The latest Finnish symphonic metal band fronted by an opera-trained Valkyrie. Intersting thing about this lot is they're a nine-piece band with the string section as part of the band.

Not sure which war the video is supposd to be about. The soldiers look too modern for the 1940 Winter War.

Finally managed to get hold if this album (Customer order from HMV took six weeks!).

Hmmm ... never heard 'symphonic rock' used as a noun before <g> Nice ... especially these days when bands seem to be 'downsizing', more often than not, to save money <sigh>

And the only thing that looked particularly out of place for 1940 was the weaponry. The helmets, the uniforms, the cook pots might have looked a bit too 'clean and fresh' but certainly fit the period in terms of style.

Symphonic metal a big thing in Europe, with bands like Nighywish and Epica competing to be be most over-the-top with orchestras, choirs and kitchen sinks. Problem is these bands then have to use a lot of pre-programmed backing tapes when they play live, because it's not viable to tour with a full orchestra.

I have seen a band (Anneke van Giersbergen and The Gentle Storm) use guitar synths for the orchestral bits, which was odd to watch when you realised the orchestral sounds coming out of the PA matched notes one of the guitarists was playing.

<heh heh heh> I certainly unbderstand. The US has gone through that sort of 'escalation' / 'competition' more than once <chuckle> Although, it has led to some awesome music!! <g>