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{{trope}}
{{cleanup|The examples under "Miscellaneous" need to be sorted. Then the sections need to be sorted.}}
[[File:blindguardian-
{{quote|''Mine's a tale that can't be told, my freedom I hold dear''
''How years ago, in days of old, when magic filled the air''
''T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair''
''But Gollum, and the Evil One, [[Painful Rhyme|crept up and slipped away with her]]''
|'''[[Led Zeppelin]]''', "Ramble On"}}
So you're a big fan of fantasy. You've read all of [[J. R. R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]]'s works and you play ''[[Dungeons
Your band can put out a couple songs with lyrics all about ancient prophecies and epic quests, and everyone will be too busy rocking to your awesome guitar solos and killer drumbeats to care.
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Some [[Christian Rock]] falls into this, and is often quite good (probably since being so niche they need to sound good to get any attention).
Named after the fictional metal [[Mithril]] from [[J. R. R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]]'s Middle-earth.<ref>and yes, we know incredible lightness is one of the salient features of Mithril</ref>
Note: This covers music based on science-fiction as well as fantasy. Compare [[Filk Song]], which mix the Sci-Fi, Fantasy and general geekdom with folk-style ballads. Many are [[Concept Album|Concept Albums.]]
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{{examples}}
▲== {{smallcaps|Miscellaneous (please help sort them into subgenres)}} ==
* Rivendell.
* There are many bands based on [[Harry Potter]], called Wizard Rock.
** And now there's [[Doctor Who|Time Lord]] Rock, as well. In particular, ''Doctorin' the TARDIS'', a mash-up by electronica band
*** Uriah Heep paid tribute to The Doctor back in 1972 with "Traveller in Time".
** [[Chameleon Circuit]] loves this genre. In particular, 'Exterminate, Regenerate' and 'Blink.'
** There is an album of "[[The Lord of the Rings|Lord of the Rings]]" metal/rock by a Polish band called Drużyna Trzeźwych Hobbitów (The Fellowship of Sober Hobbits).
* Stemage a Metal band that bases allmost all their songs on Metroid or just straight up does covers of the series soundtrack very metal covers.
* This trope has been noticed, and lovingly parodied, by [http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=0IgVPnhmVNE Tripod]. As Yon says, "We find them [Wolfmother] very encouraging. Because if you listen to the lyrics of that kind of music, you find that it's possible to be rock... yet, at the same time, be a massive [[Dungeons
* The Russian band [[wikipedia:Epidemia|Epidemia]].
* Quite a few bands write [[H.P. Lovecraft]]-themed songs, some occasionally (Nile, Metallica, Dark Moor) and some often (The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets).
** There's even a death metal band from France CALLED Lovecraaft who write almost entirely [[H.P. Lovecraft]] songs.
*** And a band from the 60's that played rather odd progressive rock, but [[Your Mileage May Vary]]...
** Casey Rae-Hunter, alias The Contrarian, has even released an entire [https://web.archive.org/web/20131005224256/http://www.thecontrarianmedia.com/the-contrarian-eldritch-musicks/ concept album] revolving around [[H.P. Lovecraft]]'s Cthulhu mythos. For the most part, it's pretty heavy (maybe not ''specifically'' metal, as it markets itself as "haunt-rock").
* [[Hedningarna]] - ''Drafur Och Gildur''
* The relatively obscure grunge band TAD had several songs based on fantasy themes.
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* Maximum The Hormone takes this to an entirely new level with [[Dragonball Z]] inspired metal. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWQ9LRkCYrY Like this].
** In a similar vein, you have "Zetsubou Billy" and "What's Up People" from Death Note, with lyrics that tie in well with the series' premise. Also in one video they incorporate the name Kira into the lyrics. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_noTVEnub-Y\]
* British Post-hardcore/alt rock upstarts Fightstar seem to have a big obsession with ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. This is evidenced in songs like "Shinji Ikari", "NERV/SEELE", "Unfamiliar Ceilings" and in "Lost Like Tears In Rain." In fact it's frequently commented that the cover art for their debut album is very similar to the ruins found in the aforementioned series.
