Hail all metalheads!.

I just recently started to REALLY listen to power metal. I never been a big fan but I want to give it a try, since its to only metal genre I don't listen to.

Any albums or bands you would recommend?

There are a ton of threads for "Essential Power Metal Albums" and things like that, but no one will deny that Helloween's Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I and Part II are must-have albums if you are getting into power metal. My personal favorites are both album releases from Lost Horizon.

Any links? just tried searching and I suck, and didn't find any.

PM sent

Thanks. I'll check it out. Was hoping for more bands to check out.

Btw. Fucking awesome music on Vacant Throne!!!! Got somthing I can get on my iPod. I want to listen to it ALOT more.

Hey thanks man! We don't even have fans outside of our state haha. We are recording our demo right now, should be done in a few weeks and I will definitely post it on the forums.

Seriously, this is so cool. I listen to ALOT of metal and is rare that something makes me headbang from the first note. FUCKING AWESOME! Going through the song the second time now. If this is power metal, I love power metal!

You bet man we are kind of unique as for our lyrical and musical themes but yeah mostly all of power metal sounds something like that. Welcome to the club and I will let you know when the demo is out! You can "like" us on Facebook to stay updated.

Already "like" you on facebook. Gonna listen to this all night!

Power metal albums that ErnilEnNaur recommends:

"Oceanborn" - Nightwish
"Ecliptica" - Sonata Arctica
"Visions" - Stratovarius
"The Black Halo" - Kamelot
"The Metal Opera Part I" - Avantasia
"Something Wicked This Way Comes" - Iced Earth
"Nightfall In Middle-Earth" - Blind Guardian
"Epica" - Kamelot
"Gather The Faithful" - Cain's Offering
"Reckoning Night" - Sonata Arctica
"Wishmaster" - Nightwish
"The Dark Saga" - Iced Earth
"Imaginations From The Other Side" - Blind Guardian
"Blade Of Triumph" - Iron Fire
"Symphony Of The Enchanted Lands" - Rhapsody

Thanks man! Will check it out.

Can someone describe in length the differences between these types of power metal for me? Also whether these branches are keyboard heavy or not. Also their relation to traditional heavy metal.

I saw this list on another site but it had no real details except for the difference between U.S. and German.

U.S. Power

German \ Teutonic

Extreme Power (I know its merely extreme vocals that make it different)

European \ Flower (anything with prominent keyboards and high pitched vocals I throw in here)

Swedish

Written by slinx on 12.07.2011 at 05:28

Can someone describe in length the differences between these types of power metal for me? Also whether these branches are keyboard heavy or not. Also their relation to traditional heavy metal.

I saw this list on another site but it had no real details except for the difference between U.S. and German.

U.S. Power

German \ Teutonic

Extreme Power (I know its merely extreme vocals that make it different)

European \ Flower (anything with prominent keyboards and high pitched vocals I throw in here)

Swedish

you seem to have a pretty good grasp on it.
US power is thrashier, man...like iced earth
german and flower kinda go hand-in-hand....though the really flowery stuff comes from scandinavian countries
youre right about extreme PM really only having dif. vox, but also the drumming is closer to extreme metal
hope that helps!

Written by Guest on 11.07.2011 at 03:23

Power metal albums that ErnilEnNaur recommends:

"Oceanborn" - Nightwish
"Ecliptica" - Sonata Arctica
"Visions" - Stratovarius
"The Black Halo" - Kamelot
"The Metal Opera Part I" - Avantasia
"Something Wicked This Way Comes" - Iced Earth
"Nightfall In Middle-Earth" - Blind Guardian
"Epica" - Kamelot
"Gather The Faithful" - Cain's Offering
"Reckoning Night" - Sonata Arctica
"Wishmaster" - Nightwish
"The Dark Saga" - Iced Earth
"Imaginations From The Other Side" - Blind Guardian
"Blade Of Triumph" - Iron Fire
"Symphony Of The Enchanted Lands" - Rhapsody

Thank you... everytime I think I know everything about power metal I find out members of my favorite bands made s uper fucking awesome project = Cain's Offering

If power metal is the only genre you don't really listen to, it might be a good idea not to start with classics or really essential power metal albums. Maybe it's easier for you to first listen to some symphonic or progressive power, with elements that you know and love from other genres.

For a bit of a symphonic edge, try Kamelot's "The Black Halo" or "Ghost Opera".
If you want it even more symphonic, anything by Nightwish is a good choice, mostly "Oceanborn", "Wishmaster" and "Once".
Blind Guardians "At The Edge Of Time" has some very strong classical elements.
In the case you might want to check out some very progressive PM, check either Angra's "Temple of Shadows" or "Enigmatic : Calling" by Pagan's Mind.
If you're interested in some folky elements, Falconer is a good choice. Their self-titled album is probably their best work, but "Chapters From A Vale Forlorn" is great as well.
Lastly, if you want to know how darker and a little harsher power metal sounds, try any of the two excellent albums by Dark Empire.

That's just a taste of the "outside the box power metal". For pure PM I'd suggest Helloween of course, but also Blind Guardian, Gamma Ray, Stratovarius or Iced Earth (although they are more heavy than power in some cases). Helloween might be a little off-putting at first though, because they sound really . . . happy. If you want my personal opinion, Kamelot and Blind Guardian are the kings of the genre nowadays, despite Helloween's latest album being really strong.

Written by Vacant Throne on 13.07.2011 at 06:00

Thank you... everytime I think I know everything about power metal I find out members of my favorite bands made s uper fucking awesome project = Cain's Offering

Yeah, Cain's Offering is mindblowingly good. I think they're better than Strato or Sonata have ever been to be honest. I know that for power metal fans that is bordering on blasphemy, but still. The only individual song from Sonata that tops Jani's creations is White Pearl Black Oceans, but that's all. Songs like Oceans of Regret and Morpheus in a Masquerade are good enough that you could split both of them up into three-four great songs. Gather The Faithful is simply overflowing with creativity, I love that album.

