History Main / PowerMetal

* Music/AxelRudiPell (notable for having [[Music/{{Crush 40}} Johnny Gioeli]] on vocals, aka "the guy who sings the songs for [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]]")

Because the genre formed practically simultaneously in Europe and North America, there are distinct differences in styles from the two scenes. While both scenes share similar influences from the NewWaveOfBritishHeavyMetal, American styled power metal tends to be more riff-focused and also influenced by the harder sound of classic thrash metal, codified by bands such as Music/IcedEarth, Music/ViciousRumors, and Music/JagPanzer. European power metal, on the other hand, is more influenced by ProgressiveRock and ProgressiveMetal, lending European acts a brighter and more melodic sound with a heavy emphasis on choruses and the addition of keyboards and orchestral elements. Among the codifiers are bands such as Music/{{Helloween}} and Music/BlindGuardian, with more recent but no less popular torchbearers including Music/RhapsodyOfFire, Music/{{Nightwish|Band}}[[note]](both of which are also SymphonicMetal, a genre European power metal frequently crosses over with)[[/note]], Music/{{Sabaton}}, and yes, Music/{{Dragonforce}}.

* Manga/SerenityBand (Austria)

* Music/{{Serenity}} (Austria)

* Music/PrimalFear

* FromClonesToGenre: Shred. While fast, extended guitar solos have existed even before the days of shred guitar, the style has been so thoroughly {{Flanderized}} in power metal that there were enough guitar soloists to form a distinct microgenre based around super-fast and highly intricate guitar {{instrumentals}}

* Music/AngusMcSix

->''Lord of all Noldor''
->''A star in the night and a bearer of hope''
->''He rides into his glorious battle alone''
->''Farewell to the valiant warlord''

* Music/{{Forte}}