* [[Slipknot]] apparently has songs relating to ''[[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]''.
* While not metal, the unquestionably heavy (and awesome) hardcore punk band Misfits have songs almost exclusively based on horror films from the 1950's and 60's. Classics include; THEM!, Where Eagles dare, Crawling eye, This island earth and Astro Zombies.
* High on Fire's lyrical content seems to be almost exclusively along these lines. One gets the feeling they just set their D&D campaigns to music.
* One of the more famous examples, the stoner metal band [[Kyuss]] was originally called the Sons of Kyuss. Sons of Kyuss are an undead monster from the original AD&D ''Fiend Folio'', with Kyuss being their horrific worm-god. (And yes, the band got the name from the monster, not the other way around.)
** In 3.5 they went by the name Spawn of Kyuss (the monster). Which would be a more badass name for a band. Maybe a tribute band?
* [[Electric Wizard]] makes frequent references to fantasy and horror literature. Their album "Let us Prey" has a quote from "The Outsider" on the back cover and a list of authors cited for "lyrical inspiration" in the booklet, which includes H. P. Lovecraft, R. E. Howard and C. A. Smith among many others.
* Dreamtale. Would be worth including even if they had only "Lady Dragon", and there's more.
* [http://infocalypse.nfshost.com/ Infocalypse], the project of "experimental, electronic, minimal" music.
* The Italian metal band ''Trick Or Treat'' has made covers of openings from cartoons with medieval or fantasy themes. Among them [
* Related to the main trope, many heavy metal bands have names taken from Tolkien, including ones that aren't thematically very fantasyish -- Cirith Ungol, Amon Amarth, Ephel Duath (who are most known for combining metal and free jazz) are a couple.▼
* And now something different: Irish folk-rock band The ''[[Horslips]]'' were trail-blazers in marrying traditional Irish music to rock instruments and rhythms. Two of their LP's, ''[[Horslips/The Tain|The Tain]]'' and ''[[Horslips/The Book Of Invasions|The Book Of Invasions]]'' set Irish mythology of the Mithril Age to music, largely updated Irish folk standards with new lyrics based on the myths, re-arrannged for rock band plus traditional instruments.
* There are a couple of fanbands which do metal arrangements of ''[[Touhou Project]]'' music; one of the more well-known ones is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz70QHZvk04 Unlucky Morpheus].
* [[Sound Horizon]]: Just about the only band to ever make a [[Symphonic Metal|Symphonic]]-[[Progressive Rock|Prog]] [[Rock Opera]] about Grimm's [[Fairy Tales]].
* ''The Gathering'' by [[Delain]] is about [[Magic: The Gathering]].
* Irish folk-rock band
▲* Related to the main trope, many heavy metal bands have names taken from Tolkien, including ones that aren't thematically very
* Search on metal-archives.com currently gives 20 bands with "Dungeon" as or in their names, including ''Dungeon Master'' (Power Metal), ''Dunge[[Heavy Metal Umlaut|ö]]nHammer'' (Black/Thrash Metal) and ''Demons from the Dungeon Dimension'' (Stoner/Doom Metal) - the last one being of course, dedicated to ''[[Discworld]]''
* There used to be a Black Metal band from Sweden named "De Vermis Mysteriis" (after a grimoire from ''[[Cthulhu Mythos]]'', see [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]]).
** No less than six other metal bands made albums named ''De Vermis Mysteriis'': Nergal (1993), Nox Intempesta (1998), Bloodrain (2001), High on Fire (2012), Deprive (2013), Terrör Striker (2017).
▲== {{smallcaps|Rock}} ==
* Caamora's first project was the rock/metal opera ''She'', based on the old novel of the same name about two explorers who find an ancient city rules by an immortal, 2000-year old queen.
* Taking things back further into [[The Twentieth Century]], we have Molly Hatchet, who, honestly, fit into this trope only because of consistent use of [[Frank Frazetta]]'s artwork on their [[Covers Always Lie|covers]]. They were a southern rock band.
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** [[Jim Steinman]], the composer/producer of ''Bat Out Of Hell'', has made a name for himself with the genre he defined, and calls, "Wagnerian rock". His 1981 solo album ''Bad For Good'' and [[Bonnie Tyler]]'s ''Total Eclipse of the Heart'' are prime examples.
