Black Friday: Classical edition

Yes, even Deep Purple were playing around with classical elements.

To establish a sense of routine here in Metal Jotunn--and to "celebrate" our change into Blogspot--I have decided to introduce a feature called "Black Friday." In a flash, Black Friday will be a column where I introduce a song, a band, or something that I find interesting so you can look at it in finer detail over the weekend. What I have in mind is a weekly outlet for bands that have accomplished something I think is worthy of notice, to thematically join a series of bands or songs, or to simply direct you to something that is Metal and will keep boredom at bay.

A Metal Opera. Whaddayouknow?

Today's theme will be something connected to a post I am currently working on, which I hope to publish in the coming weeks. The truth is I am really excited about it, because I tie together a fairly diverse set of ideas, from classical music, German folk tales, Norwegian folk tales and Megadeth's Symphony of Destruction to Western Literature, Slayer, Helloween, and other bands. Oh, and a lot of historical context -- I am a sucker for European history.

This mammoth post is going to take me a while to write, and I will continue dropping hints here and there until it's ready. Why don't you try to guess what I'm going to talk about in the meantime?

Anyhow, I've digressed far enough, and it's high time I return to the present. For the first edition of Black Friday, and in honor of what I mentioned above, today's theme will be classical music. That's right; classical*. It is very often said that Metal has many roots in classical music, that it is, with Jazz, the only modern genre with similar complexities and so on.

I have noticed that many Metalheads throw this idea around, imposing themselves as cultured creatures because of their fine musical taste. Yet how many of them are active listeners of anything that doesn't involve a mighty growl, or a Jon Shaffer-ish triplet? (Of course, Iced Earth does incorporate operatic vocals, and deals with themes that are of literary importance, but you get my point.) I can't claim to be the most sophisticated man to walk this Earth, but I do know that Metalheads can be outright stupid and uncultured, and I do place myself above this plethora of idiocy.

Of course, the relation between classical music and Metal is extensive and often obscure. I do not set forth with the attempt to document the history of these two genres; that's for someone else to do. Instead, I will present some pieces that I think successfully incorporate the rich tradition of Western classical music with contemporary Metal. Do keep in mind, Power Metal, with it's attempt to reach fantastic glory, is the de facto repository for classical music in Metal; furthermore, it's my favorite genre, so Power will abound in the following list.

Of course, Yngwie Malmsteen has often been called a pioneer of Neo-Classical Metal. And, although he might be a greasy, fat old man now, back in the day he had his worth. I think the biggest issue I have with Malmsteen--and some will agree, some will hate me--is that sometimes his music sounds repetitive at times. Indeed, I have heard many a times that his scale variations are very limited. Nonetheless, he could really put up a show.

Regarding the Megadeth video, I now some readers will sneer. After all, the classical music in Mustaine's piece is rather limited--to the first few seconds, in fact. What many of you might not be aware of is that the piece played isOffertorium, Domine Jesu Christe from Mozart's Requiem K. 626, which was left uncompleted because of the composer's death.

To end this post, I would like to remind you that Metal and Western Classical melodies have much in common, as well as a long and intricate relationship. What I show here is but a spec of dust, and all of which I could conjure from the top of my head. I wanted to add more videos, but I felt this was dragging long enough.

Valdes \m/

*Note: I use the term "classical" fairly liberally to include the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods of music.