First Symphonic Prog Metal band??

[Pharaoh]

I'm on this genre kick again.

Who was the very first Symphonic Prog Metal band, that is..who brought this genre in??
I'm very familiar with prog and metal from the 60s to date, BUT I can't figure out the first Symphonic Prog Metal band. Anyone know?

Also....an example of a "neo-classical" band, pleeze?? (what's the dif?)

I and the fam can't get to a SymX show but we're happy for all of you who are going to see them over the next month.

 

[Dado-x]

First "neo-classical" would definately be Rising Force. As for Symphonic Prog metal...

I don't recall a band before Symphony X using neo-classical, prog and symphonic elements and blending them together to make such a remarkable style of music. Queensryche, Psychotic Waltz and Dream Theater (early albums only IMO) kinda added that 'power' feel to prog.


As said neo-classical style emerged in the 80's (altough old 70's Rainbow should be given certaint amount of credit) with the birth of Yngwie's Rising Force, which was pretty much standard 80's hard rock/heavy metal with obvious classical elements and influence.
So, when Symphony X debut came out, they were pretty much one of a kind band at that time, I think...


Of course now, you have those SyX-soundalike bands like Adagio or Kenziner, but for me, Symphony X stands as the originator of their (sub?) genre...

 

[Soul of Ice]

How bout Yes for symphonic rock, then you could say metal emerged that was influenced by them...

i dunno

 

[Polyeidus]

I'm on this genre kick again.

Who was the very first Symphonic Prog Metal band, that is..who brought this genre in??
I'm very familiar with prog and metal from the 60s to date, BUT I can't figure out the first Symphonic Prog Metal band. Anyone know?



Also....an example of a "neo-classical" band, pleeze?? (what's the dif?)

Running Wild, Rage, Queensrych, Fates Warning, and Crimson Glory are in my opinion the front runners of progressive metal. Symphonic metal could be dated as far back as Black Sabbath(arguably) but the first that usually comes to mind is of course Rising Force led by Malmsteen for his intergration of classical variations into their metal.

And a good example of a neo-classical band would have to be Stratovarius.

It seems that out of all of the forms of metal these days, neo-classical most often than not, is coupled with power metal, but I guess the difference would be the absence of progressive elements in power metal. Just my humble thoughts.

[Edit]After reading Harps post, I realised I never even answered the main question. Duh! But after the previous and Harps answer, I'll have to agree with them. New genre? Well, I can understand why so many are turned off by the so called 'clone bands' attempts at SymX's new genre. Can it really be done?

 

[Harp Heaven]

Who was the very first Symphonic Prog Metal band, that is..who brought this genre in??

Symphonic Prog Rock started with ELP. They singlehandedly defined the genre and predated Yes` symphonic evolution(who were playing rock and roll with prog influences at the time)by two years with their self-titled debut. As for Symphonic Prog Metal, I am very unsure. I am tempted to say that Symphony X are the originators of the genre, but I will wait with my comments.

 

[Pharaoh]

Harp Heaven, how about Electric Light Orchestra? I would tend to put them in as forerunners of "Symphonic Prog Rock" with the electric violin, cello, etc. but maybe not the first. (???) I hear their "sound" more symphonic than ELP, who kind of took King Crimson to a different level. What do you think?

These posts are interesting, but this one in particular, really blows me away..."It seems that out of all of the forms of metal these days, neo-classical most often than not, is coupled with power metal, but I guess the difference would be the absence of progressive elements in power metal. Just my humble thoughts." I must really think about this one for awhile. Wow...

 

[Prismatic Sphere]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that 70's Rush catapulted prog metal with neoclassical tendencies as a full fledged entity. Particularly on "Caress Of Steel" and "A Farewell To Kings".

 

[Demonspell]

I hear their "sound" more symphonic than ELP, who kind of took King Crimson to a different level. What do you think?

The only person that can take King Crimson to a different level is Robert Fripp.

 

[Pharaoh]

The only person that can take King Crimson to a different level is Robert Fripp.

Ok. (Well, I DID say "kind of took") !!

 

[Yngvai X]

These posts are interesting, but this one in particular, really blows me away..."It seems that out of all of the forms of metal these days, neo-classical most often than not, is coupled with power metal, but I guess the difference would be the absence of progressive elements in power metal. Just my humble thoughts." I must really think about this one for awhile. Wow...

You can have powermetal without it being neoclassical (Blind Guardian, Gamma Ray, Iced Earth, Edguy, etc), and I would also argue that you can have neoclassical without powermetal (Rising Force is a good example of this, the "metal" side of Yngwie's music has always been more akin to trad metal bands like Rainbow and Iron Maiden, although both Rainbow and Maiden were forefathers of the powermetal bands). Most neoclassical powermetal bands these days could also be called symphonic metal, and when you think about it, isnt it natural that a band interested in incorperating classical elements into their music would also want to incorperate symphonic elements? Bands that tread in both symphonic and neoclassical metal would be Angra, Rhapsody, Stratovarius (moreso on their earlier albums like Episode than now), Symphony X, Adagio, etc.

As far as who did the symphonic thing first...hmm...well the first band I ever heard do it was Angra, predating Symphony X's usage of it by about 5 years (Angel's Cry came out in 1995, V came out in 2000). So if anyone can find an earlier example of a metal band using orchestral effects in their music, I'd like to know (a keyboardist using a string patch on his keyboard does NOT count! I'm talking a band that really made it sound like they had an orchestra behind them)

BTW - to further confuse things for you, Pharoah, Iced Earth will be using an orchestra on their new album, so theres an example of a non neoclassical powermetal band thats also symphonic metal!

 

[Polyeidus]

Yeah, that could've fried my brain if I hadn't kept up with what it was saying... geez, just about lost it there.
Gotta be more careful posting sticky combo's like that one!