* [[Aerosmith]]'s "Kings & Queens".
* [[Queen]] have occasionally dabbled in
* [[Kiss]] both [[Invoked Trope|invokes]] and averts the trope. Their stage personas are based on various mythological beings (Gene Simmons's, the "Demon Lizard," is from 17th-century Japanese ''kabuki'' theatre), but the songs themselves tend to be about "ordinary" rock subjects such as cars, girls, and partying. Occasionally they have done a song with a horror or fantasy theme ("Creatures of the Night," for instance), but that's the exception rather than the rule.
* "Doom" by Manny Charlton Band is about the game ''[[Doom]]''.
* [[Deep Purple]], on ''[[The Elric Saga]]'' with ''Stormbringer''.
▲== {{smallcaps|[[Progressive Rock]] / [[Progressive Metal]]}} ==
* Early 70's Uriah Heep, most notably "The Magician's Birthday"
** Not to mention "Demons and Wizards"
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** Moorcock actually defected from the Hawkwind camp to the B.Ö.C. because the Americans were prepared to pay more for the songs. This caused strife and a lawsuit, as Hawkwind (or to be more precise, its litigious band leader Dave Brock) alleged the songs ''Black Blade'' and ''Veteran of the Psychic War'' had been initially promised to them. They lost, however, and B.Ö.C. got the songs. Hawkwind just got the bill, another thing disgruntled band members hold against Dave.
** Hawkwind went away, pointedly dropped Moorcock as inspiring daemon, and wrote songs based on Philip José Farmer's sci-fi/fantasy instead.
* [[Ayreon]]'s entire shtick. More a music project than a cohesive band, all but one of the seven full albums dedicated to the songwriter's sci-fi/fantasy epic about the creation and doom of humanity, which pulls in [[
** And one album that deviates from the overarching concept is made up of stand-alone songs that are all based off books and films of science fiction.
** And spin-off band Star One is even worse. Not only is the band named for ''[[Blake's
* [[The Protomen]], a heavy metal-industrial-country band from Nashville, whose song catalogue is based around a [[Rock Opera]] adaptation of ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]''.
* [[Dream Theater]] veer into this territory in some of their later albums. "In the Presence of Enemies, Pts I & II" is a good example.
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* [[Mastodon]]'s album ''Crack the Skye'' is a [[Concept Album]] about a quadripalegic man who learns the secrets of astral projection, gets lost while exploring the cosmos, falls back in time to Czarist Russia, and has adventures involving Rasputin, the Czar, and Satan. And it is '''AWESOME'''.
** And their album, Leviathan, is devoted to [[Moby Dick]].
* [[Based on a True Story|Semi-fictional]] example in ''The Rotters' Club'', where two of the members of the protagonist's school band want to be punk and two of them want to be Tolkien-inspired
* [http://www.serenity-band.com/ Serenity] has mostly lyrics about quests and stuff. Their song 'To Stone She Turned' is about Medusa. They are not related to the movie. And they are ''fucking awesome.''
* [[King Crimson]]'s "Court of the Crimson King"
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* [[Jethro Tull]] could easily be the [[Trope Codifier]]. Many of their songs reference old Celtic customs and talk about medieval England. ''Minstral in the Gallery'', ''Songs from the Wood'', and ''Heavy Horses'' (the albums, though the songs themselves also count) do this the most.
▲== {{smallcaps|[[Black Metal]]}} ==
* [[Bal-Sagoth]]. Everything they do sounds like the works of [[Robert E. Howard]], [[Clark Ashton Smith]], or [[H.P. Lovecraft]] put to heavy metal.
** Or all three, at the same time. And their name is from an Howardian story. Let's not forget that they seem to add [[Michael Moorcock]] into the mix. Any of the Archaeologist songs and songs such as Thwarted by the Dark (Blade of the Vampyre Hunter) have a heavy Eternal Champion feel.
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* Soulgrind made a concept album called Whitsongs based on poetry of Finnish poet Eino Leino, whose poems were often based in Finnish mythology.
