Few things make me happier than music. And while I listen to everything from jazz to Gregorian chant, there’s no denying my love for metal. For me, it might be first among equals, as they say. So, when I was asked to put something together about five fantasy writers, I imagined what the metal sounds of their worlds might be…
I could have done this for a ton of authors. But the powers that be said only five. Fair enough. I went with: Robin Hobb, Mark Lawrence, myself (a’course), Patrick Rothfuss, and George R.R. Martin. Once I’d selected the writers, I thought about their work, and pretty quickly bands and songs came bubbling up, suggesting themselves. I’ve whittled a huge number of tracks down to what I’ll share here.
My hope is that you’ll meander slowly through this article, taking time to listen to the music. Enjoy.
Robin Hobb
I’ve known Robin, or Megan, for a lot of years now. We were Facebook friends for a while. Then a supremely cool thing happened.
See, each day I post a Song of the Day on my Facebook page. I’m always looking for new bands and sharing what I find. One day I shared a Nightwish rendition of Phantom of the Opera. Later that day I got a private message from Megan. Turned out she was a Nightwish fan; and the band was coming to Seattle soon. She knew one of the guys in the band, and had not only tickets but backstage passes, too. She was inviting me to go. Hells yes!
We’ve been good friends ever since, talking music and books and life. She’s my kind of people. Anyhoo, I learned that she sometimes writes with Nightwish playing. So, naturally my first selection for her and the Farseer books is “Storytime” by Nightwish. It’s not only powerful, but has some beautiful lyrics:
I am the voice of never, never land,
The innocence of dreams from every man,
I am the empty grave of Peter Pan,
A soaring kite against the blue, blue sky,
Every chimney, every moonlit sight
I am the story that will read you real,
Every memory that you hold dear
And it’s not just that Megan likes the band. Tuomas Holopainen, the keyboardist for Nightwish who writes most the music, is an amazing composer. He produces great orchestral arrangements to their music. The cinematic nature of the songs reminds me of Robin’s writing. Good match.
To this I’d add “My Confession” by Kamelot. This is another power metal band that has a symphonic element in their music, but married to a crushing rhythm section. Megan, if you’re reading, you’ll dig the lyrics on this one.
Of course, I need to include something that talks about killing, right? I mean, Megan does write about assassins. And stuff. With that in mind, I give you Within Temptations “The Howling,” featuring these lyrics:
When we start killing
It’s all coming down right now
From the nightmare we’ve created,
I want to be awakened somehow
And let me close out Megan’s section with Evanescence. I love Amy Lee. Amazing talent. And because Megan’s every bit as talented—as a writer—and because her fiction and her books have a clear, undeniable voice—like Amy—I give you “Good Enough.”
But because Robin can also haunt you with her imagery, I also give you “Hello,” which leaves you just the least bit unsettled.
Mark Lawrence
I’ve never met Mark in person. But we’ve traded a fair number of emails. I have loads of respect for the guy. Yes, for his fiction. But even more so for the way he cares for his family. Could be because we share some common ground in that regard. Regardless, that’s not why I pulled him into my list. I simply had so many metal ideas for his work.
Let me begin with Devin Townsend’s “Kingdom.” This track is big. Sweeping. But it’s got this gritty bottom end. And Townsend’s vocals hit so many colors. Like Mark’s own authorial voice. I can hear this track soaring over the Broken Empire.
Now let’s get a bit grim. Alice in Chains. This is a more retiring track, but no less impactful: “Down in a Hole.” And check out these lyrics, remind you of anything:
Down in a hole and I don’t know if I can be saved
See my heart I’ve decorated like a grave
You don’t understand who they
Thought I was supposed to be
Look at me now a man
Who won’t let himself be
Okay, let’s pick up the pace. And with some humor, albeit on the square. Next for Mark I go with Faith No More and “We Care a Lot.” I mean, can’t you just hear the “road brothers” singing:
(We care a lot) about the welfare of all you boys and girls
(We care a lot) about you people ’cause we’re out to save the world
It’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it
Oh, it’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it
Last for Mark is Amaranthe and their track “Drop Dead Cynical.” I choose this one for a few reasons. Amaranthe does some really interesting things in blending driving metal with an almost pop industrial sound. Given some of the surprises in Mark’s Broken Empire, I like the allusion to Amaranthe’s similar blend of elements you aren’t expecting.
