Power Metal

Unknown Soldier · 05-26-2012, 04:59 PM

Essentially a speed metal band that touched on thrash, but Agent Steel had a huge power metal slant to their sound to qualify them here. The band basically sounded like Iron Maiden on methamphetamines on their debut album Skeptics Apocolypse and singer John Cyriis was another Bruce Dickinson advocate with his vocals. By the time of their second album Unstoppable Force their best work, the band had moved into an even more power metal direction and added greater diversity to the sound by simply slowing everything down. The band quit for ten years after this album, had they stayed together they could've put out a sound very much in the vein of Nevermore.

Agent Steel Unstoppable Force 1987

Unknown Soldier · 05-26-2012, 05:04 PM

Agent Steel - Unstoppable Force - YouTube

Traveler - Agent Steel - YouTube

Metal Connoisseur · 05-27-2012, 12:00 PM

WHY?!

hardrock · 05-29-2012, 02:51 PM

Check out Losing September. They are a band from the midwest that has an operatic baritone style singer. It's not viking power metal, but it has a very powerful sound and even a great message.

It's refreshing to hear a good rock band actually stand up for something worth while and that means something to everyone.

They are about standing up for our rights

Search Losing September on Youtube and you'll know what i mean.

Eyrothath · 06-02-2012, 02:59 PM

This is my first post here so I will make it very long and I just want to say why and how Power Metal has become my favorite genre of music..

Like most people my age (25+) who in high school grew up around alternative/hard rock and nu-metal bands, I learned to like that style of specific music and hate on classical music, in which nu-metal had completely dismantled.. I did not like Black Sabbath, Metallica or any of the 80's stuff like Glam Metal, I thought it was all out-dated and cheesy..

It was also a time without youtube and the internet in general.. I did not know what Power Metal was, I did not know ANY of the European artists.. I didn't know who Manowar or Helloween was, they were blacked out by most rock stations..

While surfing through the internet one day however on a old file sharing program called WINMX, by sheer accident I stumbled upon In Flames, which introduced me to the wave of Melodic Death Metal in Sweden, this was in 2001.. I QUICKLY grew out of the Nu-Metal phase, although the people around me were still into it and I went to several Slipknot concerts, however, I saw Soilwork, In Flames and a whole lot of other bands during my High School years..

I had slowly begun to discover Power Metal bands although they were very underground at the time, I discovered Kamelot back in around 2002-03 along with Blind Guardian, Freedom Call and a couple other bands, there were no torrents back then, there was no ordering this stuff off amazon, etc.. It wasn't popular where I lived, nobody toured here (ever) and my local record stores never carried any of their CDs.. In 04-05ish things changed, my record store got bought out and I found power metal CDs left and right, I was finishing up my last years of high school and I was totally into the Power Metal scene by then, I had picked up several Freedom Call albums as well as Kamelot, Nightwish and Blind Guardian by then, I was overloading, downloading music was becoming more and more popular..

I have since gone to several power metal concerts and it has risen to become my favorite genre of music along with folk metal.. I have seen Kamelot, Nightwish, Stratovarius, Edguy, Blind Guardian, Children of Bodom, Alestorm and several other bands..

I also learned to like a lot of the stuff from the 80's such as Savatage and Iron Maiden(the first sing along band), and I like classical music, opera, jazz and orchestras.. I watch Trans-Siberian Orchestra play ever year and when I look back I wonder how I had no respect for such music as a teenager, I had thought I had this rebellious attitude, but really, I didn't.. At all and sure, I am a nerd and in a way, Power Metal is as nerdy as it comes, but it is also as complex as it comes, I like the melodies as much as the hard pounding riffs..

Power Metal simply just isn't a heavy metal cliche, it was a movement that revived metal from the 90's when metal had hit its all time low and it is a important part of the European festival culture... To sum Power Metal up..

Lyrics inspired by Dio
Vocals inspired by Iron Maiden and Judas Priest along with the twin guitarists, double-kick drum set..
Speed metal thrown in and tons of melodies, filmscore, etc..

And when you look back, Jazz has also been a heavy influence on Power Metal along with speed metal..

Check out this 1955 video of Louie Bellson who was a jazz drummer (the first ever to use a double kick drum set) note that not even Sabbath had such a drum set..

If you look up Louie Bellson 1955

He stops and does a drum solo, the blast beats he's using, simply put is the same thing found in Power Metal//Speed Metal of today..

People say metal wouldn't exist without Black Sabbath, however that is wrong, Sabbath created the heavy pounding riffs, I will give them that, but they are not the main influence of today's symphonic/power metal bands..

So simply put, I would say Power Metal is classical music combined with metal, which is why so many bands use medieval//fantasy themes as well like Dio did, it just fits the genre even though it may seem cheesy, it also gives off that classical feel it has.. But hey, as a gamer and roleplayer, I can also relate to it..

Unknown Soldier · 06-02-2012, 05:03 PM

That's a good a post and a lot of what you've said is relevant. Power metal carries all the traditions that make metal proud, they're the flag-flyers of metal, they keep metal on an even keel and power metal sits directly in the middle of the metal genre, its not too heavy, its not too agressive and yet its not tame. When Iron Maiden set the standards for metal in the early 1980s, power metal carried that tradition on.

