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Power Metal

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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
"Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill)", Blind Guardian

Primary Stylistic Influences:
Secondary Stylistic Influences:

Power metal is a subgenre of metal which grew out of Traditional Heavy Metal and Speed Metal with the help of progressive rock in 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 fantasy-based lyrics and themes with singing styles usually being higher-pitched clean vocals, operatic vocals or Soprano and Gravel; however, lower-pitched cleans and Harsh Vocals are not unheard of.

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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 New Wave of British Heavy Metal influence, American styled power metal tends to be also influenced by classic thrash metal and is codified with bands such as Iced Earth, Vicious Rumors, and Jag Panzer, while European power metal is also influenced by Progressive Rock and Progressive Metal, causing European bands to usually be more melodic with a heavy focus on keyboards; this is codified with bands such as Blind Guardian, Rhapsody of Fire and Nightwish. To add to this, beginning in The '90s and ramping up in 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 Stratovarius and Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force. Japanese codifiers include Galneryus, Concerto Moon and 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 Melodic Death Metal with extremely prominent power metal elements and heavy use of keyboards; Finnish melodeath/power codifiers include Children of Bodom, 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.

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Power metal is also known for the ease it can be fused with other styles, to the point that Symphonic Metal, Neo-Classical Metal, Thrash Metal and, correctly or otherwise, Progressive Metal are often considered directly linked to power metal, and a lot of early progressive metal acts (Fates Warning, Crimson Glory, and, to a degree, Watchtower) overlapped with the genre. 3 Inches of Blood is a blatant fusion of Thrash Metal and power metal and Symphony X is the Trope Codifier of progressive power metal.

Or in laymans' terms: power metal is what would happen if you take five teenagers, lock them in a room with every single Iron Maiden, Rush and Metallica CD, a few classical records, and every Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook ever, let them out ten years later, and made them really good at playing instruments.

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Not to be confused with literal metals for powering up your goods.

Examples of bands frequently associated with power metal:

Due to the stylistic differences between American, European, and Japanese Power Metal, this list is sorted by region.

American Power Metal:

European Power Metal:

Japanese Power Metal

South American Power Metal

  • Almah
  • Andre Matos (solo band of the former Angra and Viper vocalist)
  • Angra (also prog and folk)
  • Barilari (solo band of Rata Blanca vocalist Adrian Barilari)
  • Hangar (also prog)
  • Hibria
  • Rata Blanca
  • Shaman (also prog)
  • Tierramystica (also prog)
  • Viper

Shrednote 

  • Michael Angelo Batio
  • Jason Becker
  • James Byrd
  • David T. Chastain (not to be confused with Chastain, which he also helms and is a full band)
  • Rusty Cooley
  • Gus Drax
  • Gus G (earlier material, his later works are vocal-oriented and mostly fall under hard rock)
  • Stephane Forte (some djent and industrial elements, but ultimately rooted in power metal)
  • Marty Friedman
  • Darren Housholder
  • Andy James
  • Toby Knapp
  • Jeff Loomis
  • Kiko Loureiro
  • Tony MacAlpine
  • Yngwie Malmsteen (Trope Codifier, mostly on his earliest material; he generally stuck to power metal after that)
  • Vinnie Moore
  • Christian Muenzner
  • Joe Stump
  • Syu
  • Joey Tafolla
  • Derek Taylor
  • Jacky Vincent (some metalcore elements, but his solo work is ultimately rooted in power metal)
  • Paul Wardingham (some djent elements, but ultimately has enough power metal influence to qualify)

Tropes commonly associated with power metal:

