’s so dry.

You duck inside the doorway, having to push hard to get the door to open enough for you to squeeze through, although there’s no obvious reason for it to stick so badly. It creaks loudly when it suddenly lurches open, and you freeze at the sudden loud noise.

“Hello?” you call again, but there’s no answer. Biting your lip you push into the store, relieved to find items on the shelves neatly lined up as though this were a normal day. Greedily you grab at the water bottles by the check out and gulp down the contents of one, until your thirst is satiated, stuffing another into the pocket of your jacket.

A shuffling sound catches your attention, making you very aware you’ve just broken into a shop and stolen from it. Guiltily you creep towards the doorway to peer outside, and see the outline of a person moving in the fog. The figure shuffles slowly forward, the pale light from behind it casting it in silhouette as it lumbers slowly towards you with an uneven, limping gate.

“Hey, I’m… I’m sorry for letting myself in. The door wasn’t locked,” you hedge, voice faltering slightly so you stop and swallow, waiting for them to answer. They say nothing, just edge closer, the person’s odd, jerking movements setting the hairs on your neck on end.

“Look, I really am sorry but I’m lost and I needed water. I can PayPal you or something when I get home,” you say, irritated at the lack of response and the uneasiness that sweeps over you. Again, silence from the figure but it’s closer now, something odd about the appearance beginning to spark your self-protection instincts. The person is moving very strangely, their arms are tucked inside their jacket and not moving, almost as though they are stuck to their torso.

A low, groaning noise drifts into your ears as it gets nearer. A horrible rattling underneath it, like the drawing of someone’s final breaths, and that’s when the floodgates of panic burst free in your chest

“Never mind,” you blurt and move backwards hoping to push the door shut again but it refuses to budge, and the figure lurches forward. Light from the bulb above the door hits the stranger, pouring sickly illumination over the decaying, wet skin encompassing the distorted figure. It is not human, not anymore, if it ever was. What arms it might have are trapped inside the skin of its torso, no features are visible on the face but it follows you as though it can see. In the middle of its chest, a long slit quivers like lips from chest to navel, and something bubbles and oozes from it.

You scream and push the door frantically trying to close it, trapped behind the glass as a noxious spray erupts from that unholy and inhuman mouth, making the pane hiss and boil. The stench of death and corruption that comes from that spray makes your stomach lurch, and you stagger back from the door falling firmly on your backside. You scramble backwards, coming up against a set of shelves and staring in horror at the thing.

With a hissing, clicking noise the creature pushes at the stuck door, trying to get to you but is hampered by its odd shape and lack of arms. You sit, helpless, watching as it writhes and shifts against the clear glass of the door, a crack shooting across the pane with its efforts.

More figures shift in the fog behind it, moving up behind the monster, and your heart seizes. They’re crouched and distorted in the fog, and you squeeze your eyes shut not wanting to see whatever is about to kill you. A buzzing, electronic noise accompanies the approaching shapes, putting your teeth on edge as it slices through the air.

An ear shattering screech tears through the air, making you flinch and curl into yourself as you await death. Heavy thuds and grunts follow, along with the shattering of the glass.

“Mind that black stuff it’s spitting!” a human voice, deep and gruff, carrying authority in every syllable.

“Rog!” answers another voice, rougher and much closer to you. With your eyes closed against whatever is happening, the sounds of wet, meaty smacks are inescapable and then punctuated with the breaking of more glass. Then suddenly all sounds stop along with the buzzing sound, and you are very much alive still.

“You alive?” A deep, gravely male voice asks you over the sharp snicking of glass crunching under foot. Shaking, you look up at a hulking shape stooped over you, an exposed skull leering down at you in place of a face and you cannot stop the scream that boils up your throat.

“Better let someone else take over, Lt,” another voice calls from behind the apparition, and it steps back with a disgruntled noise, a very human noise. It’s enough to stop you mid-cry for help.

“Yeah, reckon so,” he says, before turning away from you with what could pass for a snort. It’s replaced with a man in a military uniform with a beard.

“You okay?” he asks, crouching down infront of you but keeping back. Blinking you realise that they are in fact human, all four of them wearing miltary uniforms, tactical vests and carrying guns. Two of them are wiping vicious looking combat knives clean.

“You’re soldiers,” you force out in confusion, and the bearded man nods with a small smile, appearing happy to hear you speaking.

“Yeah, that’s right. Are you a local?” he asks with an odd casual tone. He’s trying to keep you calm, you realise. You shake your head dumbly in response.

“Do you know this place?” he presses you, clearly in need of information himself.

“I… I don’t know,” you admit. “I woke up on the road and followed it here. I’ve been looking for help but… there’s no one here,” fear makes your words speed up, panic adds a frantic edge to them. “There’s no one here, no people, nothing living! Just those… those…” you can’t finish the sentence and tears well with the turmoil in your head.

