As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a fan of Pandora and use it all the time. Lately, one of the stations I’ve been listening to is a new one I recently created based on the band Delain. It ranges all the way from soft Celtic ballads with gentle vocals from bands like Blackmore’s Night and Celtic Woman all the way to symphonic metal (orchestral gothic metal?) with dramatic choruses and death growls from bands like Leaves’ Eyes and Epica. The surprising thing is Pandora has managed to choose songs with enough similar characteristics they actually sound good together despite being from such a wide range of styles. I’ve found if I’m paying attention to something else I don’t even notice the song changes much of the time.
While that station does play some slow, soft music it tends much more to the harder end of the spectrum. You can get a similar station on the other end with much more soft music by basing it on the band Sleepthief.