Embers (viola)

Embers is an ambient black metal band from Oakland, California who uses their music to address the social issue of humanity's toll on the environment. Their atmospheric guitars and down-tempo drums provide for a gloomy yet relaxing kind of background music - until the blood-chilling vocals come in. The screams and growls of their male and female vocalists immediately convey the violence inherent in their message, while the organic sound of the acoustic viola and the melodic keyboards add a touch of beauty to their music. Their songs are constantly developing and changing, grabbing and swaying your emotions along with the rhythmic and tempo changes. Their music is powerful in its subtlety, and strangely addicting!

Their violist, Nine Katechis, has had over 15 years of experience playing viola, and has played in other Bay Area bands before. She plays a 5-string viola, with the highest string tuned to the E of the violin. The viola parts are very melodic and often eerie, using lots of reverb and playing softly in the background. Because of the ambient nature of the music, the viola has a lot of freedom in what it is able to play without interfering with the other instruments, allowing for interesting viola parts.

Unfortunately, Embers has lost both their violist and keyboardist, and is looking for people to take their place. If any of you are in the Bay Area and interested in joining Embers, go to their website and write them!

Recommended Songs: "The Reprise," "Suicide," "Corruption," "Awakening" (solo in middle)

(Listen to the songs HERE)

Official Site: embers-music.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/embers666

"The Reprise" and "Corruption":

Stream of Passion

Stream of Passion was originally intended to be a one-time side project of Dutch composer Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon, Star One). But under the direction of Mexican-born singer and violinist Marcela Bovio, Stream of Passion has taken flight as an independent and ongoing band. This Holland-based band plays gothic metal with strong progressive influences, featuring heavy use of piano and piano keyboard sounds, as well as syncopated guitar riffs. Marcela's vocals are the main attraction of Stream of Passion, however - her sweet and haunting voice coupled with unconventional vocal melodies makes her singing unique and memorable.
Marcela also plays violin for the band. "My favorite is the violin," she says, "even though I’m not a very skilled violinist. I just love this instrument’s sound." The violin parts mostly play softly in the background, adding a subtle but beautiful effect, but sometimes it can play the lead melody, and sometimes it even doubles with guitar. On their first album Embrace the Storm, Marcela played a Yamaha SV-100, but now she has a 5-string Yamaha EV (pictured). There is an additional string quartet on their second album, The Flame Within: Ben Mathot and Judith van Driel (violin), Mark Mulder (viola), and David Faber (cello). As both the singer and violinist, Marcela cannot play all the violin parts live, but she does play an occasional intro or interlude on the violin in concert.

Recommended Songs: "This Endless Night," "Embrace the Storm," "Now or Never," "Out in the Real World," "Street Spirit" (Radiohead cover), "Passion"

Official Site: http://www.streamofpassion.com/
Myspace: www.myspace.com/streamofpassionband

"Out in the Real World" (Embrace the Storm), with Arjen Lucassen and Lori Linstruth on guitar:




"This Endless Night" (The Flame Within) live, with Marcela on violin for the intro:



Resources: [1] [2] [3]

Crimfall

Crimfall is folk metal band from Helsinki, Finland. Their music is very epic - can I emphasize that again? Very. Epic. Finland doesn't disappoint when it comes to folk metal, and Crimfall is no exception. Their music generally features melodies reminiscent of Finnish folk music and lyrics about vikings, but sometimes their music can even have an ethnic middle-eastern feel to it. Their dense keyboard orchestration and heavy guitars provide for a powerful sound, and the male and female vocalists provide for a nice contrast. Although the male/female singer lineup occurs quite frequently in metal, I feel like their male grunter/female operatic singer offset is exceptionally well done and stands out from the rest.
The official band consists of the two singers, a guitarist/keyboardist, drums and bass, while their session musicians on the album include violin, cello, and accordion. The guitarist also plays "other weird instruments," and I'm not entirely sure what that entails, but I do know it includes the jaw harp!
Crimfall is still a fairly new band - they only have one album out right now, As the Path Unfolds..., which was released in 2009. They have a new album coming out in March of 2011, and they posted a new song on their Myspace, "Frost Upon Their Graves." Check it out, it's a great song!
Their session violinist was Maija Arvaja, but they are actually going to have Olli, the violinist from Turisas, be a guest musician on their next album! So, I'm officially really excited for this new album, and I'll be writing about it when it comes out!

Recommended Songs: "Wildfire Season," "Ascension Pyre," "The Crown of Treason"

Official Site: www.crimfall.com/
Myspace: www.myspace.com/crimfall

"Ascension Pyre" :


"Wildfire Season" :

Chthonic (erhu)

The first time I heard of Chthonic was when I saw them at Ozzfest in 2007. After seeing that they had an erhu (a Chinese 2-string violin), that they were from Taipei, Taiwan, and that they fought for human rights and Taiwanese independence from China, I have never forgotten them. They are a driven and impressive group - they were the first asian metal band ever to play at Ozzfest, they have been banned in parts of China for their political views, and they have also met with the Dalai Lama as a part of their human rights endeavors. Even though their music is more brutal than stuff I normally listen to, I am a sucker for bands with political motives, girl musicians, and ethnic instruments. It didn't hurt, too, that I am half-Taiwanese. They have very interesting corpse paint, which they call "ghost paint," (not pictured above) which actually corresponds to symbols and curses in Chinese mythology. They are a band which has a deep concept behind their musics, which is something I really appreciate.
They consider themselves an extreme metal band because their lyrics don't really fit into the black metal scene, but musically they have a very black metal sound. They utilize high screams, low grunts, fast tempos, eerie keyboard sounds and sometimes haunting choirs and female vocals. They even incorporate some thrash influences on their newest album, Mirror of Retribution. As far as lyrics go, they sing about oriental mythology of the underworld, ghost stories, tragedies, and the oppression and colonialism of Taiwan. (A word of warning, their lyrics can be very brutal)
Now, I don't know much about the erhu except that it's awesome. Chthonic used to have an erhu player named Su-Nung (pictured), but he left in 2009 and now the erhu is played by singer Freddy Lim. In their music, the erhu plays mournful melodies behind the heavy guitars and screaming, and sometimes plays traditional folk tunes.
While this is not a violin, I feel like the erhu melodies could be easily adapted on the violin. It's also a unique style of playing, and a good reference for metal violinists who are looking to add an asian feel to their music.


