Symphonic/gothic metal anyone?

[Nachtwens]

I enjoy all three. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Tarja, but I think Anette did a good job on Dark Passion Play and was an excellent fit for Imaginaerum. I know Floor mostly through After Forever, so I know she can fit well with Nightwish. Unfortunately, I wasn't a huge fan of Endless Forms Most Bautiful, which wasn't a great start to her albums with Nightwish. Still thought her vocals were good, though.

I'm not sure what my favorite song would be. From the Tarja-era it would be either Sacraments of Wilderness or Romanticide. My favorite song with Anette was definitely Amaranth. So far, my favorites with Floor have been Shudder Before the Beautiful and Weak Fantasy.

Yeah Tarja is my favorite too, possibly my favorite female singer ever (though Tori Amos is also up there). It's just a shame that her ego got too big for Nightwish. She never showed up at rehearsels, traveled seperately from the other band members and said things like "I don't need Nightwish anymore" and "Do know that I could quit at any time". She thought she was irreplacable. She also seemed to care more about money and fame than making music, not wanting to tour in the US and Australia because the fees were too low and the venues too small. This understandably led to the decision of the other band members to continue without her.

I tried to like her solo work, but in my humble opinion it's kind of so-so.

My favorite songs are I Wish I Had An Angel, Over the Hills and Far Away, Nemo and 7 Days to the Wolves.

No mention of Sonata Arctica yet? For shame...

Not really a fan of male vocalists in my symphonic metal, I prefer female voices, especially when they're sopranos like Tarja Turunen. And I don't think Sonata Artica is true symphonic metal, they're more on the power metal side of things, although they do have symphonic influences. Not a bad band by any stretch of the imagination, but not something I'd put in my playlist.

Afaik Evanescence doesn't label themselves as symphonic metal but alternative. I don't get a lot of the music genres anyway, a lot of them sound the part IMO.

Evanescence are indeed not symphonic, more like generic rock with an above average female vocalist. I find them rather boring, although Everybody's Fool is kind of nice. And Bring Me to Life. Also that song Broken with singer Amy Lee and Seether.

To give you a better understanding of what is symphonic and what isn't; symphonic metal often makes use of opera and classic influences, sometimes even having an entire orchestra on stage. It's also pretty common for symphonic metal bands to make use of what is known as the 'beauty and the beast' formula, clean female vocals alternated by deep male grunts and growls.

Listen to the music posted in this thread, I'm sure you will find something to your liking