Elvenking

Elvenking is a power metal band hailing from Sacile, Italy. They are heavily influenced by the folk metal pioneers Skyclad, and as expected, their music also exhibits some folk metal influences.

They have 5 albums out: the first 3, Heathenreel, Wyrd, and The Winter Wake, are heavily folk influenced, while their later album, The Scythe, is darker and more pop sounding. Their latest release is a "mostly" acoustic album, Two Tragedy Poets which is even more folk influenced than their earlier albums, but also retains the pop influence of their previous album. It contains some acoustic versions of their earlier songs, and questionable songs such as their cover of the pop hit "Heaven is a Place on Earth." O_o

Elvenking has had various different violinists contribute to their band. On Heathenreel they had a guest violinist, Paolo Polesel. Then they had Elyghen, who seems to be their main violinist, who played on Wyrd and The Winter Wake. When Elyghen temporarily left the band, Lethien came in to fill his place. They also had a tour violinist named Eleonora. (The picture to the left is of Elyghen)

The Winter Wake is a good representation of their overall style, and the violins play a very prominent role in the music. They play usually fast, moving fiddle-like parts, and often double with the guitars or vocals on the main melody of the song. The violins are in almost every song and they are usually mixed very high. The violin definitely gets treated like an important instrument and an important component of the band, which is a rare find in metal. It sounds like they use acoustic violins on their albums, but they use electric violins live. Elyghen uses a Yamaha EV-204.

Recommended songs: "Pagan Purity" (Heathenreel), "Seasonspeech" (Heathenreel), "The Silk Dilemma" (Wyrd), "Neverending Nights" (The Winter Wake), "Another Awful Hobs Tale" (Two Tragedy Poets)

Official site: http://www.elvenking.net/

Here's a song with prominent violins, representative of their overall style:


And here's a song with intricate violin playing, off their acoustic album:



Resources: [1]

Emilie Autumn - Unlaced

Emilie Autumn is a violinist and singer/songwriter from Malibu, California. Formerly the violinist to Courtney Love, she is now pursuing her own solo project as singer/songwriter. She was classically trained in violin starting at the age of four, and soon found to be talented in the sense of child prodigy status. Bold, eccentric, and sometimes a little frightening, Emilie is not afraid to let her creativity run free, and her penchant for experimenting with her violin playing and sound is what makes her so unique.
Most of her music is classified as Victoriandustrial (a term she made up), a genre combining classical and industrial goth music. This may not be metal, but her violin work definitely is!
Her album Laced/Unlaced is the only album she has put out so far featuring solely her violin work. This album is incredible, and is a must-buy for anyone interested in electric violins or metal violin solos. The first disc Laced showcasing her classical repertoire while the second, Unlaced features her electric violin, a Zeta Strados named Elgar. If you're not interested in her classical work, you can buy the Unlaced songs by themselves on iTunes. Either way, I highly recommend buying it! It features a solo violin with heavy distortion, accompanied by synthesized harpsichord and an electronic drumbeat. Some of her songs feature soloing reminiscent of neo-classical metal guitar solos.

Warning: you will encounter mature/offensive material if you decide to research her on your own or check out her other musics.

Here is a song called "Leech Jar" which features some metal-style shredding on distorted violin:


Resources: [1]

At The Lake

At The Lake is a Polish Symphonic Metal band. They feature a female singer, guitars, bass, drum, keyboards, and violin. But what's interesting about them is their violinist Milena Gaworek is also the leader and composer of the band! Their music is a combination of symphonic and folk metal, and very melodic and beautiful.

A song from their new album Live Again just blew me away. Listen to the full song "Like A Northern Wind" HERE, it's amazing!!!

Milena plays an electric violin, a 5-string Zeta Jazz Fusion. The Jazz Fusion has amazing tone, which makes At The Lake have the best electric violin tone I've ever heard in metal! Milena is a very skilled player, as can be heard in her fast arpeggios and runs in "Arrow of Oblivion." The violin parts are very interesting and sophisticated, probably due to the fact that their violinist writes them herself.

At The Lake is still a fairly new band, so I look forward to what they will come out with next!

