Any good bands like Nightwish or Within Temptation?

What are some bands like Epica, After Forever, or MaYaN?

• I know about Nightwish and I like some of their songs, but it isn't exactly the same kind of music. (Similar bands to Nightwish are fine too, as long as they have some musical skill unlike WT.) Within Temptation is another one people draw comparisons to, but after one run through of "The Unforgiving" I realized that they were more of a trite pop band with little to no similarities to Epica or the others. I'm not looking for the same instrumentation, necessarily, but more of a similar degree of progressiveness and talent.

• Answer:

  First of all, if you're just judging Within Temptation by The Unforgiving, that's a shame; many critics have panned that album as a departure from their earlier style.  The albums Mother Earth, The Silent Force, or The Heart of Everything might be more to your liking.  Standout tracks on those include "Ice Queen" (their signature song), "Angels," and "Our Solemn Hour." That said, here's a few more of my favorites that have found their way into a playlist with the likes of Epica, Nightwish, WT, and After Forever: Leaves' Eyes - Rather Viking-flavored if you're into that sort of thing, and they also use a fair bit of the "soprano and gravel" vocal style, featuring Liv Kristine Espenaes Krull and her husband, Alexander Krull. Delain - Solid metal, great vocals by Charlotte Wessels. Marco Hietala (Nightwish) does guest vox on some of their tracks. Divine Ascension - Closer to prog metal, but a solid new band out of Australia. Great vocals from Jennifer Borg. (The guitarist, Karl Szulik, is one of my Facebook friends.) Kamelot - American metal band, has opened for Nightwish.  A favorite of another fellow symphonic-metal fan. Lapis Lazuli - Another relatively young band, from Sweden. Amaranthe - They describe themselves as "modern metal." Unusual, in that they have three vocalists. One of them, Elize Ryd, famously filled in for Anette Olzon at the last Nightwish concert in Denver (she also sings with Kamelot). Hat tip: for the A2A. Rock on! \m/