So screw all you extreme metal elitists, who like to hit on power metal.

The Batlord · 06-04-2012, 09:25 AM

**** yeah, power metal! Sure, I like listening to music that challenges me and makes me think, but sometimes I just like to bask in the pure, thick headed glory of power metal. There's no form of music that puts such a **** eating grin on my face as power metal.

'Nuff said.

Unknown Soldier · 06-05-2012, 04:01 PM

Not the most accomplished or best metal bands, Vicious Rumors were one of those bands that straddled the line between power metal and traditional heavy metal. Their third album the self-titled Vicious Rumors was easily their best and most consistent album.

Vicious Rumors Vicious Rumors 1990

Unknown Soldier · 06-05-2012, 04:02 PM

vicious rumors - world church - YouTube

Unknown Soldier · 06-20-2012, 04:37 AM

Wow I've actually mini-reviewed 41 power metal albums that I recommend as great listens and these have ranged from the early 1980s upto 1997. Now time to update this thread and do 1998 to 200o and of course including some older stuff still yet to be included. Next album coming later.

05-27-2012, 12:00 PM	#273 (permalink)
Metal Connoisseur Franchise Player Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 539	WHY?! __________________ Metal Connoisseur's Last.fm

05-29-2012, 02:51 PM	#274 (permalink)
hardrock Groupie Join Date: May 2012 Location: Ohio Posts: 4	Check out Losing September. They are a band from the midwest that has an operatic baritone style singer. It's not viking power metal, but it has a very powerful sound and even a great message. It's refreshing to hear a good rock band actually stand up for something worth while and that means something to everyone. They are about standing up for our rights Search Losing September on Youtube and you'll know what i mean.

06-02-2012, 02:59 PM	#275 (permalink)
Eyrothath Groupie Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 36	This is my first post here so I will make it very long and I just want to say why and how Power Metal has become my favorite genre of music.. Like most people my age (25+) who in high school grew up around alternative/hard rock and nu-metal bands, I learned to like that style of specific music and hate on classical music, in which nu-metal had completely dismantled.. I did not like Black Sabbath, Metallica or any of the 80's stuff like Glam Metal, I thought it was all out-dated and cheesy.. It was also a time without youtube and the internet in general.. I did not know what Power Metal was, I did not know ANY of the European artists.. I didn't know who Manowar or Helloween was, they were blacked out by most rock stations.. While surfing through the internet one day however on a old file sharing program called WINMX, by sheer accident I stumbled upon In Flames, which introduced me to the wave of Melodic Death Metal in Sweden, this was in 2001.. I QUICKLY grew out of the Nu-Metal phase, although the people around me were still into it and I went to several Slipknot concerts, however, I saw Soilwork, In Flames and a whole lot of other bands during my High School years.. I had slowly begun to discover Power Metal bands although they were very underground at the time, I discovered Kamelot back in around 2002-03 along with Blind Guardian, Freedom Call and a couple other bands, there were no torrents back then, there was no ordering this stuff off amazon, etc.. It wasn't popular where I lived, nobody toured here (ever) and my local record stores never carried any of their CDs.. In 04-05ish things changed, my record store got bought out and I found power metal CDs left and right, I was finishing up my last years of high school and I was totally into the Power Metal scene by then, I had picked up several Freedom Call albums as well as Kamelot, Nightwish and Blind Guardian by then, I was overloading, downloading music was becoming more and more popular.. I have since gone to several power metal concerts and it has risen to become my favorite genre of music along with folk metal.. I have seen Kamelot, Nightwish, Stratovarius, Edguy, Blind Guardian, Children of Bodom, Alestorm and several other bands.. I also learned to like a lot of the stuff from the 80's such as Savatage and Iron Maiden(the first sing along band), and I like classical music, opera, jazz and orchestras.. I watch Trans-Siberian Orchestra play ever year and when I look back I wonder how I had no respect for such music as a teenager, I had thought I had this rebellious attitude, but really, I didn't.. At all and sure, I am a nerd and in a way, Power Metal is as nerdy as it comes, but it is also as complex as it comes, I like the melodies as much as the hard pounding riffs.. Power Metal simply just isn't a heavy metal cliche, it was a movement that revived metal from the 90's when metal had hit its all time low and it is a important part of the European festival culture... To sum Power Metal up.. Lyrics inspired by Dio Vocals inspired by Iron Maiden and Judas Priest along with the twin guitarists, double-kick drum set.. Speed metal thrown in and tons of melodies, filmscore, etc.. And when you look back, Jazz has also been a heavy influence on Power Metal along with speed metal.. Check out this 1955 video of Louie Bellson who was a jazz drummer (the first ever to use a double kick drum set) note that not even Sabbath had such a drum set.. If you look up Louie Bellson 1955 He stops and does a drum solo, the blast beats he's using, simply put is the same thing found in Power Metal//Speed Metal of today.. People say metal wouldn't exist without Black Sabbath, however that is wrong, Sabbath created the heavy pounding riffs, I will give them that, but they are not the main influence of today's symphonic/power metal bands.. So simply put, I would say Power Metal is classical music combined with metal, which is why so many bands use medieval//fantasy themes as well like Dio did, it just fits the genre even though it may seem cheesy, it also gives off that classical feel it has.. But hey, as a gamer and roleplayer, I can also relate to it..