Neoclassical Metal Music Guide: 5 Neoclassical Metal Artists

Neoclassical metal is a heavy metal subgenre that blends the fluid linear runs of Baroque-era classical music with the rapid-fire tempos of speed metal and thrash metal. Neoclassical metal stands out within the broader hard rock landscape for its many virtuoso guitarists, including Randy Rhoads, Uli Jon Roth, Luca Turilli, and Michael Angelo Batio.

These guitar shredders typically draw less inspiration from blues riffs than their contemporaries in other metal genres like black metal, power metal, and thrash metal. Instead, they often favor multi-octave scale runs and arpeggios that recall the concertos of classical composers like Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi, Paganini, and Beethoven.

Heavy metal began in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Many of the first metal guitarists, like Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, built their distinctive sound around blues riffs on slackened guitar strings. However, early innovators, starting with Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and keyboardist Jon Lord, changed this.

• Concerto for Group and Orchestra: In 1969, English hard rock group Deep Purple recorded a record with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra called Concerto for Group and Orchestra. The piece, written by Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord with lyrics by vocalist Ian Gillian, features cadenzas and solos for guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, drummer Ian Paice, and Lord himself. This record helped kick off many heavy metal subgenres including neoclassical metal, progressive metal, and symphonic metal.
• Ambition in the 1970s: The 1970s saw many hard rock and heavy metal musicians push rock 'n' roll into newly ambitious territory. Groups like Yes, Queen, Rush, and King Crimson incorporated various classical music influences into music built around guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, and lead vocals.
• Shrapnel in the 1980s: Neoclassical metal experienced a breakthrough in the 1980s. Shrapnel Records, a US-based record company, issued the first release by Swedish guitar virtuoso and songwriter Yngwie Malmsteen, which fully embraced the sweeping arpeggios and scale runs of Baroque and Classical-era music. Shrapnel would become the home for many similar guitar virtuosos such as Marty Friedman, Paul Gilbert, Jason Becker, Tony MacAlpine, and Vinnie Moore. Concurrently, other hard rockers like Eddie Van Halen and Ratt's Warren DeMartini exhibited similar technical prowess on the guitar. While these guitarists did not specifically play neoclassical metal, they helped raise appreciation for hard rock virtuosity.
• Sustained success in the underground: The 1980s marked the peak of neoclassical metal's commercial success. With the advent of grunge in the early 1990s, hard rock musicians turned more toward blues and punk for inspiration, and neoclassical shredders took on a lower profile. To this day, neoclassical groups like Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force enjoy dedicated followings.

Neoclassical metal stands out within the hard rock and heavy metal scenes for several key characteristics.

1. 1. Heavy metal instrumentation: Much like thrash metal, speed metal, and black metal, neoclassical metal is built around a core ensemble of electric guitar, electric bass, drums, and lead vocals. Some groups also feature keyboards.
2. 2. Virtuosic playing: Neoclassical metal songs often serve as a staging ground for elaborate soloing—particularly on guitar. Neoclassical metal groups like Rhapsody of Fire and Symphony X highlight soloists the way Bach, Vivaldi, Paganini, or Beethoven might have in a classical music context.
3. 3. Greater reliance on arpeggios and seven-note scales: Many hard rock musicians base their music on the blues and the five-note pentatonic scale. In neoclassical metal, players tend to build their songs around chord arpeggios and scales that feature seven or more notes.

The neoclassical metal scene has given rise to many notable bands and solo musicians.

1. 1. Deep Purple: Rock historians credit Deep Purple as the originators of neoclassical metal, progressive metal, and symphonic metal—largely thanks to their 1969 record, Concerto for Group and Orchestra. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore has influenced generations of neoclassical metal players, both as a member of Deep Purple and with other acts such as Rainbow.
2. 2. Yngwie Malmsteen: Swedish virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen stands as the most famous neoclassical metal guitarist. His career spans over four decades with his band, Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force, being the primary vehicle for his influential guitar work.
3. 3. Cacophony: Cacophony was a notable 1980s neoclassical metal band from the San Francisco Bay Area that featured guitarists Jason Becker and Marty Friedman. Friedman went on to greater notice as the lead guitarist of Megadeth in 1990.
4. 4. Tony MacAlpine: Tony MacAlpine is best known to fans as a neoclassical guitar virtuoso, but he has also played keyboards for fellow shredders Steve Vai, Joey Tafolla, and Vinnie Moore.
5. 5. Dark Moor: Hailing from Madrid, Dark Moor has carried the torch of neoclassical metal into the twenty-first century. The group, whose one constant member has been guitarist Enrik Garcia, enjoys a dedicated following throughout Europe and Japan.

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