* [http://www.myspace.com/muggledeathcamp Muggle Death Camp], a side project of Jim Wicked as a release/way to further hone his musical skills, is ''Harry Potter-themed''. The music itself is fairly vanilla as far as black/death metal goes, but the lyrics side with the Dark Lord, resulting in a song titled "To My Death Eaters", a planned [[Concept Album]] centered around the seven Horcruxes, and Mr. Wicked declaring it '''VOLDEMETAL'''.
* Nokturnal Motrum's 2009 album "The Voice of Steel." The band was formerly a [[Godwin's Law|Nationalist Socialist Black Metal Band]], but this album switched to
* A strange case with Dimmu Borgir (means "Dark Mountain" in Norwegian). They claim to be a "Viking band," but so many of their songs seem less concerned with their celebration of Norse mythology than with their declaring themselves accursed pawns of the Devil and screaming lyrics so anti-Christian that they border on hate speech. (Their song "Tormentor of Christian Souls" was so graphically violent that [[Executive Meddling|their record label refused to publish the lyrics]].) Dimmu Borgir have gone on the record to state that they don't hate Christianity ''per se'', just [[Corrupt Church|the more hierarchical aspects of it]]. They also have a farcical sense of humor and aren't above including [[Fan Service|sexy babes]] or [[Visual Pun
▲== {{smallcaps|[[Death Metal]]}} ==
* Australian band Portal (no, not the game) does songs entirely on Lovecraft's works.
* Swedish death metal pioneers Unleashed are noted for their use of viking/norse imagery in contrast to the more gore oriented themes of many of their contemporaries. They even write songs based upon ''[[The Lord of the Rings|Lord of the Rings]]'' on occasion
** Amon Amarth are in a similar boat as well. Interestingly, they claim they've called themselves "Amon Amarth" just because it sounds fun, never even reading ''[[The Lord of the Rings|Lord of the Rings]]''.
* There are ''lots'' of bands that do songs for ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'':
** [http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=15105 Debauchery] base some of their songs on [[Warhammer
*** They
** Bolt Thrower has a lot, including ''Realm of Chaos'' album.
**
* While [[Nile]] has songs based on Lovecraft, most of their songs instead take influence from Egyptian mythology, perhaps in an attempt to distinguish themselves from all the Viking metal bands.
** Nile's been using Egyptian themes since 1993, which predates the [[Trope Codifier]] for Viking Metal (Enslaved's ''Vikingligr Veldi'') by a year, though not the [[Trope Maker]]. Furthermore, Nile is ''far'' more recognizable than all but the most famous Viking Metal bands.
* Entombed has a concept album about [[Wolverine]]. Also, an album relating the story of Lucifer's fall from grace.
* While we're talking about [[Death Metal]], here's a fictional example: [[Metalocalypse|Skwisgaar Skwigef of Dethklok]] has a side-project called "10 Points to Gryffindor", a ''[[Harry Potter]]'' tribute band.
* Morbid Angel have several Lovecraft-inspired songs
* A Band Of Orcs. ''In the Keeper's Chamber'', ''Wyrd of the Winter Wolf'', ''Lair of the Ice Wyrm''…
* Italian band [http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=1342 Beholder] (Melodic/Heavy Metal) - ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20101208054926/http://www.beholderofficial.com/legend.html The Legend Begins]''!▼
▲== {{smallcaps|[[Heavy Metal]]}} ==
▲* Italian band [http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=1342 Beholder] (Melodic/Heavy Metal) - ''[http://www.beholderofficial.com/legend.html The Legend Begins]''!
* Black Sabbath, as mentioned above, made the occasional foray into the genre, with ''The Wizard'' apparently having been inspired by Gandalf the Grey, and ''The Wall of Sleep'' being titled in reference to a Lovecraft story.
* [[Ronnie James Dio]] first came to prominence in the early 70s with a band called Elf. Let's just leave it at that.
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** [[Your Mileage May Vary]] since lots of Amon Amarth fans resent the shift from the death metal sound to more generic heavy metal which coincided with commercial success...and many see the proliferation of "viking metal" acts (some in totally unrelated places like [http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Asgard_Legionnaires/47725 Qatar]!) as derivative and sloppy.
