History Main / PowerMetal

Or in laymans' terms: power metal is what would happen if you take five teenagers, lock them in a room with every single Music/IronMaiden, Music/{{Rush}} and Music/{{Metallica}} CD, a few classical records, and every ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' sourcebook ever, let them out ten years later, and made them really good at playing instruments.

* Music/EvilInvaders (also ThrashMetal and SpeedMetal, very USPM-leaning in style)

* UrExample: Manowar, Jag Panzer, or Helstar for the American form, arguably Helloween for the European form, Rata Blanca and Viper for the South American form, arguably X Japan's ''Vanishing Vision'' for the Japanese form, and Yngwie Malmsteen's ''Rising Force'' for shred. Some people have even suggested that the song "Stargazer" by Music/{{Rainbow}} from 1976 is the ultimate ur-example of power metal, while most people will point to Music/JudasPriest, Music/IronMaiden, Music/{{Accept}}, and the collective works of Music/RonnieJamesDio as being the bands that were necessary for the creation of power metal.

Power metal is a subgenre of metal which grew out of TraditionalHeavyMetal and SpeedMetal with the help of progressive rock in [[TheEighties the late eighties]], and is characterized by a more melodic sound than most other subgenres. An emphasis on speed, especially fast guitar solos, is also frequently present. Many power metal bands also have [[HeavyMithril fantasy-based lyrics and themes]] with singing styles usually being higher-pitched clean vocals, operatic vocals or SopranoAndGravel; however, lower-pitched cleans and HarshVocals are not unheard of.

Because the genre formed practically simultanously in Europe and North America, there are distinct differences in styles from the two scenes. While both scenes share the same NewWaveOfBritishHeavyMetal influence, American styled power metal tends to be also influenced by classic thrash metal and is codified with bands such as Music/IcedEarth, Vicious Rumors, and Jag Panzer, while European power metal is also influenced by ProgressiveRock and ProgressiveMetal, causing European bands to usually be more melodic with a heavy focus on keyboards; this is codified with bands such as Music/BlindGuardian, Music/RhapsodyOfFire and Music/{{Nightwish|Band}}. To add to this, beginning in TheNineties and ramping up in [[TurnOfTheMillennium the 2000s]], Japan began to produce its own brand of power metal, with most bands producing styles and sounds reminiscent of neo-classical metal bands like Music/{{Stratovarius}} and [[Music/YngwieMalmsteen Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force]]. Japanese codifiers include Music/{{Galneryus}}, Concerto Moon and Music/{{Versailles}}. South American (largely relegated to Brazil and Argentina) power metal, meanwhile, tends to lie somewhere between Europower and J-power; it's usually grittier than Japanese power (but still fairly light for the most part) but also tends to be "shreddier" than a lot of Europower and also tends to overlap with prog. While it doesn't really have a particularly distinctive sound, famous South American acts include Angra, Rata Blanca, Viper, Shaman, and Hibria. Additionally, Finland is home to a variant of it that is essentially MelodicDeathMetal with ''extremely'' prominent power metal elements and heavy use of keyboards; Finnish melodeath/power codifiers include Music/ChildrenOfBodom, Norther, and Kalmah. Lastly, there is shred; while usually not viewed as a power metal subgenre, it has historically had extremely heavy overlap with the genre due to shred-style leadwork in power metal and guitarists from established acts forming instrumental rock and metal side projects and thus gets a mention.

* Music/ManillaRoad (also DoomMetal and traditional heavy metal, very much on an album-by-album basis)

* Music/{{Riot}} (early material is traditional metal. TropeMaker for US Power Metal with their track "Warrior" from their first album.)

* Music/{{Symphony X}} (also ProgressiveMetal)

* Music/BlindGuardian (also SpeedMetal and later ProgressiveMetal)

* Music/GraveDigger (also SpeedMetal)

* Music/{{Helloween}} (also SpeedMetal)

* Music/RunningWild (although far closer in style to USPM and SpeedMetal with first-wave BlackMetal influence)

* Music/BrothersOfmetal

* Music/RageBand (also ProgressiveMetal)

* Music/{{Nightwish}} (also SymphonicMetal)

