Black Metal.

They're just not the same thing. I guess you could say there's a lot of crossover, but it's not necessary. Dissection and Sacramentum are melodic but not symphonic, while Emperor has some pretty sturdy chunks of symphonic dissonance.
 
I wonder why this thread has over twice the posts of the death metal one. Is black metal so much more popular, at least on this forum?

Both are very much on par in terms of popularity on this forum if recent polls are any indication. Also, you need to take into account the separate Brutal/Slam Death Metal thread which is also quite active.
 
I was just listening to some Bal-Sagoth and it's pretty hard not to call them symphonic. However, a large amount of melodic bands sound just like symphonic bands, and vice versa. The distinction between the two styles sometimes gets muddled.
Bal-Sagoth is pretty sweet.
 
I enjoy this act:

Sammath is a Dutch furious black metal band, which translates to death metal technique applied to melodic but vicious black metal. Their newest album Godless Arrogance will be released on Hammerheart records in March 2014.

Live stream of Godless Arrogance on Terrorizer Magazine's site

Anyone else a fan of this raging Dutch black/death act? If you like guitaristry, their second-to-last album might be fun, but the new one is just pure metal intensity.