Try some Dream Theater.
this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2024
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Ayreon is so damn theatrical that they made and filmed an opera called "The Theater Equation" and it's pretty damn glorious. Check out Dream Theater's "The Astonishing" if you want to hear a more dramatic story as well. If you want something more symphonic with mostly traditional orchestral instruments, Blind Guardian's "Twilight Orchestra - Legacy of the Badlands" will scratch that itch. Shadow Gallery, Symphony X, and Threshold are also honorable mentions.
Another great thing about Ayreon are his guests singers and musicians from the whole industry
I've never been all that big on A7, but Nightwish leaned hard into theatrical/movie score territory for a few albums. Some notables:
Dark Chest of Wonders
The Poet and the Pendulum
Elan
Ghost Love Score
One more: Last Ride of the Day
Never dug anything A7X but as you describe this "theatrical" metal (or at least what I can understand) I only can think of Ayreon.
Igorrr is the first that comes to mind. Bullet for My Valentine is the same era so you probably already know them, but they're who came to mind next.
Igorrr
Nope, they've flown under my radar until now. Didn't scratch the itch I was shooting for, but that did awaken a completely new one - I fucking loved the one you linked!! Will definitely be going down that rabbit hole. I haven't heard much Arabic influence in metal... only one that comes to mind is the intro of Blind Guardian's Wheel of Time (which is one of my all time favorites!). If you've got more along those lines, please share! In the mean time I'll be doing a deep dive on Igorrr!
Bullet for My Valentine
Familiar with them. Never really cared for BfMV... always struck me as the musical equivalent of a pouty teenager after being told to clean their room, lol. They've got enough redeeming content in most songs that I wouldn't say I dislike them either, but it all ads up to kinda just break even at good enough to not bother skipping it when they pop up in a list, but not good enough to ever actually seek them out.
...typing kinda slow cuz my brain is fried, so in the time it took to make this comment I'm on my 4th Igorrr song and JESUS FUCKING CHRIST those guys are all over the damn place lol. 10/10
ah, fair point about BfMV lol. and hell yeah, glad you're liking Igorrr.
Ice Nine Kills?
Theatrical as in Movie Theater though
Blind Guardian comes to mind when i think theatrical
Same initial thought. Imaginations From The Other Side is a much better in itself than Nightfall In Middle Earth, but the latter's a whole concept album.
Power metal in general is at least adjacent.
In OP's preferred progressive metal, Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime is fanfuckingtastic.
"And then there was silence" alone is 🤯 especially if you know the Iliad it just goes so incredibly hard.
My first thought was of GWAR, but it's not really the musical style. It's the fact they are a metal band and put on a lot of theatrics in their shows (costumes, skits, etc). I'm not even that big of a metal fan, but I've always wanted to go see GWAR after seeing some clips of their live performances.
But yeah, the style you seem to be looking for is, as I've always known it, called progressive metal.
Notre Dame and Therion ?
'Theatrical' makes me think of Avantasia, though I've never thought of them having much to do with A7X until now. My favorite album of theirs is The Scarecrow.