** The similar style of Celtic metal, represented by such bands as Primordial, Cruachan and Waylander, takes a similar approach to Celtic mythology, although for the most part these bands lack the (relative) exposure of their Nordic cousins, with the possible exception of Eluveitie.
* Turisas, which was mentioned before, made a song called "Rex Regi Rebellis", which is based on Finnish epic historical novel called "Tales of a Field Surgeon". There is actually a quote read from the novel in the intro narration to the song.
* The entire "black side" of ''[[Queen]] II'' (which includes "Seven Seas of Rhye", [[wikipedia:The Fairy
** Related, '39, which is 'space opera'
** Also, the cover art for ''[http://www.recordstore.co.uk/images/covers08/11.2008/QNEWSPRINT-BIG.jpg News of the World]'',{{Dead link}} by SF illustrator Frank Kelly Freas.
** "The Prophet's Song" might count too.
*** ''The Prophet's Song'' is supposed to be about the Biblical story of Noah, or so Brian May says (he also claims that the song came to him in a dream).
** Ahem. "[[Highlander|Princes of the Universe]]". The band's magnum opus is also one of the purest examples of
* "Stonehenge" in ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]]''.
* [[Judas Priest]]'s "Lochness" is about, well, the Loch Ness monster.
** Not to mention the entire ''Nostradamus'' album, which is about... well, guess.
* Pagan Altar's "The Rising of the Dark Lord" is pretty much a tribute to Sauron-esque [[Evil Overlord
* [[Powerglove]]'s repertoire is almost entirely made of videogame soundtrack covers, except for ...an instrumental cover of the first [[Power Rangers]] theme song. They also did an album dedicated to 80's/90's cartoons.
* [[Menac E]] from Italia named its first [http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/63231 album] "[[Quake]] Metal".
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** The one about Cuchulain is "Feats of War."
* The Sword, a [[Doom Metal]] band whose music is largely inspired by the works of Robert E. Howard, Arthur C. Clarke, and others. Their second album contains a song named after, and based on, the [[Conan the Barbarian]] story "[[The Frost-Giant's Daughter|The Frost Giants Daughter]]", as well as "Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians", a song about a primitive tribe worshipping nuclear bombs [[After the End]]. Their most recent album, ''Warp Riders'', is a medieval fantasy [[Concept Album]] set on a tidally locked planet.
* The college band Klövenhoöf, a [[All Cavemen Were Neanderthals|Neanderthal]] / [[Heroic Fantasy|Conan]] themed band, combined this trope with [[Heavy Metal Umlaut
* The post-grunge band Breaking Benjamin's song, Home, is based on ''[[The Wizard of Oz (film)|The Wizard of Oz]]''.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120329125636/http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/CAUTIVA CAUTIVA], a metal project of José Travieso with songs like "[[Cthulhu Mythos|The Great Old One]]" and "[[Twin Peaks|Fire, Walk With Me!]]".
* The Peruan trash metal band named [https://web.archive.org/web/20111230091400/http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/Gangrel Gangrel]. As in, ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]''.
* Quebecois epic-metal band Blackguard does this a lot, and for bonus points, they have a song that's specifically about [[wikipedia:Chasse-galerie|a certain French-Canadian legend]].
* [[Manowar]] - D&D/Conan style fantasy metal band, drawing heavily on Norse mythology.
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* Parodied by the Italian band ''Gli Atroci'' in their song ''I Guerrieri del Metallo'' (The Metal Warriors), which is about a group of inept warriors who were recently defeated in battle because they had diarrhea, so they seek revenge, but they are ambushed by the enemy behind a hill, so they run away to save their asses (that's how the song puts it) and return to their village, where they tell lies about the battle to their wives.
** Also, from the same band, ''Il Drago Infuocato nel Bosco Incantato'' (The Fiery Dragon in the Enchanted Wood), about an adventurer who enters the eponymous enchanted wood to reach the kingdom of the elves, only to discover that he is not allowed to unless he pays a tax. The adventurer concludes that it's not worth it, because [[Screw You, Elves|the elves are a bunch of assholes]] and [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink|the enchanted wood is overcrowded with elves, wizards, druids and dwarves]].