Recommended Songs: "Progeny of Rmdax Tasing," "Enthrone," "Blooming Blades," "49 Theurgy Chains," "Bloody Gaya Fulfilled"

Official Site: http://chthonic.org/en/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/chthonictw

"Progeny of Rmdax Tasing," great song! :


"Blooming Blades," listen @ 0:21 !! :


Resources:
[1]

UnexpecT

UnexpecT is an avant-garde extreme metal band from Montreal, Canada. I think the band puts it best when they describe themselves as "Cirque du Soleil goes black metal amidst an acid-trip version of The Dark Crystal." With their seamless incorporation of the organized chaos progressive metal sound, beastly growls, carnival-like strings, hints of electronica, and haunting female vocals, it's no surprise that many of the band members have had previous conservatory experience. The vocals are very theatrical, and the lyrics are a fantastical and imaginative smattering of words that reflects the chaos of their music. Their female singer, Leilindel, is a professional contemporary dancer, and the dreadlocked bassist plays a 9-string bass.
Intruiged yet?
The female vocals were what won me over with UnexpecT. I think the band was right when they said her "angelic voice could melt the will of the most vile politician."
(By the way, whoever does the PR for this band is a genius. I suggest reading their band bio and subscribing to their newsletter purely for the entertainment value.)
The violins are very avant-garde sounding, utilizing many non-conventional techniques. The violin playing comprises of harmonics, tremolos, double-stops, and slides, and is usually used as an embellishment to the music rather than a strong melodic force. They sound very gypsy-like, and are reminiscent of carnivals and circuses.
For the first ten years, the violins were played by a man by the pseudonym Le Bateleur, and he is also the one featured on all their recordings to date. But he left the band a few years ago, and has since been replaced by Blaise Borboën-Léonard in 2007. Blaise (seen in the picture) plays an acoustic violin, both in the studio and live. He's studied at the Montreal Conservatory, and has played the instrument since he was 8. Blaise cites among his influences Estradasphere, John Cage, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Bela Bartok, and Radiohead.

Recommended Songs: "Megalomaniac Trees", "Desert Urbania", "Feasting Fools" (no violin, but my favorite!), "Summoning Scenes", "Chromatic Chimera", "Psychic Juggle", "In Velvet Coffins We Slept"

Official Site: http://www.unexpect.com/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/unexpect
Blaise Borboën-Léonard's Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/blaisebl

"Megalomaniac Trees":



A live performance of "Desert Urbania":


Resources: [1]

Valkyre

Valkyre is a symphonic gothic metal band from Belgium and France. They are still unsigned, with only 2 demos out: "Consolamentum" and "On Both Sides We Pray." Unfortunately, it is hard to find most their music, as there are only three recordings available on their Myspace.
I was really struck by their song, "A Good Day to Die," which combines celtic folk elements with symphonic keyboard patches and violin-guitar harmonies.
The violin parts are very melodic, provide great harmonies and a folky magical feel to their music. Their music is very energetic and enchanting, with a powerful female singer and intriguing synth sounds.
The violinist is Cid Jimenez, who joined the band in 2007 and worked on "Consolamentum" with them. Before him, the violinist was Joris Derder. They have both used an acoustic live at one point, but Cid also has an electric S-shaped violin (Shar?). They have consistent violins, they are on all three of the songs on their myspace. Give them a listen!
Great sound, and great potential!

Recommended Songs: "A Good Day to Die," "Faidit"

Official Site: http://www.valkyremusic.com/valkyremain.html
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/valkyresounds


"A Good Day to Die":

Naio Ssaion

Putting their violinist and female singer on their album cover for "Out Loud" was a good marketing move for Naio Ssaion. These two elements definitely grabbed my attention right from the start, and a good indication of what sets their band apart from others. Classified as nu-metal or gothic metal, this band from Slovenia has great consistent use of the violin. I almost want to say they're a rock band, however, since their metal influence is very light, and they have very strong pop influences. They don't update their websites very often, so I have no idea what they are up to now, but hopefully we will hear more from them in the future!
Their violinist is Rok Kolar. Between banging his head and shaking his dreads, Rok plays a mean violin, writes very interesting parts, and makes the most extensive use of pizzicato and double-stops I've heard so far in metal. A lot of the violin parts are very fast paced, rhythmic, and provide good texture for the music. The soloing is very rock guitar-like, artistic, and fits very well into the music. Also impressive is the fact that the violin is in every song on their album, "Out Loud." Rok plays a Zeta Strados electric violin live, probably plays it in the studio as well. These violin parts are definitely unique, and worth checking out!

Recommended Songs: "Blah Blah," "The Mirror" (solo near end), "Can't You Hear" (semi-solo @ end), "Shut Up" (solo, pizz), "Bow Link in E Minor" (instr.), "Blind Date," "Yours Faithfully" (pizz.)

Official Site: http://www.naiossaion.com/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/naiossaion

"Blah Blah":



"Can't You Hear" live (some pitch issues, but still interesting to watch!):


Resources: [1] [2]