“Easy now, it’s okay,” he gently says, patting a heavy hand on the back of yours. The rough fabric of his glove feels real enough that you can focus on it, trust it almost, not to be a delusion.

“We don’t know how we got here either,” he admits. “Our helo came down just outside of town when this fog came out of nowhere and the pilot lost control. We shouldn’t be here… wherever here is. I’m Captain Price, you’ve met Ghost,” he nods to the huge man with the skull mask over his face. “They’re Gaz and Soap.” The other two barely spare you a nod as they watch the surroundings.

“So you weren’t sent to deal with whatever is going on here?” you ask him despite his story. The hope that someone knew what is going on is dashed, and you feel a new wave of despair.

“No, this place wasn’t on our route…” he begins but stops, a deep frown knitting his brow and turning to an annoyed scowl. “Whatever is going on, we don't know any more than you it seems.”

“Maybe it’s that fog? A gas leak, or underground fire or something like that,” you suggest, and you notice Ghost and the Captain exchange a look. Glass crunches under the heavy boots of the three men walking around the store. You notice them pick up water bottles and pocket them the same way you had earlier.

“We’d considered that already. Best we try and get out of here just in case,” he nods. “Someone else can come and sort it out once we can get in contact with the outside world.”

“Can’t you just call someone? More army people like you?” you push him wanting to know someone has a handle on the situation.

“Does your phone work?” he replies with a raised brow.

“No. No, its dead,” you tell him with a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach,

“Same with ours,” Gaz chips in from behind the Captain. “All of them, dead. None of the landlines we’ve tried work either.”

“That’s not… normal,” you say quietly, and Price presses his lips together giving you a quiet, searching look.

“We should get moving in case any more of those things turn up,” Soap says with a Scottish accent.

“C’mon,” Price says, gripping your arm firmly and pulling you up to your feet with ease, “stick with us. We’re going to find a way out of here together.” You follow them through the shattered remains of the door, stepping over the mangled remains of the creature. Stab wounds leak black ichor onto the ground, which smokes and chars slowly. One of the men nudge you to make you move past it, not that you noticed you’d stopped.

“What if more of those things are out there?” you ask, trotting to keep up with the group once you are moving along between them. Each one of them is bigger than anyone you've met before, in height and sheer bulk, and you feel slightly better having them near.

“There are, we’ve dealt with a few already,” Gaz tells you. “Luckily for us we know where they are before they spot us.”

“How is that possible?” you ask in disbelief, glad to have someone to talk to after the eerie silence. The glaring light from the fog makes your eyes water as you look between them.

“The radios,” Ghost rumbles, tapping the device secured to his vest. “Something about them causes radio static when they get near. Gives us the advantage.” You hear, rather than see, a wicked edge to his voice and you imagine a grin under the mask he wears.

“We lost our pilot to one of those creatures before we worked that out,” Price interjects solemnly. “Let’s cut the chatter and pick up the pace.” His face is grim, concern etched into the furrows of his brow as he urges everyone up the street you had been following.

You feel as though you should be more comforted by the presence of soldiers, carefully glancing at the weapons they carry, but something whispers at the edge of your hearing. It's a mournful sound that wails and calls to you, warning you of what's to come in this strange place.

Thank you for reading! If you want to see more please reblog or leave a comment to show your appreciation, I also have Ko-Fi. Support your writers and artists. There is no taglist, you'll need to follow for updates.

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s0fter-sin · 1 month

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thinking about the way ghost doesn't hesitate to start killing shadows when graves betrays them but soap only takes one hostage

you can almost hear the voice in his head telling him it doesn't have to be this way; they can still talk it out

"i'm calling shepherd"

his first instinct when confronted with betrayal is to play it by the books; to go up the chain and sort it out democratically. that goes against everything we've seen him do; he’s quick to drop his enemies and bucks authority at every chance except for the one time he's confronted with the barrels of his allies' guns

he wants a peaceful resolution; for the first time we've ever seen, he doesn't want violence to be the answer

there has to be another fix, a solution that doesn't end with him killing the same men he's been working with; his friends

nothing's happened yet

it doesn't have to go this way

but ghost has been betrayed before. he knows the way this ends; either with him six feet under or his enemy

he doesn't hesitate

it's only when they knock alejandro out that soap shoots; when they spill the first blood and cross a line they can never come back from

only when ghost orders him to run and he has to cover his retreat

and somewhere along the line, between civilians’ screams and taunting voices, between his shaking breath and ghost steady in his ear, that naivety is stripped away; his trust turned to teeth that he uses to sink into throats of men he'd have given his life for

"be careful who you trust, sergeant; people you know can hurt you the most"

he's learned the price of trust

just like ghost did

but unlike ghost, he has someone to guide him through the aftermath

"good advice, It"