* Def Leppard's first album, ''On Through The Night'', a much heavier album than their hair metal days, has the song "Overture" which includes such fantasy staples as silver warriors, destroyed cities and prophetic priests, but could be possibly be referring to
* Dethfrog by Bad Dudes is a Heavy Metal song about [[Chrono Trigger|Frog]].
* A few songs from Sacrilege have middle-earth themed titles. [[Indecipherable Lyrics|Good luck making out the lyrics.]]
* Huntress has albums ''Starbound Beast'' and ''Spell Eater''. The latter also has [[Tarot Motifs|Tarot-themed]] songs — "Eight of Swords" (in the music video their vocalist even poses as the tested character on this card, with blindfold and all) and "The Tower".
* Lords of the Crimson Alliance.
* Legendry. Their 2018 album is even named "[[Dungeon Crawler]]".
* Axehammer (USA). ''The Dragons Fly'', ''Sword And Shield'', ''Destiny of Light'', ''Shadowlands'', ''Dancing with Demons''… you get the idea.
* The concept is so common, it got mentioned more than once in the [http://www.metalstorm.ee/forum/topic.php?topic_id=3163 "101 rules of power metal"]. Example:▼
▲== {{smallcaps|[[Power Metal]]}} ==
{{quote|71. Whenever you short of ideas, pick up your Dungeons and Dragons books. You might as well be the first band to sing about owlbears.}}▼
** And from the [http://www.metalstorm.ee/pub/fun_comments.php?fun_id=7 epic sequel]:▼
{{quote|22. Why do you play? For the king, for the land, for the mountains, for the green valleys where dragons fly, for the glory, the power to win over the dark lord!▼
23. Not to mention the right to write an album based on a crappy 80's fantasy movie. Why isn't "[[Willow]]" a five disc series yet? }}▼
* [[Van Canto]]. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Shw3lYC6DsY Hero Metal a Capella].
* [[Wildpath]]. Think a mix between [[Rhapsody of Fire]] and [[Nightwish]].
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** They're slowly moving away from this trope, though. There are one or two songs on their latest album that aren't about epic battles for glory and honour.
* [[Blind Guardian]], especially ''Nightfall in Middle-Earth'' (aka ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' <small>AS A CONCEPT ALBUM</small>).
** Blind Guardian practically ''is'' this trope. Most of their catalogue is about either Tolkein ("Lord of the Rings," "Harvest of Sorrow"), Moorcock ("Journey Through the Dark," "Quest for Tanelorn") or Stephen King, specifically [[The Dark Tower]] ("Somewhere Far Beyond," "Carry the Blessed Home").
** Their latest{{when}}
* Had Epidemia never put out any song except "[[The Silmarillion|Fëanor]]," it would have been enough.
* Elvenking
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* [[Iced Earth]] and [[Blind Guardian]] [[All Your Powers Combined|combined]] to make [[Demons and Wizards]]. Among other things, they have an entire album dedicated to Stephen King's ''[[The Dark Tower]]'', however Hansi Kursch has stated that many of the songs have more than one meaning, and are more related allegorically, such as songs about Captain Ahab which reflects Roland's quest.
* [[Power Quest]]
* Many songs by [[Nightwish]], including "Elvenpath", "Wishmaster" (which directly references ''[[Dragonlance]]''), "The Escapist", "Return To The Sea", "Nightquest" (which is also a brief history of the band), "7 Days To The Wolves" (based on ''[[The Dark Tower]]''), and "White Night Fantasy". Their earlier material has more overt
** ''Fantasmic'', named for a [[Disney Theme Parks]] show, is all about the [[Disney Animated Canon]].
* [[Hammerfall]]. Notably, several of their song titles are lifted directly from [[A Song of Ice and Fire]], such as "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" and "Take The Black."
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** So is the bonus track from Karma, "Once and Future King".
