Sonic War

It seems to be a deeply held perception that Heavy Metal and Western Art Music are intrinsically separate. I find it odd, then, that classical Musicians are typically among the first to decry ALL metal as “screaming and noise” While metalheads are the ABSOLUTE first-in-line to accept, admire, and even imitate classical music. Just like there are many types of Western Art Music, so too are there many different kinds of metal. Some draw more heavily from their classical heritage, while others draw more heavily from their other influences (like the Blues, Folk, Funk, Country, Even Hip Hop and Big Band). There seems to be a school of thought that only the forms taught in conservatory are legitimate forms of art: Concertos, Operas, Lieder, Masses, Cantatas, Etc. I would argue, though, that there is a reason these forms are taught in a conservatory: They need to be conserved. Art music, as any practitioner will readily tell you, is dying away quickly. Metal, on the other hand, changes constantly. Innovations have been made by each successive generation, from Tony Iommi’s first Tri-Tone riff to the blistering tap work of Protest the Hero.

There is no such thing as an illegitimate art form. In many ways, Heavy Metal is the bastard child of Bach, Wagner and the Blues. The language is the same, the tonality is, in many cases, the same, and the emotions meant to be evoked are often the same. There are entire genres of metal devoted not only to calling out the evil and darkness in the world, but also the beauties of tragic love, Worship, Happiness, and just plain fun. I’m willing to bet most people can name at least one opera with one of those themes.

In the same way that the melodic and harmonic languages evolved from Classical Music and the Blues, so did techniques. Bruce Dickinson, largely hailed as one of the finest singers in metal history, talks about the way he adapted an operatic singing style to metal for the purpose of “being heard in the back of the hall… I want to pick out the person at the very back of the festival, a mile away from the stage and say, ‘I’m singing to you.’” Since then, Countless singers have come along with some sort of classical background – Tarja Turunen (Ex-Nightwish), Simone Simons (Epica), Roy Khan (Kamelot), Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica), Russell Allen (Symphony X), and many more.

A young Randy Rhoads studied classical guitar for many years. In 1979, He was given the lead guitar job for Ozzy Osbourne’s solo project and changed music history forever by incorporating classical guitar songwriting into Metal riffs. Since then, Classical Music and Metal have been the Odd Couple – Metal Operas, Growling Double Kick and Downtuning in Symphonies, and Entire genres of Metal (Symphonic Metal, Goth Metal, Neoclassical, Melodic Death Metal, Symphonic Power Metal, etc). Many bands will complement their guitars, bass, and drums with full orchestral sections via synthesizer to enhance and round out their sound. Even the most hardcore Metal groups that rely solely on growled or screamed vocals incorporate modes, pentatonic scales and tonic modulations into guitar parts to replace the sense of melody lost without a vocal line. In these cases, Vocals are used mostly as rhythm parts and will often be heavily syncopated.

All music deserves to be treated with respect, as art. There is no war between Art Music and Metal. While there may be a heavy and unfortunate tradition of elitism (on both sides), there is no reason to hate one form or another, especially without doing research. As a musician-in-training, I encourage you to listen to anything and everything you can. Creativity in performance, composition, or any walk of life comes from an amalgamation of every thing you’ve ever heard, seen, and felt. As a metalhead, I encourage you to turn that shit up.

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See if You can pick out the influence here: