--- title: "Symphonic Black Metal" type: "MusicGenre" url: "https://themetalnet.com/genre/symphonic-black" parent: "Black Metal" bands: 147 era: "mid 1990s" --- # Symphonic Black Metal **Symphonic Black Metal** is a metal sub-genre, formative in the mid 1990s. TheMetalNet maps 147 bands and 351 albums under it. Symphonic black metal grafts orchestral grandeur onto black metal, using keyboards, choirs, and full symphonic arrangements as a central element rather than mere backdrop. Emperor helped birth it in the mid-1990s, and Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth turned it into a cinematic, theatrical spectacle. The black-metal core of shrieks, blast beats, and tremolo riffs remains, but tempos often slow and structures tighten to let the orchestration breathe. It is black metal at its most epic and grandiose. ## Facts | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Genre | Symphonic Black Metal | | Level | Sub-genre | | Parent genre | Black Metal | | Formative era | mid 1990s | | Bands | 147 | | Albums | 351 | | Formation span | 1989 to 2025 | ## Notable bands (top 60 by prominence) - [Graveworm](https://themetalnet.com/band/graveworm) (Italy, 1992) - [Limbonic Art](https://themetalnet.com/band/limbonic-art) (Norway, 1993) - […and Oceans](https://themetalnet.com/band/and-oceans) (Finland, 1995) - [Carach Angren](https://themetalnet.com/band/carach-angren) (Netherlands, 2003) - [Ceremonial Castings](https://themetalnet.com/band/ceremonial-castings) (United States, 1996) - [Gloomy Grim](https://themetalnet.com/band/gloomy-grim) (Finland, 1995) - [Hermh](https://themetalnet.com/band/hermh) (Poland, 1993) - [The Bishop of Hexen](https://themetalnet.com/band/the-bishop-of-hexen) (Israel, 1994) - [Anorexia Nervosa](https://themetalnet.com/band/anorexia-nervosa) (France, 1995) - [Asgaard](https://themetalnet.com/band/asgaard) (Poland, 1994) - [Ad Inferna](https://themetalnet.com/band/ad-inferna) (France, 2000) - [Noctiferia](https://themetalnet.com/band/noctiferia) (Slovenia, 1992) - [Blackthorn](https://themetalnet.com/band/blackthorn-bb02db30) (Russia, 2004) - [Vesperian Sorrow](https://themetalnet.com/band/vesperian-sorrow) (United States, 1996) - [Dragonlord](https://themetalnet.com/band/dragonlord) (United States, 2000) - [Pimentola](https://themetalnet.com/band/pimentola) (Finland, 1996) - [Dismal Euphony](https://themetalnet.com/band/dismal-euphony) (Norway, 1992) - [Evenfall](https://themetalnet.com/band/evenfall) (Italy, 1992) - [Lord Vampyr](https://themetalnet.com/band/lord-vampyr) (Italy, 2004) - [Astarium](https://themetalnet.com/band/astarium) (Russia, 2005) - [Inchiuvatu](https://themetalnet.com/band/inchiuvatu) (Italy, 1993) - [Tyrant](https://themetalnet.com/band/tyrant) (Japan, 1994) - [Arcane Grail](https://themetalnet.com/band/arcane-grail) (Russia, 2001) - [Crystal Abyss](https://themetalnet.com/band/crystal-abyss) (Russia, 1998) - [Apotheosis](https://themetalnet.com/band/apotheosis) (Malta, 1993) - [Obtained Enslavement](https://themetalnet.com/band/obtained-enslavement) (Norway, 1989) - [Asgaroth](https://themetalnet.com/band/asgaroth) (Spain, 1995) - [Ethereal](https://themetalnet.com/band/ethereal) (Colombia, 1996) - [W.E.B.](https://themetalnet.com/band/w-e-b) (Greece, 2002) - [Diabolical Breed](https://themetalnet.com/band/diabolical-breed) (Norway, 1999) - [Welicoruss](https://themetalnet.com/band/welicoruss) (Russia, 2002) - [Fanisk](https://themetalnet.com/band/fanisk) (United States, 2000) - [Valhalla](https://themetalnet.com/band/valhalla-b36beb47) (Russia, 1997) - [AmethistA](https://themetalnet.com/band/amethista) (Italy, 2004) - [Old Corpse Road](https://themetalnet.com/band/old-corpse-road) (United Kingdom, 2008) - [Schattenvald](https://themetalnet.com/band/schattenvald) (Germany, 1998) - [Stigmatic Chorus](https://themetalnet.com/band/stigmatic-chorus) (Russia, 2000) - [Númenor](https://themetalnet.com/band/numenor) (Serbia, 2009) - [Obscurcis Romancia](https://themetalnet.com/band/obscurcis-romancia) (Canada, 1997) - [Forgotten Winter](https://themetalnet.com/band/forgotten-winter) (Portugal, 2004) - [Sacrasphemy](https://themetalnet.com/band/sacrasphemy) (2002) - [The Bleeding Sun](https://themetalnet.com/band/the-bleeding-sun) (1996) - [Ufych Sormeer](https://themetalnet.com/band/ufych-sormeer) (France, 1997) - [Atra Mustum](https://themetalnet.com/band/atra-mustum) (Russia, 2000) - [Eblis](https://themetalnet.com/band/eblis) (Poland, 1992) - [Korozy](https://themetalnet.com/band/korozy) (Bulgaria, 1994) - [Parakletos](https://themetalnet.com/band/parakletos) (Finland, 2004) - [Vargrav](https://themetalnet.com/band/vargrav) (Finland, 2015) - [Antecantamentum](https://themetalnet.com/band/antecantamentum) (United States, 2010) - [Art Inferno](https://themetalnet.com/band/art-inferno) (Italy, 1997) - [Dryados](https://themetalnet.com/band/dryados) (Russia, 2000) - [Fourth Monarchy](https://themetalnet.com/band/fourth-monarchy) (Italy, 2002) - [Zornheym](https://themetalnet.com/band/zornheym) (Sweden, 2014) - [Absidia](https://themetalnet.com/band/absidia) (Russia, 1998) - [Misteltein](https://themetalnet.com/band/misteltein) (Sweden, 1996) - [Singularity](https://themetalnet.com/band/singularity) (2010) - [The Eternal Blade](https://themetalnet.com/band/the-eternal-blade) (France, 1998) - [13 Winters](https://themetalnet.com/band/13-winters) (United States, 2001) - [Dagorlad](https://themetalnet.com/band/dagorlad) (Belgium, 1997) - [Litrosis](https://themetalnet.com/band/litrosis) (Greece, 2010) ## Where it is played - [Russia](https://themetalnet.com/country/ru): 21 bands - [Finland](https://themetalnet.com/country/fi): 14 bands - [United States](https://themetalnet.com/country/us): 14 bands - [Italy](https://themetalnet.com/country/it): 11 bands - [France](https://themetalnet.com/country/fr): 9 bands - [Norway](https://themetalnet.com/country/no): 8 bands - [Poland](https://themetalnet.com/country/pl): 7 bands - [Germany](https://themetalnet.com/country/de): 4 bands ## Bands formed by decade | Decade | Bands formed | | --- | --- | | 1980s | 1 | | 1990s | 50 | | 2000s | 44 | | 2010s | 31 | | 2020s | 9 | --- Source: [TheMetalNet https://themetalnet.com/genre/symphonic-black](https://themetalnet.com/genre/symphonic-black). Catalog data from MusicBrainz and Metal Archives. Full site index: https://themetalnet.com/llms.txt