Comments on: Help me find baroque-rock music!

Question: Help me find baroque-rock music!

thedaniel — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:04:51 -0800

I enjoy the old Japanese goth band Malice Mizer, mostly the stuff from later in their career. I can take or leave their fancy outfits, but I like the musical style - this is a prime example: ( youtube video ) What other bands play music that is similarly 'cathedral rock'?

By: benzo8

benzo8 — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:29:16 -0800

On the Japanese front, you have Mana's other band - Moi dix Mois.

On the English (speaking) front, you have Nightwish, Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil, Cradle of Filth (sometimes)...

By: panamax

panamax — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:07:01 -0800

My J-Rock listening sphere only intersects MM with X Japan. . .

Art of Life 1/4
Art of Life 2/4
Art of Life 3/4
Art of Life 4/4

By: thedaniel

thedaniel — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:34:28 -0800

benzo8 - thanks - i have the first MDM album, and like it. I've listened to all the other bands you listed, except for Within Temptation, and they fall too far on the 'metal/rock' end, where what i'm looking for is something that doesn't subvert that organs and harpsichord sound so much.

panamax - thanks for the links - I picked up that dvd the week it came out in japan :)

By: wackybrit

wackybrit — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 01:32:16 -0800

Devin Townsend - Infinity, an album, has a spooky, Addams Family type feel going on for most of its length, especially "Bad Devil".. so get Devin Townsend - Bad Devil, if you only want to test a track. Just found a playable version of the song on YouTube.

A few other bands I've heard with songs in this style are Opeth, Fear Factory, and even HIM although not all (or even much) of their material is in this style.

By: nicolas léonard sadi carnot

nicolas léonard sadi carnot — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 04:10:03 -0800

My Dying Bride is quite theatrical in a similar way, though a bit more metal.

A Kiss to Remember.

By: misozaki

misozaki — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 04:38:23 -0800

The genre you're looking for is called "vijuaru-kei" (visual-kei) here. I was surprised to find that the English Wikipedia page has a pretty exhaustive list of Japanese bands that fall under this category.

By: Julnyes

Julnyes — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:46:29 -0800

Visual-kei is really too broad a category since it encompasses Malice Mizer and bands like Antic Cafe - very different groups and musical sounds.

I guess Gackt's work immediately after leaving / getting kicked out of MM might work for you.

Mana just released an all instrumental version of his new Moi Dix Mois album Dixanadu that is fantastic (I am a little biased since I think he is amazing)

Versailles are pretty symphonic (but I think they are inferior to MM and M10M)

on the English front perhaps Evanescence?? I'm kinda rusty there.

By: thedaniel

thedaniel — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 11:57:55 -0800

Thanks for contributing to the thread, everyone. I've listened to a lot of visual rock since (almost since) the days of X, and like some of it, but bands like Cradle of Filth, etc, are not at all what I'm looking for - much like that Devin Townshend link, it's just straight-ahead rock or metal with some token organs thrown in.

If you follow the link in the original question, I think you'll find it's a lot subtler with its rock instrumentation and has a lot of emphasis on the interwoven melodic lines. That is what I am looking for, not (symphonic) METALLL but SYMPHONIC (metal).

By: jpdoane

jpdoane — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:10:20 -0800

Yngwie Malmsteen?

By: wackybrit

wackybrit — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:54:05 -0800

Bear in mind you were asking more for 'cathedral rock' rather than metal-tinged symphonic music. That might change the recommendations, as I know there are certainly quite a few symphonic metal bands that emphasize the symphony rather than the metal, but couldn't be considered to sound anything like 'cathedral rock'.