Since you're Danish you'll have to check out Wuthering Heights, Pyramaze and Manticora. None of them are purely power but have elements of other genres as well. I still believe that you'll like them

Written by JÄY on 12.07.2011 at 11:38

you seem to have a pretty good grasp on it.
US power is thrashier, man...like iced earth
german and flower kinda go hand-in-hand....though the really flowery stuff comes from scandinavian countries
youre right about extreme PM really only having dif. vox, but also the drumming is closer to extreme metal
hope that helps!

Not really true since Rhapsody Of Fire are Italian...but yes Scandinavian PM is predominantly of the so called "flowery" type

Written by Pazu on 13.07.2011 at 09:32

If power metal is the only genre you don't really listen to, it might be a good idea not to start with classics or really essential power metal albums. Maybe it's easier for you to first listen to some symphonic or progressive power, with elements that you know and love from other genres.

For a bit of a symphonic edge, try Kamelot's "The Black Halo" or "Ghost Opera".
If you want it even more symphonic, anything by Nightwish is a good choice, mostly "Oceanborn", "Wishmaster" and "Once".
Blind Guardians "At The Edge Of Time" has some very strong classical elements.
In the case you might want to check out some very progressive PM, check either Angra's "Temple of Shadows" or "Enigmatic : Calling" by Pagan's Mind.
If you're interested in some folky elements, Falconer is a good choice. Their self-titled album is probably their best work, but "Chapters From A Vale Forlorn" is great as well.
Lastly, if you want to know how darker and a little harsher power metal sounds, try any of the two excellent albums by Dark Empire.

That's just a taste of the "outside the box power metal". For pure PM I'd suggest Helloween of course, but also Blind Guardian, Gamma Ray, Stratovarius or Iced Earth (although they are more heavy than power in some cases). Helloween might be a little off-putting at first though, because they sound really . . . happy. If you want my personal opinion, Kamelot and Blind Guardian are the kings of the genre nowadays, despite Helloween's latest album being really strong.

I listen to Nightwish alot and many progressive bands like Dream Theater. I just bought some Falconer albums (bacause they got good reviews in a danish magazine). But so far, pretty cool. And I been listening to Vacant Throne here on Metalstorm.

Written by Guest on 19.07.2011 at 02:12

Written by Pazu on 13.07.2011 at 09:32



I listen to Nightwish alot and many progressive bands like Dream Theater. I just bought some Falconer albums (bacause they got good reviews in a danish magazine). But so far, pretty cool. And I been listening to Vacant Throne here on Metalstorm.

sweet! my band is going to be doing a show soon with vacant throne, as we are from the same city....check us out: www.reverbnation.com/winterlegends

Somebody stop this mad Japanophile.

If you enjoyed The Keeper of the Seven Keys albums, then I'd recommend checking out Gamma Ray or Iron Savior. Both bands have Kai Hansen, the lead guitarist from the "Keepers" albums (although he isn't in Iron Savior anymore).

Another band I'd recommend is Sabaton, a power metal band that sings about historical wars. Primo Victoria is one of my favorite albums.

At The Edge Of Time is one of my all time favorites. I strongly recommend that you check it out, along with Nightfall In Middle Earth. Also, The Fourth Legacy by Kamelot. It's a lot older than and different from Kamelot's recent stuff, but it's still one of my favorites.

And some very cliche yet very catchy power metal I just stumbled upon:

BANDS: not sure what kind of power metal you want. if you want some symphonic power then I recomend: kamelot, sonata arctica, nightwish. but if you are looking for a pure heavy/power metal then you should check up hammerfall, primal fear, edguy, helloween, gamma ray, stratovarius... but the band you MUST check up is Blind Guardian. they are just so epic! their music is also... ''inteligent''! I once read that lead vocalyst Hansi, was about to make music for LOTR movie trilogy... oh, and one more thing. Listen to the song ''Wings Of Tomorrow" by Stratovarius. it will become you power metal hymn.
ALBUMS: uhm... duno. my top 5 albums of Power Metal is: Horror Show (Iced Earth), A Night At The Opera (Blind Guardian), No World Order (Gamma Ray), Temple Of Shadows (Angra), The Art Of War (Sabaton).
sorry for my English, I hope you understand. !..!

Sabaton is awesome, especially if you want something a bit different from the usual sword and sorcery theme that gets used a lot in Power Metal. You might also learn something about history from their songs!

Here are some PM bands that I started to listen to a "long" time ago and still does
Lost Horizon (My gods of power metal)
Dream Evil
Dragonland (your typical Melodic PM band)
Heed
Crystal Eyes
Hammerfall (of course)

Check out Lost Horizon dude (A Flame to the Ground Beneath). They've got one of the greatest vocalists of all time (Daniel Heiman), only second to the mighty Hansi Kursch of Blind Guardian (actually, maybe they're tied). Check out some Keldian as well (Journey of Souls). It's not really that "metal", but they're really talented and unique. It's more mellow and spacey. Then of course there's Power Quest, my favorite "flower metal" band (really happy power metal). Their first three albums are fantastic in my book, even if some people don't like them. Temple of Shadows by Angra is flawless progressive power metal with some great guest appearances. Gamma Ray is also fantastic. Land of the Free is a good starting point for them. I'd be amiss not to recommend Rhapsody as well, because they're the band that got me into metal. That with the rest of the recommendations here should be a good start I think. Hope that helps.

It's more mellow and Spacey. Then of course, the power of the task, my favorite "flower metal" band. The first three albums are great in my book, even if some people do not like them.