An Introduction to Power Metal
If you were to mention Power Metal to an English speaking metal head there is a good chance he will be baffled to find that there is a major sub-genre he has gone years, perhaps decades without hearing about. However Power Metal dates back to at least the mid eighties and arguably includes such classics as Star Gazer and The Immigrant Song.
While it is not meant to be definitive this guide should teach you to recognise the epic choruses, technical solos and catchy riffs that define this genre regardless of what else might distinguish the specific band.
Helloween
While the starting point of Power Metal is debatable Helloween are the oldest band that can not be placed into any other category. Fast beat contrasted with slow chords? Check. Epic vocals? Check. Technical solos? Check. Shameless fun? Enormous check!
The twin albums Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part One and Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part Two are essential listening for fans.
Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian are one if not the most highly regarded of Power Metal bands with a reputation for holding themselves to an extremely high standard while freely experimenting with style. At different points their music has crossed over with Thrash, Symphonic and Industrial Metal with a number of folk songs on the side. Sadly though, for legal reasons their older material can be difficult to obtain.
With a little bit of everything on it At The Edge of Time is the best album to start with. Somewhere Far Beyond, Imaginations From The Other Side and Nightfall In Middle-Earth are also required if you can find them.
Rhapsody Of Fire
More than any other band Rhapsody Of Fire (formerly Rhapsody) have built Power Metal’s reputation for each and every song being about epic fantasy. Indeed their first five albums tell a single story, The Saga Of The Emerald Sword, with the next five being its sequel. Since then things have become weird with the guitarist leaving to start a band splitting into two rival factions (Rhapsody Of Fire and Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody) with the former having a very high turnover rate.
Like Blind Guardian songs range from gentle acoustic and even spoken word passages to surprisingly dark and heavy pieces though they are also much more unified by the strong influences of Italian Baroque music.
While it feels wrong to speak of the saga albums separately Symphony Of The Enchanted Lands and Rain Of A Thousand Flames are especially memorable.
Sabaton
Sabaton’s slower, stripped down sound exemplifies how Power Metal draws from the best of Glam Metal while their meticulously researched lyrics about military history and strategy also shows the difference between the two genres. While they are primarily known for songs about WWII they have also detailed a number of other conflicts including the rise of the Swedish Empire in their album Carlous Rex and more recently have taken to putting more emphasis on specific soldiers.
In this case I have to admit The Art Of War is the only album I have listened to end to end but it is also extremely recommend every (non spoken) track is a classic.
Other notable bands:
- Gamma Ray The first of many spin-offs from Helloween. This band is heavier take on Helloween's style.
- Nightwish The other populariser of symphonic power metal. The first three albums are highly recommended with later albums moving away gradually moving away from Power Metal. Mention of this band tends to start arguments of over which of their singers is better. The answer is Tarja. UPDATE: The answer is now Floor.
- After Forever After several years I have finally started listening to this underrated group and can safely say that they considerably improved on the template created by Nightwish.
- Iron Savior Like Rhapsody this band has a series of concept albums however their one is science fiction with a sound bordering on Thrash Metal.
- Lost Horizon This band spent over a decade perfecting songs based on the film Highlander with a surprising depth of spiritual insight.
- Alestorm While not strictly a Power Metal band Alestorm’s humorous brand of "Pirate Metal" has gained them popularity with audiences that wouldn't ordinarily listen to Metal of any variety.
- Dragon Force The one song the metal head mentioned at the beginning of this article might have heard is the final level of Guitar Hero, Through The Fire and Flames. Opinions on this band tend to be extremely polarised, My own is some place in between.
PS
A special thanks must go to the user @Stratemagician for showing me that sometimes it's better to keep things simple.