** The song "Across The Highlands", also on Karma, seems heavily influenced by [[Highlander]].
▲* The concept is mentioned more than once in the [http://www.metalstorm.ee/forum/topic.php?topic_id=3163 "101 rules of power metal"]. Example:
▲{{quote|71. Whenever you short of ideas, pick up your Dungeons and Dragons books. You might as well be the first band to sing about owlbears.}}
▲** And from the [http://www.metalstorm.ee/pub/fun_comments.php?fun_id=7 epic sequel]:
▲{{quote|22. Why do you play? For the king, for the land, for the mountains, for the green valleys where dragons fly, for the glory, the power to win over the dark lord!
▲23. Not to mention the right to write an album based on a crappy 80's fantasy movie. Why isn't "[[Willow]]" a five disc series yet? }}
* [[3 Inches of Blood]] practically thrives on this trope to the point where if their lyrics were sung by anyone else, they would be mocked for being narmtacular while 3 Inches of Blood make people raise the horns and head bang.
** [http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Destroy_Destroy_Destroy/33570 Destroy Destroy Destroy] adds towering, Lord Of The Rings-esque symphonic arrangements for [[Large Ham|extra hamminess]], but with an album called ''Battle Sluts'', they're clearly not as serious about it. (Stylistically, by the way, they're American power metal with harsh vocals.)
* "Pirate Metal"
**
** [[Alestorm]], though not everything from them either - e.g. they got a metal version of the Scottish national anthem.
* [
* Wuthering hights
* [[Epica]], name derived from the Kamelot album of the same name, combines some
* ''Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross'', a concept album about the life of Charlemagne, with [[Christopher Lee]] (who is related through his mother's family, the Carandinis) singing as Charlemagne.
* The band Silence has done a cover of ''[[Guilty Gear|Awe of She]]''.
* Also, the italian band Highlord has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIvmfY81SqY&fmt=18 their own version] of "[[Saint Seiya|Pegasus Fantasy]]", which appeared in their album ''Breath of Eternity''. They also covered "[[Dragon Ball|Cha-La, Head Cha-La]]" in ''Instant Madness'' ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QzVx5Q1mck seen here]) and recently "[[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Zankoku Na Tenshi No Teeze]]" in ''The Death Of The Artists'' ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13AXW22luOQ seen here]) Too bad that those versions are [[No Export for You|limited to Japan]].
* The Swedish group [[Sabaton]] primarily does songs about famous historical wars, but the song "Shadows" on the album ''Fist for Fight'' is about the Nazgul from ''Lord of the Rings''.
* [[Yngwie Malmsteen]], while considered a foreground character in neo-classical metal, has always had at least one
** One of his album covers has him fighting off a dragon with his guitar. See for yourself- it's the page image for [[The Power of Rock]].
* Lost Horizon. They have a [[Rated "M" for Manly|ridiculously awesome]] song called [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj5PWLXC7Qo "Highlander (The One).] Guess what it' about.
* Man-Witch [
* While not strictly fantasy, Adramelch's primary focus is medieval themes.
* The US power metal band Omen have been described as "Conan metal"
* Stormwitch album ''War of the Wizards'' is based on ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', but (according to [[The Other Wiki]]) the copyright issues at the time forced the band to change the names of the characters (for example; Aragorn to Aaron).
* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxK5cw0_2Go Shinigami]" by [[Machinae Supremacy]] is about ''[[Death Note]]''.
* German band At Vance - though not nearly as mithril-laden as one could expect from [[Jack Vance|such a name]].
* German band Excess Pressure [//www.spirit-of-metal.com/en/band/Excess_Pressure] [//www.jamendo.com/artist/356491/excess-pressure], with "Stormbringer" (on ''[[The Elric Saga]]'') and many songs that are less specific, but clearly fall under this.
* There was a band from Brazil named [[Ravenloft]] ([//www.spirit-of-metal.com/en/band/Ravenloft really]). Not fan art, but with dark-ish themes.
▲== {{smallcaps|Rap Metal}} ==
* [[Nerd Core]] acts sometimes throw in a rap-metal track or two on fantastic topics.
