Symphonic black metal is a subgenre of black metal that emerged in the 1990s and incorporates symphonic and orchestral elements.
Carach Angren is a Dutch symphonic black metal band, founded in 2003 by two members of the now-defunct bands Inger Indolia and Vaultage. Their style is characterized by prominent usage of orchestral arrangements, black metal vocals, and guitar riffs. Their studio albums are concept albums with lyrics based on ghost stories and folklore, such as the Flying Dutchman. The band sets itself apart from other symphonic black metal artists with the usage of multiple languages such as English, French, German, and Dutch. Most songs are based on English, with transitions into other languages during chorus and bridge sections.
Pestilence is a Dutch death metal band founded in Enschede in 1986. They have been through various membership changes throughout their existence, with guitarist-vocalist Patrick Mameli as the sole constant member. After disbanding in order to pursue other musical directions in 1994, Pestilence reunited in 2008, and was put on a "permanent hold" in July 2014. However, the band reunited once again in October 2016. To date, Pestilence has released nine studio albums, and they are apart of "progressive death metal's Big Four", alongside with Death, Atheist, and Cynic.
Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitars of metal with different elements of orchestral classical music, such as symphonic instruments, choirs and sometimes a full orchestra, or just keyboard orchestration.
Marduk is a Swedish black metal band formed in Norrköping in 1990. The band released their debut full-length album, Dark Endless, in 1992 on No Fashion Records. Their name is derived from the Ancient Babylonian deity, Marduk.
A White Evil Lady is a type of female ghost. She is typically dressed in a white dress or similar garment, reportedly seen in rural areas and associated with local legends of tragedy. White Lady legends are found in many countries around the world. Common to many of these legends is an accidental death, murder, or suicide, and the theme of loss, betrayed by a husband or fiancé, and unrequited love.
ReVamp was a Dutch progressive metal band formed by singer Floor Jansen after her previous band After Forever disbanded in 2009.
Death Came Through a Phantom Ship is the second studio album by Dutch symphonic black metal band Carach Angren, It was released in 2010.
Where the Corpses Sink Forever is the third studio album by Dutch symphonic black metal band Carach Angren. It was released on 18 May 2012 via Season of Mist. The concept of this album is not about a Dutch urban legend or ghost stories, like the previous two albums, but it deals with war. The album contains references to World Wars I and II, as well as the Vietnam War. The first track is a tape recording of a soldier who was ordered to shoot seven prisoners of war, and each shot can be heard. The soldier explains the strange and wicked sensations he felt as he shot each of the prisoners; they were grinning happily as he tried to kill them, and it seemed like the shots went through them, but they were actually demons who captured the soldier's soul in a time loop, making him suffer for eternity. Many of the songs in this album describe the deeds of each of the seven fiends; death, war, suffering.
Ethereal Veiled Existence is the first EP by Dutch symphonic black metal band Carach Angren. All tracks are based on a haunting called Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, known from the worlds' most famous ghost-picture, taken in 1936. Recorded & produced at the Wijers residence in Well (Netherlands) during August/September 2005. It was limited to 300 copies.
This Is No Fairytale is the fourth studio album by Dutch symphonic black metal band Carach Angren. It was released on 23 February 2015 via Season of Mist. The witch's hand on the cover art of the album is actually the hand of Dennis "Seregor" Droomers' grandmother.
The Chase Vault Tragedy is the first demo by Dutch symphonic black metal band Carach Angren. The CD was released on 1 September 2004; it is a concept album about the mystery of the burial vault of Chase Vault in Barbados. Pro-printed CD-R comes without back cover artwork. It was limited to 100 copies.
Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten is the fifth studio album by Dutch symphonic black metal band Carach Angren. It was released on 16 June 2017 via Season of Mist. Although the album doesn't follow a linear story as their previous albums did, it is still a concept album. Clemens "Ardek" Wijers describes the album's concept as visitations from multiple ghosts of the dead; including the "Blood Queen" and Charles Francis Coghlan. The full album is focused on a nameless girl who plays with a Ouija board causing her to raise a variety of spirits and ends up getting possessed. The album ends by informing the listener that the box the CD came in is haunted by these same spirits, and that by opening the album, the listener has also released them.
Dennis "Seregor" Droomers is a vocalist, guitarist, artist, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist for Dutch symphonic black metal band, Carach Angren. The stage name "Seregor" comes from Tolkien's Silmarillion. It is a combination of the word sereg which means blood, and gor which means abhorrent. Before Carach Angren, Droomers played bass and was the vocalist for Inger Indolia from 1996-2001 and was the vocalist for Vaultage from 2003-2005 with fellow Carach Angren member Clemens "Ardek" Wijers on keyboards. Carach Angren began as his and Wijers' side project while they were playing in Vaultage, because the two connected over a shared love of horror and storytelling. Later, Vaultage was disbanded as Carach Angren became increasingly successful. It is known that he grew up close to Schildveldse Bossen near where the focus of Lammendam took place. It is also known that he was primarily raised by his grandparents and is close to his grandmother who appears on the album art of This Is No Fairytale as the hand of the witch. Typically, Droomers writes Carach Angren's lyrics and stories while bandmate Clemens "Ardek" Wijers writes the composition.
Clemens "Ardek" Wijers is a Dutch keyboardist, pianist, and composer best known as the keyboardist of Dutch symphonic black metal band Carach Angren. Before Carach Angren, Wijers played with Dark Mutation and then Vaultage where he met Dennis "Seregor" Droomers and they began Carach Angren as a side project, when the two connected over a shared love of horror and storytelling. Later Vaultage disbanded when Carach Angren became increasingly successful.
Vardøger was a Christian extreme metal band from Hamar, Norway. Formed in 1994 under the name Hidden Paradise, the members of the band at the time were all involved in other musical projects and so treated Hidden Paradise as a side project. Several songs were written between 1995 and 1997, almost enough for an entire album, and the band changed its name to Vardøger, but the group disbanded before an album could be released. In 2000, the band contributed the symphonic black metal song "Footprints of Thunder" to the compilation album In the Shadow of Death: A Scandinavian Extreme Music Compilation.
Whitefrozen is the 2003 debut EP by the Norwegian unblack and Viking metal band Vardøger. Vardøger formed in 1994, under the name Hidden Paradise, as a side project of its constituent musicians.
Franckensteina Strataemontanus is the sixth studio album by Dutch symphonic black metal band Carach Angren. Released on 26 June 2020 through Season of Mist, it is a concept album inspired by the life of late 17th-century/early 18th-century German occultist Johann Konrad Dippel, whose controversial experiments with corpses allegedly inspired Mary Shelley's influential 1818 Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus; its title is a reference to a Latin epithet adopted by Dippel later in life. It is also their final release with long-time drummer and founding member Ivo "Namtar" Wijers, who left the band as soon as the recording sessions ended citing "dissatisfactions with the music industry".
Exitivm is the ninth studio album by Dutch death metal band Pestilence. It was released on 25 June 2021, after having been signed to Agonia Records. Because Septimiu Hărşan had to leave the band due to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, he was replaced by Michiel van der Plicht who has since become a full-time member. It is also the band's first album with bassist Joost van der Graaf and guitarist Rutger van Noordenburg.