Official Website: http://www.atthelake.info/

Recommended songs: "Like A Northern Wind," "Arrow of Oblivion," "Silvae"

Arrow of Oblivion:

Eluveitie

Eluveitie is a folk metal band from Switzerland, whose most outstanding feature is its sheer number of instruments. Aside from a violin, they've also used hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes, and flutes in their music, all played by members of their band. Their style also contains death metal influences, such as grunt vocals and fast and heavy guitar riffs. They will sometimes use traditional folk melodies as the basis for their music, and their lyrics are generally about celtic folklore and history. Very interesting band to see live!
They have 4 albums out and one on the way: Ven, Spirit, Slania, and Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion (acoustic). Everything Remains (As It Never Was) is due to be released on February 19, 2010.

The violinist in this band is Meri Tadic. Meri uses an acoustic violin in the studio (a Harry Caraballo) and an electric in live settings (Yamaha SV 130). There were also 2 former violinists in the band, Linda Suter, who played on Spirit, and Mattu Ackerman, who played on Ven. Meri has been on all of the albums. The violin parts are mostly of the folk music/celtic fiddle style, they are sometimes used to double on parts with other instruments, and are often mixed very low in the mix, due to the presence of many different instruments in the band. I have recommended some songs below with prominent violin parts in them, for your convenience.
Spirit and Slania are probably their best albums, I tend to like Spirit better, but Slania has better sound quality since that is the first album they released after signing on to a major label (Nuclear Blast).

Official Website: http://www.eluveitie.ch/

Songs with prominent violin parts: Tegernako, The Endless Knot, Samon, Inis Mona, Elembivos (solo near end)

A song with a nice violin lead (listen @480p):

I Am Ghost

I Am Ghost is a post-hardcore rock band from Long Beach, California. They have some punk influences as well, and feature screamo vocals.
The lyrical subject matter revolves around gothic themes, such as vampires, death, and coffins, but can be interpreted to be Christian-themed as well.

They had a violinist for their first 2 releases: an EP, We Are Always Searching, and their first album, Lover's Requiem. The violinist was Kerith Telestai, who also provided the female vocals on those first two releases. She recorded using both electric and acoustic violins, and played live using her electric, which I believe is a Zeta Strados Modern. She said in an interview that her playing was influenced by bands such as Jars of Clay and Dave Matthews Band. Her violin parts are fast moving and provide mostly texture and accompaniement. She does have some solos, as on the song "Beyond the Hourglass," but for the most part the violins are mixed rather low in their songs.

Kerith, sadly, left the band in 2007, along with her husband, the former bassist Brian Telestai. Kerith really gave I Am Ghost a unique sound, that set them apart from the rest of the bands in their genre. They have since continued to use female vocals, but have not continued to use any more violins.

Recommended songs: "We Are Always Searching," "Beyond the Hourglass," "The Denoument," "Our Friend Lazarus Sleeps"

This is the song that got me into I Am Ghost:


And here is a video of Kerith in the studio recording for Lover's Requiem:

Winterdome

Winterdome is my personal favorite out of metal bands that use violins. These folks from Hannover, Germany have the most innovative violin parts I have ever heard in metal! Their music is a combination of folk metal and doom metal, featuring grunting vocals and narration, all in German. They feature an acoustic violin, which is played live as well as in the studio by violinist Lisa Hinnersmann. Although they are a folk metal band, I feel like their violin parts are really unique, as they aren't overtly folky but have more of a graceful and flowing feel to them. The violin plays a very prominent role in their music, and I feel like Winterdome was not just a metal band that decided to throw a violin in there as an afterthought, but they must have intended for the violin to play an integral part in their music.
Their latest album, Weltendammerung, has 2 discs: one is a storybook featuring narration between songs, and the other has only songs on it.
Unfortunately, I don't think this band is active anymore. Nonetheless, Weltendammerung is a real gem for anyone into violin metal.
Their album is definitely a worthwhile investment, and they are not a very well-known band either so if you like them, please support them, and tell your friends about them!


Official website: http://www.winterdome.de/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/winterdome

Recommended Songs: "Land der Nacht," "Ein Stiller Schrei," "Weltendammerung"

One of their songs (recommended: listen @ 480p):

Welcome

Hi, and welcome to Violins in Metal! I started this blog because I have been noticing more and more people on sites such as Yahoo! Answers posting questions about finding metal bands that use violins. As a nerdy violin player and metal fan, I have spent many years browsing the net in search of such bands, too, so I thought I would post my favorite examples of violins in metal and other similar genres of rock, as a resource for those who want to listen to this kind of music, and as a resource for violinists in metal bands who are looking for ideas on arrangements and writing their own parts.
I am a bit nervous, since I am not an expert blogger nor a very eloquent writer, but what better way to improve than to "just do it"? Anyways, I hope this is helpful to some of you! :)