Urizen

Dakrya are a theatrical/avant-garde metal band from Athens, Greece, founded in late 2004 by classically trained keyboardist Sophia Charalampous. Crime Scene (2010) was recorded in Sweden with producers known for work with Diablo Swing Orchestra and Dark Tranquillity.

XYAX is a Québec (Alma) duo project of Dave Tremblay (composition, instrumentation, lyrics, visual art) and Ben Norton (co-composition, vocals, production/mixing), self-billed as '22nd-century electronic un-metal un-music.' Their 2014 EP 'Ode to the Universe (in Three Parts)' is built entirely from MIDI and samples rather than live instrumentation, incorporating spoken vocal samples from Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan and Hank Green, and was also issued in an alternate 8-bit version.

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Coppelius are a Berlin chamber-metal ensemble formed in 1997 who replace guitars and bass with cello, double bass, two clarinets and harpsichord, performing in top hats and tailcoats as a troupe of named Victorian/steampunk personas. Taking their name from the sinister toymaker of E.T.A. Hoffmann's 'Der Sandmann,' the band builds full theatrical stagings around dark-romantic themes across seven studio albums released since 2007 on F.A.M.E. Recordings.

Ordkløver is a music-and-poetry project begun in 1999 by Düreforsög vocalist Boris Schiøler alongside bandmates Nis Bysted and Andreas Hauer-Jensen. Its sole release, Byen Buldrer ("The City Rumbles", 2005, Escho), pairs Schiøler's phonetic poetry with rock guitar and drums and an eight-voice choir, described by reviewers as sounding like "intoxicated monks and/or sea pirates."

Aberrant Vascular is a Helsinki, Finland project built in 2003 around opera vocalist Vladimir "Lumi" and keyboardist Heikki "Mr. Rych" Pöntinen, releasing a single album, Aegisthus (2012), that layers operatic vocal theatrics over trip-hop beats, industrial synths and guitar riffing. It has been namechecked alongside Arcturus, Solefald, Vulture Industries and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum for its bombastic, genre-blending approach, though reviewers note the metal riffing itself stays fairly conventional under the vocal pyrotechnics.

Lamashtu are a Gothenburg, Sweden act founded in 2015 by Sandra Mattsson, who writes the lyrics and plays bass, built around the recurring persona of the band's Mesopotamian-demon namesake and a rotating cast of member-'demons.' Their sound — self-described as symphonic doom metal and sung in Swedish — has spanned the concept album 'Fallna Själar' (2016, on the seven cardinal sins) through 'Tro' and 'Längtan,' and most recently a multi-chapter audio/novel hybrid, 'The Story of Eli.'

Shaolin Death Squad are a theatrical progressive/avant-garde metal band from Denton, Texas, formed around 2001-2002, performing under kung-fu-themed stage personas. Their sound is dynamic prog metal with lead vocalist The White Swan frequently compared to Mike Patton, across releases including Intelligent Design (2006) and a 2024 self-titled record on Soman Records.

Waltari is a Finnish experimental/crossover metal band formed in Helsinki in 1986 and led by principal songwriter Kärtsy Hatakka, notorious for splicing progressive, alternative and extreme metal with hip-hop, techno, industrial, pop and punk. Their conceptual ambition peaks in staged productions like the orchestra-backed Yeah! Yeah! Die! Die! Death Metal Symphony in Deep C (1996) and Evangelicum (1999), the latter incorporating ballet, light shows and a guest turn from Nightwish's Tarja Turunen. Alumni include Sami Yli-Sirniö (Kreator), Roope Latvala (Children of Bodom) and Janne Parviainen (Ensiferum).

Maïsman is a Grenoble collective built around a fictional vegetable-superhero mythology, pitting its titular hero against the villain 'Méchant Man' (voiced on record by Lofofora's Reuno) across two concept albums, Le Plus Grand des Super-Héros (2006) and Le Retour de Méchant Man (2010), blending funk, new wave, synth-pop, hardcore and alternative metal. Live, the project stages a full theatrical production — characters, costumes and sets, a Star Wars/Disney pastiche — making the show, as much as the genre-shifting studio sound, its defining trait.

Winds are a Norwegian neoclassical progressive-metal band formed in 1998, trading black-metal ferocity for classically-informed composition, clean vocals and duelling piano and guitar. Drummer Jan Axel 'Hellhammer' Blomberg — best known from Mayhem — anchors the group alongside guitarist Carl August Tidemann and pianist Andy Winter across Of Entity and Mind (2001) and Reflections of the I (2002). The result is one of the scene's most overtly 'classical' side-projects, far from its members' extreme-metal roots.