What is my micro-niche?

[Nathan Allen Pinard]

Hi there!

I've been a member of these boards only for a bit, and just joined a remix project. I wanted to ask a favor on this board as I'm having a hard time decide what my sort of side-project band "Immortal Aria"'s genre actually is. The big genre is Classical, then most would call us classical crossover. However we don't release albums full of covers, the album is often a concept, and we hire vocalists from around the globe so the band itself can't really show up in person.

http://immortalaria.bandcamp.com (You can stream free)

If anyone could take a listen and tell me what band/arist does this music sound like? Who's the first that pops in your head?

Here's a breakdown of the track "styles". The album itself is based on the Phantom of the Opera story. A very niche story at that. Some of you may enjoy this, or may not.

 

1. Orphan in Winter - Orchestral and focused on piano

2. That Summer by the Sea - female vocal (broadway like), orchestral

3. The Bleeding Rose - female vocal (Classical), orchestral, solo violin

4. Waltz with Death - Orchestral, dark, pipe organ, 3/4 time sig

5. In the Mirror - Opera Male Vocal, heavy brass, epic, orchestral

6. Legacy of Daae - Piano/Orchestral, ballad

7. Firelight Through Diamonds - Pop female vocal with strings, heavy staccato strings, pop'ish

8. Chanson de l'Ange - Opera female, orchestral, ambient, huge crescendo

9. Worlds Apart Female/Male broadway-style duet, rock elements (but with drop tuning), solo metal guitar, heavy orchestral, pop-feeling

10. Crimson Petals - solo cello and solo violin, sad, ambient

 

Note to mods: This seemed like the only spot to place this. It's not an advertisement for original music, and not a remix.

[Drawn by Dai]

Great album. It certainly has elements of both Joe Hisaishi and John Williams to it, though not in the sense that it's aping or emulating them. Just that it uses the same sources of influence. There are a lot of playful and whimsical tones in it, as well as sombre and melancholic ones. All in all it's very well balanced. It also has an element of gothic folk in some areas, and would lend itself well to this genre if you were to direct the band towards it, though I don't recommend it as you have your own sound. I understand your difficulty in "pigeonholing" your work, as you paint some pretty extensive vistas which can be categorised as A, B or C depending on the track in question, and even in some cases the sections of a particular track.

I tried to listen to the tracks without the various voice (editing it out in my mind) to get a better idea of the raw composition, with a greater or lesser degree of success. I don't think you can choose Just one microgenre, but I guess I would describe a subgenre as "Cinematic". Hope this helps!

[Nathan Allen Pinard]

Thanks Odai. That's pretty much what I have come to. A vocal cinematic experience. Much like Two Steps from Hell or Thomas Bergersen, but with vocals and songwriting. Our next album will be more directed to fantasy and more marketable. This album was written after a book.

 

You can expect the same for my track with Terranigma of course. Though that will be very almost...trailer like.

[Epikus]

Nathan, I have a similar micro niche. Epic or cinematic opera, I like to call it. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one.