** ''Lords of the Rhymes'', Quickbeam and B-Dil, Hobbit rappers. Especially "Black Riders"
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* [http://www.myspace.com/captaindan Captain Dan: Authentic Pirate Hiphop.] With lazers, and ninja flipping Santa Claus.
▲== {{smallcaps|[[Symphonic Metal]]}} ==
* [[Within Temptation]]: Many of their songs fit to this trope, especially ''Hand of Sorrow'' which relates [[Robin Hobb|The Farseer Trilogy]].
* [[Rhapsody of Fire]] takes this trope [[Up to Eleven]]. Everything they have ever done involves some fantasy element. They are much nerdier than Dragonforce.
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* Skylark. Take ''Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming'', turn it into symphonic metal opera, then push "Epic" slider up, but not so far that Boris Vallejo covers vanish, and you have this.
* ''[[Lyriel]]'' - The lyrics to "Lind e-huil" are in Sindarin.
* Amberian Dawn from Finland, with songs on mythology and folklore.
== [[Folk Metal]] ==
* Folkearth, mostly Viking themed.
== {{smallcaps|[[Anime and Manga]]}} ==▼
* What happens when [[Dungeons and Dragons|D&D]] meets [[Heavy Metal]] and [[Anime and Manga|manga]] epic? ''[[Bastard!!]]''▼
== Non-Music Examples ==
▲* What happens when ''[[Dungeons
==
* Parodied in ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]]'' with the song "Stonehenge."
* The plot of [[George R. R. Martin]]'s ''The Armageddon Rag'' revolves around a broken up band named [[The Lord of the Rings|Nazgul]].▼
===
* [[Brutal Legend]] is this trope brought to life, combining [[Hack and Slash]], [[Real Time Strategy]] and [[The Power of Rock]].
** ''[[Tim Schafer]]'': "I've always seen
* [[Final Fantasy X]] has this with Otherworld
* [[Guilty Gear]] is a magical fantasy world in which characters named after [[Hair Metal]] and [[Thrash Metal]] bands from [[The Eighties]] destroy each other with attacks named after various songs.
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* A rarer sci-fi variation can be seen in the credits of ''[[Homeworld]]'', where the song "The Ladder (Homeworld)" by Yes recaps the story of the Kushaani's epic voyage to their original homeworld, Hiigara. Notably, while it's done as a rock ballad, the lyrics are reminescent of a cryptic ancient chant straight out of a mythic retelling of their famous journey.
▲== {{smallcaps|Literature}} ==
▲* The plot of [[George R. R. Martin]]'s ''The Armageddon Rag'' revolves around a broken up band named [[The Lord of the Rings|Nazgul]].
▲== {{smallcaps|[[Web Comics]]}} ==
* Parodied in ''[[Achewood]]'', in which serial killer Nice Pete and burnt-out hard rocker Lyle form a band named "Mister Band." Their output falls squarely in this category. Lyle, being more of a traditional metal fan, [[Creative Differences|becomes resentful of this.]]
* The band [http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=420 Mythic Slaughterbeast] in ''[[Questionable Content]]'', whose lyrics "read like [[This Is Your Premise on Drugs|Tolkien on PCP]]". [[Shaped Like Itself|For a very good and simple reason]].
* ''[[Chainsawsuit]]'' [http://chainsawsuit.com/2011/04/05/nerd-music/ noted] on "geek rock (nerdcore)" bearing the usual risk of invoking coolness.
* ''Walkbot Comics'' did [https://web.archive.org/web/20120601013821/http://www.walkbot.net/?webcomic_post=tolkien-related notice the trend].
* Inverted in the ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' prequel, ''On the Origin of
===
* What if [[Thor|Mighty Thor]] wielded an axe instead of a hammer? You get Valhallen, the Viking god of rock, from the "Justice Friends" shorts on ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]''.
* [[The Looney Tunes Show]] has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PvJ1zBJ-us Daffy Duck: The Wizard], a song about [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|Daffy doing mundane, everyday things while juxtaposed with scenes of epic battles and Daffy being an all-powerful wizard]].
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Just for Pun]]
[[Category:Music Tropes]]
[[Category:Trope Makers]]
▲[[Category:Heavy Mithril]]
[[Category:Heavy Metal]]
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