Peter Orullian
Now, I was told I could add myself to the mix. And because I have distinct ideas about music for my own Vault of Heaven series, I had to take the chance to share.
Anyone who knows me knows that my favorite band is Dream Theater. But beyond that, the first time I heard “Pull Me Under,” I heard the axles and wheels of siege engines going to war—not unlike a kingdom in my series who build gearworks for war. So, naturally “Pull me Under” is the first track I’ll submit. There’s a precision about it, too, that reminds me of an entire society in Trial of Intentions dedicated to astronomy, mathematics, physics, and other colleges, that factor big in the book. Anyway, listen at about 1:17, and tell me if you aren’t hearing those siege engines rolling to battle.
Then, from DT I also have to include “Wither.” I do so less because of its association to my books, and more because it’s something of a personal writer anthem for me. Listen and you’ll understand why.
Back to the books. My second book, Trial of Intentions, is just out. But the song I’m going to give you has direct ties to book three. It’s “Damaged,” by Sevendust. I absolutely love Morgan Rose’s backing vocals. This is how the music magic sounds in my series. Most of the time, anyway. Morgan inspired me on many fronts in building my magic system. Rhythmically. Viscerally. And you’ll want to remember this song when book three releases.
In Trial of Intentions I deal with the topic of suicide. It was hard. I had a friend do this recently. It got deep into the motivations of a few of my characters. So, it’s not surprising that I’d pick Disturbed and “Inside the Fire.” This is a sensitive topic. Please listen to David Draiman’s note at the beginning of the video.
And because some of my world is quite dire, I give you another track from Disturbed, “Prayer.” Consider these lyrics, and you’ll get a flavor for some of the challenge my characters face:
Let me enlighten you
This is the way I pray
Living just isn’t hard enough
Burn me alive, inside
Living my life’s not hard enough
Take everything away
But let me leave you with the hope I try to infuse into my world. This song—ironically for me, since I’m a vocalist—has no lyrics. It’s epic orchestral. And if you haven’t discovered Two Steps From Hell, I’m glad to be the one to introduce you to them. This song is another personal anthem—of mine, and a few of my characters. Listen to it and tell me if you aren’t ready to stand behind a good cause. I give you, “Heart of Courage”
Patrick Rothfuss
For the last several years I’ve corresponded with Pat around his Worldbuilder’s charity. The topic has almost always been music—as in what kind of musical thingy can I do to help out with the charity: a rewrite of The Ballad of Serenity; Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind” refashioned after Name of the Wind.
And, of course, I’ve read Pat’s books, which is why I’m going to start with Rush and “Tom Sawyer.” I get a Kvothe feeling in this tune. I mean, really, you don’t you just hear the resonance in these lyrics?
No, his mind is not for rent
To any God or government
Always hopeful yet discontent
He knows changes aren’t permanent
But change is
Plus, Rush (like Dream theater) is one of those bands that employs the use of odd meter and other compositional techniques to really embellish their music. Like Pat with his writing.
Go from this to Tool. I could select any number of Tool songs. But I’ll go with one most folks know, “Sober.” There’s a sobering poetry in this tune. Pat does that, too, in his fiction. And I can hear this played by modern day Edema Ruh.
Now, a band that does some extremely interesting things, and with great range, is Opeth. They’re my next pick for Rothfuss. In particular, I’ll go with “Porcelain Heart.” When the Kingkiller Chronicles get dark, I can hear this. There’s a confessional nature here. The honest tone is like the voice of Kvothe as narrator of his own tale.
Last, I’m giving Pat one of my favs: Queensryche. Geoff Tate is one of my all time favorite vocalists. I studied with the same vocal trainer as Geoff did. A gentlemen by the name of David Kyle. Amazing man. He trained Lane Staley, too, of Alice in Chains, as well as Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, and a gajillion more. Queensryche tells great stories. Their concept album Operation Mindcrime is one of the best ever written and performed. But the song for the Kingkiller Chronicles is “Killing Words.”
This song works on many levels, since Pat’s got the whole Naming thing in his series. Words with power, after all. Like if you needed to kill someone. But, on a more subtle level, I like the allusion to the relationship between Kvothe and Denna. Give it a listen.
