Paradise

I listen to most kinds of music, but my core competency is symphonic metal. The style is usually big, powerful, and absolutely unapologetic about its "hugeness." The general aesthetic of this particular scene usually follows the same guidelines, but when it's presented in a visual rather than an audio medium, the results can easily end up looking like a Hot Topic clearance bin. There are many bands and albums that I love, but who honestly go overboard with the whole "metal" persona (think bad fantasy novel covers).

Epica - The Divine Conspiracy

Nightwish - Oceanborn

Now, I love the honesty and confidence of this aesthetic. (Both these albums are great, in my opinion.) It's not a guilty pleasure because I have absolutely no guilt about it. But there is a better way, I think. I wanted to talk about a music video I've been really into lately:

Within Temptation - "Paradise (What About Us?)" ft. Tarja

It's hard to explain just how huge this collaboration is; for the symphonic metal scene it's like Beyoncé and Britney deciding to collaborate. This video has pretty much everything I love all rolled into one: two great symphonic metal voices, a great song, and a sci-fi premise. Two women saving the earth after humanity has destroyed itself is a really beautiful idea too, I think.

The video is, of course, fairly over the top, but here it's obvious that the band has a lot more money/resources than they had for previous releases. That makes all the difference sometimes when the idea is so large; it can't really be executed in a small-scale, more "gritty" production. It just wouldn't fit in.