Symphonic Black Metal Trivia Quiz

Answer: Damnation And A Day

"Damnation And A Day" is Cradle Of Filth's only album released on the Sony label. It is divided into four sections, each of which opens with an orchestral interlude; the orchestra and choir are still prevalent throughout other songs on the album. It is an epic concept album with influences from Milton's poem "Paradise Lost", this is clear from the second section with song titles such as "Better To Reign In Hell" and "Serpent Tongue".

In the third section we hear songs which sound more oriental with references to Egyptian deities, this could be interpreted as a corruption of certain biblical ideas, since Egyptian deities are not mentioned in the Bible.

The song "Babalon A.D." off the album is based on Aleister Crowley, so there is an element of mysticism as well.

Answer: The Fallen Arises

Different versions of this album have been released including bonus tracks, but this is the only song that is an instrumental across all releases of it.

Answer: Advent Sorrow

Advent Sorrow formed in 2010 and hail from Perth, Australia. They describe their sound as "torturous black metal". "The Wraith in Silence" was first released on their 2012 EP "Before The Dimming Light".

Answer: Pyramid God

SepticFlesh are a Greek symphonic metal band. "Pyramid God" is off their 2011 album "The Great Mass" as are all the incorrect options.

Answer: Ihsahn

Ihsahn, whose real name is Vegard Sverre Tveitan, founded Emperor with fellow band mate Samoth. He has worked on multiple projects with other artists, and his musical influences are incredibly diverse, ranging from classical to hip-hop. He has also done a lot of solo work.

He has claimed that he is a Satanist, but he respects other cultures and beliefs, and has said that he is absolutely against acts of religious hatred and prejudice.

Answer: This Is No Fairytale

Carach Angren are a Dutch symphonic metal band whose music is heavily influenced by folklore. They make their work more diverse by including lyrics in different languages like Dutch, German and French, although they primarily use English. "This Is No Fairytale" retells the story of Hansel and Gretel in a perverse manner which covers themes such as child abuse and drug abuse.

Their best known song off this album is probably their masterpiece "When Crows Tick On Windows" for which they have released an official music video.

Answer: Angelic Vengeance

Wykked Wytch are an American black metal band fronted by the talented Ipek Warnock, who is a woman originally from Turkey. "Angelic Vengeance" is the name of their second album.

Answer: Taiwan

Chthonic are a political black metal band who have spread the culture and history of Taiwan through their music, which includes variations of old folk songs and also uses a broad range of oriental instruments; the ehru, shakuhachi and pgaki flutes are key examples of this. They are politically active in Taiwan, with various members having been involved in certain political movements.

Answer: The Bishop Of Hexen

The Bishop Of Hexen are a symphonic black metal band from Israel whose music is based on ancient legend and sorcery. Their album "The Nightmarish Compositions" was released in 2006 and was met with roaring approval from fans and critics who deemed it to be one of the most atmospheric and virtuosic albums of the year in the genre of Symphonic Black Metal.

The video game "Brutal Legend" which was released in 2009 used the music of many heavy metal bands in its soundtrack; two tracks used are off the album in question, namely "The Somber Grounds Of Truth" and "A Serpentine Crave".

Answer: A flat minor, E minor, A flat minor, C minor

This chord progression and variations or transpositions of it are widely used in TV and film music to create a haunting, ethereal effect that can sound ominous yet beautiful at the same time. Often the same band has used similar chord progressions in multiple songs within the genre of Symphonic Black Metal; there are examples of such bands featured in this quiz.

These chords can also famously be heard in the final movement of Holst's "Planets Suite", "Neptune, The Mystic". This piece of music starts to sound seriously weird when combinations of these chords are played together to create a bitonal effect. Holst manages to write parts for the two harps in this piece which coincide with the bitonal effect produced by the rest of the orchestra, even though due to the mechanisms of the harp, this might initially seem problematic. Basically the harp is tuned to the diatonic scale of C flat; that's when all the strings are naturally as slack as possible, this is enharmonically equivalent to just B natural. There are 7 pedals which the user operates to control whether each note is sharp, flat or natural in every octave register. So while the harp covers a similar range to the piano, the notes can't all be covered at the same time, also chromatic runs can't be done very quickly without altering the pedals; it is this key feature that makes the harp unparalleled by any instrument, synthetic or acoustic. So here's how Holst wrote the parts; he must've thought something along the lines "right well the triad that makes up E minor is E G B. Now the triad that makes up G# minor is G# B D#, however I can't have the G# as G's already natural in E minor, forcing me to use A flat which is enharmonically equivalent to it. But the E's also natural so I can't have E flat, forcing me to use D#." This does not conform to the conventional use of western key signatures as these are never written with a sharp and a flat simultaneously at the start of a piece of music. So this is what creates the haunting mysterious effect. The fixed tuning of the harp throughout these sections is similar to the Byzantine scale, which can use sharps and flats in the same scale depending on which note you start on, however it's just not quite the same as certain strings are forced to be given different pitches. So it's technically modulation, even though all the arpeggiated chords can be played using a fixed tuning of the harp, because the role of certain notes change, for example the B is the dominant in E minor, but the mediant in A flat minor. Modulation is used a lot in Symphonic Black Metal, the use of minor chords shifting by the interval of the tritone is also a favourite. That's why I thought it would be unacceptable to include a chord progression using modulation as an incorrect answer. I still think this chord progression proves the most popular though! The wide usage of similar chord progressions to this one demonstrate its sheer versatility.