George R.R. Martin
Now, George has written fiction about music—Armageddon Rag. So, I thought a bit about this one. I kept coming back to foundational metal. Even though George is standing on shoulders himself, it can’t be argued that he’s providing a broad set of shoulders for generations of new fantasy writers. So, in that spirit, let’s begin with “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath. Not like there’s war in George’s books or anything. I mean, was Sabbath uncannily aware of George would one day write? Consider:
Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of death’s construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds
Oh lord yeah!
The other thing readers soon learn about George is that he has no fear of killing his characters. This is why one of the first songs that popped to mind was “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” by Blue Oyster Cult. I have a feeling George would approve of this choice.
As I’ve done with most of the writers above, I wanted to have at least one tune in contrast to the big and bold. For A Song of Ice and Fire, what I kept hearing was “When a Blind Man Cries,” by Deep Purple. The cold lament of this song just feels right. It bears an ineffable quality that belongs to George’s world. Consider the lyrics:
Had a friend once in a room,
Had a good time but it ended much too soon.
In a cold month in that room
We found a reason for the things we had to do.
But no way we’re ending there. Last, but not least, I’m going with Iron Maiden for Martin. And I need two picks to do it: “Run to the Hills,” and “2 Minutes to Midnight.” The first has a specific meaning, if you listen closely. But if you abstract it a bit, the song works amazingly well for battle in general. And really, how can you beat these lyrics:
The killer’s breed or the demon’s seed,
The glamour, the fortune, the pain,
Go to war again, blood is freedom’s stain,
But don’t you pray for my soul anymore.
2 minutes to midnight
The hands that threaten doom.
2 minutes to midnight
To kill the unborn in the womb.
Iron Maiden writes many of their tunes with a galloping rhythm. It feels like war music. And while George has a lot of political intrigue in his work—like, lots of it—there’s plenty of blood. Make no mistake. So, yeah. Maiden. Here you go:
You know what, this was hellaciously fun. I’ve decided to do more of these articles. If you have suggestions of writers you’d want me to metalize, shoot me an email or tweet. You can find me at Orullian.com. Until then, enjoy the music above that plays as a virtual soundtrack to the works of these writers.
Peter Orullian is the author of the epic fantasy novels The Unremembered and Trial of Intentions, the first two installments in the Vault of Heaven series. You can find his interview series with popular fantasy authors of the day both here on Tor.com and at his site, where you’ll also find more of his music.
This post gives me all the feels. I’m a huge metal fan myself, just saw Nightwish and Kamelot in the space of a couple weeks (and I’m seeing Amaranthe this Friday)…and this is EXACTLY the kind of stuff I write to. Heck, I’ve even had a four-book series stewing on the backburner that has a major plotline directly inspired by “The Howling”. This post just made me all kinds of happy.
Blind Guardian did a whole Silmarillion themed album the most notable songs beeing Mirror Mirror and Nightfall.
I did something like this once, trying to assign songs to characters from Lord of the Rings. I didn’t get all of them, but the one I really remember being a fit was “Rise” by Disturbed for the One Ring. It’s such a total match. At one point the lyrics even ask, “Am I precious to you now?” I still get chills. As for your own project, I’d be curious to see how you interpret Sanderson. Or a horror writer. King, maybe? The Dark Tower would lend itself quite well to this, I think.
Love this article. I adore Nightwish and Iron Maiden and also use them for my writing.
I’m already planning more of these. So, please do add your suggestions of writers to cover. And yes, I’ll be doing more than just fantasy. Stephen King for sure. Let me know who you’d like to see in upcoming articles I’ll be writing. Cheers!
It’s funny, I just made a post on a subreddit suggesting War Pigs as the intro for CLEGANEBOWL in Game of Thrones. GRRM and Sabbath go well together.
I like Tool for Rothfuss but I like Schism for Kvothe. It has the kind of complexity I associate with both his character and his music.
For Pat Rofthuss I vote Slow Motion Countdown by Graveyard. It’s perfect and includes the line “when the flame turns blue, not even you will lead us through”.
I’ve also got a 60 song rock playlist that I put together for the final Wheel of Time books, and some of the songs definitely remind me of particular characters: Burn by Deep Purple for Egwene; Pray Nightfall by Paradise Lost and Everlone by the Wildhearts for Rand; You know my name by Chris Cornell for Mat; Straight on by Heart for Perrin; and finally (because I could really go on about this) Si el Diablo by Black Spiders for Ishy.
Would it be cheating to pair Bolt Thrower with the latest Warhammer novel?
