Metal Reviews

I have to be honest, I've never really explored power metal as I'm more into black metal and death metal. The closest I've gotten is Judas Priest's Painkiller album and a bit of Iron Maiden, for whatever that's worth.

If anyone could recommend me some power metal I'd appreciate it. And if there's some that has a dark/gothic slant to it, I'd definitely be interested. But I don't mean female-fronted metal bands, more like Phantom of the Opera meets power metal, if such a combination exists? I recently listened to a song by Rhapsody of Fire called "Rain of a Thousand Flames" and it sparked my interest.

Sanctuary-Refuge Denied
Warlord-..And the canons of destruction have begun
Omen (US)-Battle Cry
Savatage-Hall of the Mountain King/Gutter Ballet
Mago De Oz-Finisterra
Iced Earth-Burnt offerings
Lordian Guard-Lordian guard
Manticora-Hyperion
Iron Savior-Megatropolis
Grave Digger-The Grave Digger
Blind Guardian-Imaginations from the other side
Persuader-Evolution Purgatory.
Nocturnal Rites-Tales of mystery and imagination
Titan Force-Titan force
Tarantula-Kingdom of Lusitania

and that's pretty much it in my opinion, you may find other decent albums

Lost Horizon.

End thread.

I heard them actually a while back thinking they were good, and they had a couple of good riffs but were pretty much your average flowery power band.

So is it Symphonic Metal you're looking for? Because a lot of the good ones are actually female-fronted: Nightwish (who actually did a cover of Phantom Of The Opera), Epica, Within Temptation, etc. Rhapsody are good too though.

LH had the best vocalist ever in PM.

If you want something with a dark vibe, try the first 4 albums of Evergrey. Serenity is good too.

Kamelot
Helloween
Stratovarius
Sabaton

And if you like your power metal with cheese:

Hammerfall
Rhapsody Of Fire
Manowar

Thanks for the recs everyone, I'll check them out. And yes, "cheese" is ok with me.



Well, I wouldn't say I'm looking for symphonic metal but I don't have a problem with orchestras and such. However I would prefer synth/keyboards over something heavily orchestrated. And I'm not biased towards women in metal, it's just that most of the female-fronted bands haven't really appealed to me.

I'd say for your tastes, stick with darker, speedier, thrashier stuff over more traditional European power metal like Helloween (though Walls of Jericho is probably the best Helloween bet if you want something like Painkiller) or Stratovarius. I'd reccomend (some of this is more power/prog):

Manticora- Hyperion, 8 Deadly Sins
Iced Earth- Night of the Stormrider, Burnt Offerings (the Alive in Athens live album is also a very good place to start)
Wuthering Heights- The Shadow Cabinet, Salt
Anubis Gate- Andromeda Unchained, The Detached
Blind Guardian- Somewhere Far Beyond, Imaginations From the Other Side
Jag Panzer- Ample Destruction

If you are going to try a more traditional European power metal band, Lost Horizon is the way to go (check out Flame to the Ground Beneath).

Brainstorm. Killer tracks on every single album.

Great recs, Caligula. As someone generally into darker genres of metal like Sangre as well, I strongly agree with pretty much everything listed here. I haven't heard Wuthering Heights though, I guess I need to rectify that.

You should really go with Wuthering Heights - Far From the Madding Crowd in that case, it's much, much better than those two.

I'm beginning to check out some of these recommendations. In time, I'll let you know which bands/releases appeal to me the most.

I used to think that power metal would never appeal to me, but I have to admit, so far this is great. It's quite refreshing to explore a new style of music.

Far From the Madding Crowd > The Shadow Cabinet, you say? Interesting... I don't care as I like both (listen to both albums before judging the band, EBD and Sangre. And everyone else), but The Shadow Cabinet was an intense and delightful slap in the face to me.

Far From the Madding Crowd is not only the best Wuthering Heights, but also one of the best prog/power albums out there.

I like everything about Wuthering Heights so I'm just going to agree with you about The Shadow Cabinet. I might be slightly biased towards Far From the Madding Crowd because I played it over and over during my first playthrough of Baldur's Gate 2, which makes it double-awesome and memorable for me, especially the Longing For the Woods trilogy. I also think there are more killing songs on FFTMC. The only song on The Shadow Cabinet that rivals the best ones on FFTMC, I think, is Faith - Apathy Divine Part I.

You are now officially a god to me. Congrats.
But seriously, I'm myself slightly biased towards The Shadow Cabinet because it was my first WH album (man, my mind really exploded that day). That must explain it.

Listening to FFTMC right now. Man, I love these guys.

I'd like to also add early Savatage to my list. From Sirens to Hall Of The Mountain King minus Fight For The Rock.

Dignity - Project Destiny.

One of the best PM albums ever.

Definitely White Skull. I forgot to mention them.