  • '80s Hair: Very, very common among musicians in the scene, even in more modern acts, and usually the hairstyle choice for many J-power and some Europower artists.
  • Americans Hate Tingle: The genre isn't nearly as popular in the U.S. as it is in Europe, Japan, and Brazil. Naturally, the reverse is often true for American power metal bands in these countries, with those bands often performing to far bigger crowds than they do at home.
  • Arc Words: Dragons, fire, warriors, heroes and even relatively childish things such as men being manly and iron swords made of steel.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: A very frequent theme of power metal. Possibly the only reason why power metal stays on the idealistic end of the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism despite lyrics about war, bloodshed, and/or violence.
  • Epic Rocking: Typically, bands will have one very long and complicated song per album. Particularly oversized examples include Blind Guardian's "And Then There Was Silence" (14:15), Helloween's "Keeper of the Seven Keys" (13:38), Symphony X's "The Odyssey" (24:14), Manowar's "Achilles: Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts" (27 minutes!), and X Japan's "Art of Life" (29 minutes, and the only song in the album of the same name).
  • Fan Nickname: "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 Gamma Ray and Iron Savior at less aggressive bands like Sonata Arctica and later Stratovarius.
  • Heavy Mithril: Many power metal bands sing about mythology and fantasy. Equally common are power metal bands that make Rock Operas 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.
  • Hot-Blooded: The genre itself.
  • Instrumentals: The entire shred genre, though some artists may feature vocalists on select tracks.
  • Large Ham: Very common in vocalists thanks to the genre's strong focus on theatrical performances.
  • Lighter and Softer: Than its sister genre, Thrash Metal, and its parent genre, Speed Metal, but not always. In turn, Europower is this to USPM.
  • Metal Scream: More prevalent in the American scene, where vocalists tend to favor Halford-esque shrieks or Dio-esque midranged belting over operatic vocals; European acts are typically more about clean, operatic styles, but a ballsier, more aggressive approach is still commonly seen in German and (to a lesser degree) Swedish acts. Japanese and South American acts also typically skew towards cleaner styles, but Halfordesque (Hibria) and Dioesque (Concerto Moon) deliveries can still be found in both scenes. It has become increasingly common for modern power metal vocalists to employ gruff, throaty vocals similar to thrash or, as with some bands, Harsh Vocals.
  • Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness: 6-8, on average. Power metal ballads can dip down to as low as a 2. USPM is about as hard as Thrash Metal (around 8-9, USPM ballads can range from 2 to 5; USPM is basically thrash with more solos and Heavy Mithril 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 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.
  • Progressive Metal: It is relatively common for power metal bands to cross over into progressive metal since both genres focus heavily on musicianship. Watchtower, Fates Warning, and Crimson Glory were all roughly equally responsible for planting those seeds.
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: All. Of. The. Time!
  • Rated M for Manly: The genre overflows with manliness due to the ubiquity of Heavy Mithril and Hot-Blooded Large Hams in the scene. Less prominent in J-power, in part due to overlap with the extremely flamboyant Visual Kei scene, and in part because of Japan's large number of female-fronted and all-female power metal bands.
  • Rock Me, Amadeus!: 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 Classical Music pieces. Somewhat less present in USPM, 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.
  • Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: The majority of power metal is very, very idealistic, though some USPM bands can be very cynical.
  • Soprano and Gravel: Some power metal vocalists freely alternate between soaring operatics and gruff snarling vocals. Other bands employ a more traditional dual-vocal setup.
  • Special Guest: Guest musicians are second only to Hip-Hop in their frequency. This is the entire point for some bands.
  • Start My Own: A common phenomenon within shred, as most guitarists in the genre either get their start playing in full bands before starting solo projects, or start out as solo guitarists before forming full bands.
  • Thrash Metal: The parent genre for USPM (and the sister genre of power metal in general), as it shares the same aggressive delivery, extremely masculine attitude and approach to musicianship. As with Progressive Metal, many non-USPM bands cross over into thrash. This creates some confusion for those new to the genre, as both Power Metal and Thrash Metal feature super-fast musicianship and excessively manly aesthetics.
  • Trope Codifier: 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.
  • Trope Maker: Helloween for the European scene, X Japan and Sex Machineguns for the Japanese scene, Angra for the South American scene, Yngwie Malmsteen for shrednote . 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.
  • Ur-Example: 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 Rainbow from 1976 is the ultimate ur-example of power metal, while most people will point to Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Accept, and the collective works of Ronnie James Dio as being the bands that were necessary for the creation of power metal.
  • World of Ham: Arguably the most hammy genre of music in existence.

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