Yes! Metal! If I had one suggestion, it would be to check out some folk and power metal. Folk and power metal are, by my lights, best suited for fantasy-themed stuff. Ensiferum’s “One Man Army”, Eluveitie’s “King” or “Call of the Mountain”, Tyr’s “Hold the Heathen Hammer High”, Turisas’s “The March of the Varangian Guard”, Whispered’s “Jikininki”, Rhapsody of Fire’s “Unholy Warcry”, Pathfinder’s “The Lord of Wolves”, Folkstone’s “In Caduta Libera”, and Orphaned Land’s “All is One” are an entirely non-representative but totally awesome place to start.
It’s not very good, but Manticora did an entire album called Hyperion based on Dan Simmons’ cycle of the same name.
Been reading Steven Eriksson and Ian C Esslemont books about the Malazan empire and the world of “Wu”, and I get some songs that, for me, fit some of the scenes and characters in the novels. To give one example, when the Tenescowri attack Capustan, the song that always starts running through my mind, is Demiurge by Meshuggah. THe pounding, heavy rythm along with the lyrics fit the story very well.
Before I even started reading this, I was thinking Iron Maiden for George R.R. Martin, and Kansas always puts me in mind of Rothfuss.
One thing to be said for John Ringo – he’s not afraid to namecheck music in his work, and that put me on to Nightwish, Cruxshadows, and the relentlessness of Dragonforce. And also Heather Alexander, who has some fun folk stuff.
Also while the Ghost series may not be fantasy, a Hind painted black obliterating a bunker position Apocalypse Now style to the sound of Through The Fire And The Flames … well, it comes close. And is particularly memorable.
Its kind of funny that you wrote this when you did. I’ve always believed metal and rock go well with fantasy, but for a long time, people blew me off.
Which is why, for my own soon to be published fantasy novel, War Witch: Rise, I put together my own playlist of awesome rockin music.
You can hear it here.
This is a fantastic post. Firstly, digging all the Nightwish love. In case you all didn’t know…their latest album has a song titled “Edema Ruh”. For that alone, I would put Nightwish as the official band for Rothfuss. :) (Also – their latest tour through the US was absolutely amazing…shout-out to anyone else that was at the Orlando show!).
Secondly, I want to mention Rhapsody of Fire…think they would go well with the Gentlemen Bastards series. It’s rousing, raucous and violently epic. And they also happen to have Christopher Lee narrate on a couple of their albums. Doesn’t get much better than that.
I am saddened Blind Guardian is not on this list. Their fantasy music is fabulous and references — off the top of my head — Tolkien, Wheel of Time, Michael Moorcock, Stephen King, Arthurian myth, and Greek myth.
Very pleasant surprise to see such a post, thanks Orullian!
Rock and metal has indeed rather obvious connection to Fantasy so it was always a bit disappointing to have it swept under the carpet.
Totally agree about Blind Guardian- maybe they weren’t mentioned because they were too obvious ;-) .
Another band that is both unique and suitable for fantasy is Therion.
I was a big fan of Nightwish before they become famous in the Anglo-Saxon world and am happy for the love they are getting here.
TC @@@@@ 8
Bolt Thrower = Warhammer = Bolt Thrower ;-)
You made me very happy giving Opeth and Within Temptation some love.
Not directly related, but this post reminded me that Iced Earth did an entire concept album based on the story of Todd McFarlane’s Spawn.
@Mr. Orullian-
Dude, I’m so pumped to read your Vault of Heaven books now! I mean they were already high on my TBR list, and I loved your short in Blackguards.
But your a headbanger like me too! \m/ Sweet.
I check out every 5 Books about.. cause I love it. Today not only was reading it -yes I should be working- but I was jamming to the Octane channel on my Sirius/XM app when I saw this. It’s fate. \m/
Wish there was one link for all the music. So I could just hit “Play” and enjoy. Like YouTube Shuffle mix.
I wonder what you would pull together for the Vorkosigan novels. Mark is metal, and Miles is so high energy.
I KNEW IT! I KNEW I wasn’t the only one who would hear music and think, “If so and so had a theme song, this would be it.” I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one listening to all of this symphonic metal and thinking it meshed with the fantasy genre like cheese and mother effin crackers! YEAH! I mean, heck, listen to the soundtrack for “Knights of Badassdom.” It’s a perfect blend of unforgiving, crunching guitar work and “medieval” instrumentation like bagpipes, lutes and strings, etc. They really work well together!
