Mixing Rock/Metal with Classical: should not be done
 

Claim: rock and metal music, while perfectly good when combined with folk elements, seem to totally suck in every way at every attempt to combine them with classical music elements. I've never come across it done well on a single occasion. Also, virtually all operatic metal is horrid.

Bottomline: imo, attempting a metal/rock/classical hybrid does not have good results and should not be done.



DISCUSS!

Why not?

That's the strange thing about it, I don't really know why not - can't put a finger on it. I just always find that it sounds extraordinarily odd. And that there's something mildly nauseating and out-of-placey about electric guitar riffs and solos that sound like a page right out of one of Bach's fugues. And heavy-vibrato opera singing over hard rock? Just sounds weird.

It works for Mekong Delta with their album Dances of Death in which they perform Mussorgsky's Night on the Bare Mountain. But then again, they're not the typical 'lolz if i do a bit of shredding it's neo-classical!' band.

It also works very well for bands like King Crimson.

I like Therion too.

I've never really given Therion a proper go. What's their best record?

Coming to think of it, I guess that pretty much nails down most of the problem.

How many times has this actually come across though?

You'll see your wrong when you listen to Classico by Tenacious D

Nothing works as well imho.

considering that a large portion of metal is strongly classical influenced and most, if not all, shredding solos are classical based, I think you are wrong.

Explain yourself. There's got to be a large difference between something that is supposed to sound like Bach on speed, and something that is supposed to rock out but MIGHT have some classical influence.

I'm talking about this neo-classical stuff.