Because the genre formed practically simultanously in Europe and North America, there are distinct differences in styles from the two scenes. While both scenes share the same NewWaveOfBritishHeavyMetal influence, American styled power metal tends to be also influenced by classic thrash metal and is codified with bands such as Music/IcedEarth, Vicious Rumors, and Jag Panzer, while European power metal is also influenced by ProgressiveRock and ProgressiveMetal, causing European bands to usually be more melodic with a heavy focus on keyboards; this is codified with bands such as Music/BlindGuardian, Music/RhapsodyOfFire and Music/{{Nightwish}}. To add to this, beginning in TheNineties and ramping up in [[TurnOfTheMillennium the 2000s]], Japan began to produce its own brand of power metal, with most bands producing styles and sounds reminiscent of neo-classical metal bands like Music/{{Stratovarius}} and [[Music/YngwieMalmsteen Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force]]. Japanese codifiers include Music/{{Galneryus}}, Concerto Moon and Music/{{Versailles}}. South American (largely relegated to Brazil and Argentina) power metal, meanwhile, tends to lie somewhere between Europower and J-power; it's usually grittier than Japanese power (but still fairly light for the most part) but also tends to be "shreddier" than a lot of Europower and also tends to overlap with prog. While it doesn't really have a particularly distinctive sound, famous South American acts include Angra, Rata Blanca, Viper, Shaman, and Hibria. Additionally, Finland is home to a variant of it that is essentially MelodicDeathMetal with ''extremely'' prominent power metal elements and heavy use of keyboards; Finnish melodeath/power codifiers include Music/ChildrenOfBodom, Norther, and Kalmah. Lastly, there is shred; while usually not viewed as a power metal subgenre, it has historically had extremely heavy overlap with the genre due to shred-style leadwork in power metal and guitarists from established acts forming instrumental rock and metal side projects and thus gets a mention.

* Music/{{Rage}} (also ProgressiveMetal)

* Music/CivilWar

* FanNickname: "Flower metal", "Pussy Metal", "Gay Metal", "Happy Metal", "Pop Metal". Note that some, if not all, of these epithets are ''almost exclusively'' used by fans of certain types of power metal at others, like USPM fans vs. Euro-power bands, or fans of heavier European bands like Music/GammaRay and Music/IronSavior at less aggressive bands like Music/SonataArctica and later Music/{{Stratovarius}}. A more benign nickname for the genre is "Fantasy metal".

* Music/FrozenCrown

* HeavyMithril: Many power metal bands sing about mythology and fantasy. Equally common are power metal bands that make RockOperas that take place in original fantasy settings. Some bands opt for low fantasy or science fiction-based themes. It's so prevalent that before this page existed, Power Metal redirected to Heavy Mithril.

* Music/UnleashTheArchers

* Music/MetalChurch

* Paladin

* Project: Roenwolfe

* RockMeAmadeus: The genre (particularly Japanese, South American, and some European bands) is notable for its extreme emphasis on painfully fast and technical guitar shredding, which is often inspired by or outright ripped off from famous ClassicalMusic pieces. Somewhat less present in USPM with bands preferring aggressive power-chord guitar work, but various bands (namely Symphony X, Heathen, Helstar, Apocrypha, and Toxik) are still famous for flashy neoclassical leadwork. Lastly, while the vast majority of shred players are neoclassical, some (namely Gus G. and Derek Taylor) are blues or jazz-based.

* TropeCodifier: Manowar, Jag Panzer, Helstar, and Iced Earth for USPM; Versailles and Galneryus for J-Power; Angra and Rata Blanca for South American power; Stratovarius and Rhapsody for Europower, and Yngwie Malmsteen and Tony [=MacAlpine=] for shred.
* TropeMaker: Music/{{Helloween}} for the European scene, Music/XJapan and Sex Machineguns for the Japanese scene, Angra for the South American scene, Music/YngwieMalmsteen for shred[[note]]though the argument could be made that while Malmsteen compiled all of the shred tropes into a recognizable package, the tropes had already been created by Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Ritchie Blackmore, George Lynch, and Uli Jon Roth[[/note]]. The lineage of the American scene is a bit more muddled. Manowar, Jag Panzer, Manilla Road, Vicious Rumors, and Helstar are all safe bets, however.

* Angra (also prog and folk)

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: 6-8, on average. Power metal ballads can dip down to as low as a 2. USPM is about as hard as ThrashMetal (around 8-9, USPM ballads can range from 2 to 5; USPM is basically thrash with more solos and HeavyMithril lyrics); Europower and South American power are softer, at around 6-8; J-power can range from 2 to 9, and shred is usually between 5 to 7, though the heaviest artists can hit an 8 (e.g. Jeff Loomis or Stephane Forte). The hardest of the lot is probably Music/{{Nevermore}}, who occasionally verge into a 10 at times on their later albums, and certain other bands (namely Helstar and Outworld) have also approached this.