Symphonic Metal 1990s Albums

Stairway to Fairyland is Freedom Call’s bright, fantasy-tinged power-metal debut, built from soaring melody, brisk rhythm and sparkling keyboards.

The Fourth Legacy gathers heavy riffs, flowing keyboards and narrative-minded melody into a grand Kamelot power-metal statement.

Queen of the Ocean paints a fantasy-tinged rock world with expansive keyboards, dramatic guitar and Lana Lane’s clear vocal presence.

Inquisition Symphony uses the low end and sharp attack of cellos to translate metal riffs into a different kind of sound.

Cradle of Filth's third album, issued by Music for Nations in 1998. It is a concept record following the legend of Elizabeth Báthory.

Siege Perilous is an early Kamelot album that adds classical color and story-minded drama to melodic-metal power.

Garden of the Moon centers Lana Lane’s clear vocal tone within symphonic keyboards, melodic guitar and a sense of cosmic space.

Oceanborn combines shining keyboards, fast guitar and operatic vocals in Nightwish’s symphonic-metal language.

Dimmu Borgir's third album, issued by Nuclear Blast on 30 May 1997. It was made at Peter Tägtgren's Abyss Studio, and it is where the band broke through.

Dominion combines heavy guitar and dramatic melody with restrained classical color.

Angels Fall First is Nightwish’s debut, combining acoustic color, rushing metal and Tarja Turunen’s classical vocal presence.

Enter is Within Temptation’s debut, combining sinking heavy guitar, spectral keyboards and Sharon den Adel’s clear voice.

Plays Metallica by Four Cellos proves how naturally the weight of metal riffs can meet the force of low-register cello.

Cradle of Filth's second studio album, from November 1996: the record that carried the band's name out of England, and a gothic black metal classic.

Curious Goods builds fantasy-tinged progressive rock around dense keyboard layers and Lana Lane’s clear voice.

Eternity finds Kamelot’s debut-era sound in the meeting point of heavy guitar and neoclassical melody.

Love Is an Illusion centers Lana Lane’s clear vocal within thick keyboard layers and progressive song development.

Cradle of Filth's debut album, from February 1994, and a then-unusual welding of gothic metal to black metal.

Emperor's debut, issued by Candlelight in 1994. Its orchestral keyboards made it the template for symphonic black metal.