So, what about our dear Harry Dresden? Each major character could easily have their own thematic sound and what a soundtrack that would be. Maybe “Magic Carpet Ride” dedicated to the Blue Beetle? :-) Heheh. And for some reason, I hear “Kashmere” by Zepplin or “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash in there, too. You know Harry and his fire kabooms. I guess I just see him as kind of a classic rock kinda guy, whatever can come in an AM/FM radio or is still available on vinyl, because you know he can’t be around much more than that.
And where, oh where do we place “Dream of the Archer” by Heart? It could be anygiven Elven theme song.
Thanks for this write-up! There are some old friends in here, musically, but thank you for introducing us to a few more! How fun!
For not completely irrational reasons, I associate this little ditty with ‘Dead Beat’ by Jim Butcher.
In case the link does not work it’s Hard Rock Hallelujah by Lordi.
I’ve always thought that Frank Zappa’s “Peaches en Regalia” was a perfect song for when we first meet Elric & the royal court of Melnibone.
‘Course you can add in the Blue Oyster Cult tie ins to Moorcock’s Eternal Champions series of books – “Veteran of a Thousand Psychic Wars” & “Black Blade.” The fact that Moorcock helped write them, or offered advice/suggestions. just adds to the coolness of it all.
Kato
Awesome post!! lots of good music here. I love that Devin Townsend song… How about Wintersun for GRRM, the song “Land of Snow and Sorrow”. The entire Time 1 album is amazing, and the wait for the Time 2 album is shaping up to be like waiting for the next Song of Ice and Fire book, lol.
For the Malazan duo, there’s Caladan Brood for their band. Hopefully, no explanation is necessary (at least for people who’ve read or are reading the series — if you’re not in the know, the group is named after a character and the songs are based on the series).
Oh, I’m already crazy, but this was a fine reading for such a topic.
And glad to have seen mentioned Two Steps From Hell =D
So, as one gets to more and discern the fantasy and science fiction genres, so does the Metal/Rock appreciation… but it’s just a big passion to know and discover more. As mentioned above, yep, Folk Metal goes great with fantasy, and if one’s prone to write or even make a soundtrack for your story (whether by using/renaming the tracks from the movie soundtracks you already have or make a list with bands/artists’ songs), it works wonders.
Ooh, Caladan Brood, that was just one of best wonders for me. Epic Symphonic Black Metal. Think of Summoning. However, the hook for me was the use of those magnificent, clean vocals. In addition, I’ll add Slechtvalk (favourite songs from the last album being ‘Forsaken’ ‘Enthroned’ ‘Divided by Malice’ ‘Bewailed’) In Vain (Hymen til Havet) and Heidevolk.
So stoked to hear a big-time genre writer is a metal head too!
Someone already mentioned Iced Earth’s The Dark Saga, so I have to humbly suggest Demons & Wizards, a “super group” consisting of Jon Schaffer from Iced Earth and Hansi Kursch from Blind Guardian… Their “Touched By The Crimson King” album is a concept album based on Stephen King’s Dark Tower series.
If there’s one thing I love more than fantasy literature and fantasy gaming it has to be metal. While I’ve heard everything on this list, I can’t say I like many of these bands (Rush, Opeth a few others), but still wow, I love articles like this anyhow. I did a similar article where I presented metal bands (and a few outside of the genre) that have written songs based on George RR Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” over at Tower of the Hand. And then of course there’s the whole “Tolkien metal” range – I suppose Tolkien’s linguistic inventions are the most prevalent in metal. It seems that every other name from his works has been turned into a band name. But that is all beside the point, thanks for the refreshment.
Oh, and let’s not forget Seven Kingdoms – a female-fronted power metal band devoted specifically to The Song of Ice and Fire. ;)
I did another metal/fantasy playlist here: http://www.layersofthought.net/2015/06/peter-orullian-music-playlist-for-trial.html?m=1
I know this is a couple of years old now, but coincidentally, the song ‘Hand Of Sorrow’ by Within Temptation from their album ‘The Heart Of Everything’ was inspired by The Farseer Trilogy.
Nightwish also did the song ‘Edema Ruh’ on their latest album, ‘Endless Forms Most Beautiful’, which is of course based on Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicle.
As many said before, Blind Guardian is the first band that comes to mind when talking about fantasy literature, and then in my case also Summoning and Caladan Brood.