The Best Power Metal Album - Metal Storm Awards 2024

Achelous - Tower Of High Sorcery

There's a point at which epic heavy metal and power metal become one and the same, and Greece's Achelous rest at that point on Tower Of High Sorcery. 'Epic' is certainly a fair adjective for the rollicking energy, soaring choruses, and Blind Guardian-inspired vocal harmonies, and the instrumentation on the album alternates effortlessly between full-pelt power metal rampaging and classic trad heavy grooves to capture fanbases of both genres. The album is arguably at its strongest when surging forth with high velocity and immediate memorability in its choruses, but the fantastical acoustic folk touches also nicely add to the storytelling and vibe of the record.

Freedom Call - Silver Romance

Are you ready to smile and clap along to some power-of-positive-thinking metal? Freedom Call are waiting for you to take that first step into the bright, blue sky of the future, where they can embrace you in "riding on the silver wings of hope". Sometimes metal is about evil and violence and disrespecting your surroundings – but sometimes it’s about a firm handshake and a fresh start. Silver Romance is here to help you with uplifting choruses, big smiles, and unflagging affirmation. Do yourself a favor: heed the Freedom Call. Be inspired to change your life.

Galneryus - The Stars Will Light The Way

Galneryus are perhaps the most reliable force in power metal: if you want power, try 17 albums in 22 years, basically any of which could be taken as a pillar of Japanese metal. It wasn't until 2023's Between Dread And Valor that a single Galneryus release had even a slightly lukewarm reception, and already it's like that never even happened; Galneryus is right back to form, speeding through epic anthems of lovingly orchestrated speed metal, Syu utilizing every single fret of his instrument in every song, Sho's distinctive voice evoking passion as he soars through battles with evil and ballads of loss. The Stars Will Light The Way, and if they don't, then the blazing cosmic light show of Syu's legendary shredding will do the trick.

Nemedian Chronicles - The Savage Sword

Nemedian Chronicles veer toward the epic side of power metal, with songs inspired by sword-and-sorcery themes and Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age. On their debut full-length we find a vocalist who sounds very similar to Hansi Kürsch and riffs that borrow from the best moments of bands like Manowar, Blind Guardian, and HammerFall. The band delivers the goods both on fast- and slower-paced songs, so be ready, because The Savage Sword is sharpened and relentless.

Orden Ogan - The Order Of Fear

Orden Ogan can hook you and sink you in the same chorus: their stadium-sized chant-alongs are catchy enough to survive even when the cockroaches are wiped out, and they're downtrodden, frozen, and depressive in a way that such melodic power metal has no business being. That's the unique strength of Orden Ogan: they grab you with a massive, pummeling production that hits you with everything at once, a big bear hug of growly, anthemic earworms, and then they get way heavier than you thought, both musically and thematically. The Order Of Fear continues a bleak streak of enrapturing emotional power metal, plucking strings and opening wounds that only Orden Ogan can.

Savage Oath - Divine Battle

Following their self-titled debut EP in 2023, Savage Oath storm into Divine Battle one year later to destroy everything in their path. This is a line-up that screams “supergroup”, especially since they have vocalist Brendan Raddigan (Pagan Altar, Sumerlands), bassist Phil Ross (Ironsword, Sentry, ex-Manilla Road), and guitarist Leeland Campana (Visigoth) in their ranks. The album was recorded over a period of five years and it is an excellent mix of US power metal, classic heavy metal, and European power metal. Divine Battle is soaring, epic, galloping, and triumphant, which is what every power metal album should be.

Thornbridge - Daydream Illusion

In a genre that's already as well-defined as power metal, it's quite hard to stand out as a newcomer band, but that also means that any tweaks to the norm become more noticeable. Thornbridge adhere mostly to the flowery Euro formula of power metal, but akin to fellow nominees, countrymen, and obvious influence Orden Ogan, the riffs often feel chunkier, the solos more thought-out, and the vocals just a bit gruffer, without necessarily sounding like the actually gruffer US power metal counterpart.

Triumpher - Spirit Invictus

Greece has been practically leading the way in power metal in recent years with bands such as Achelous, Warrior Path, Sacred Outcry, and Steel Arctus being just the tip of the scenes iceberg. Triumpher have now proven worthy of standing strong amongst the modern Greek power gods themselves, sometimes even managing to make the mighty Manowar sound rather tame in comparison. Only a year After Storming The Walls with one of the most spectacular power metal debuts in 2023, the Triumpher triumphs once more, annihilating most of the 2024 competition with a groundbreaking sophomore of truly epic proportions in Spirit Invictus. With battle-cry anthems of heroic epic tales, memorable melodies, and infectious galloping rhythms, this latest offering sets an incredible high standard that modern power should follow.

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Unleash The Archers - Phantoma

Unleash The Archers have been to the Apex and they've been to the Abyss, and now they're pursuing the Z-axis to enter cyberspace. Phantoma leaps ten thousand years into the future to tackle the ghosts of civilization and the new machine lifeforms left in our wake, making effective use of synths and utilizing the proggy and poppy techniques that Unleash The Archers have picked up after several albums of adding to their base power metal style. They’re not as out-and-out disco as some of the more strutting-edge power metal acts out there, but they do have an appreciation for cheesy throwback sounds and how they can balance out pure might. Of course Brittany Slayes is still living up to her name, too – there are few bands that put the “power” in “power metal” quite as well as Unleash The Archers.

Vision Divine - Blood And Angels' Tears

Italian power metal veterans Vision Divine are undertaking their most ambitious project to date with an epic narrative told across two records, the first of which is Blood And Angels' Tears. It's a story depicted with a mesh of soaring vocals, dainty keyboards, memorable choruses, and and surges of power metal energy, with an overarching sound that positively fuses hints of acts such as Theocracy and Seventh Wonder. The majesty of the album, which even manages to pull off a couple of ballads without sounding contrived, sets a high standard for the second part of the saga to contend with.