Metal Reviews

I think I'm over it.

The genre that I obsessed over has become, boring. I used to have the gym excuse, but I don't listen to music when I work out anymore. I think there may be the rare occasion I'll jam out to some of the classics... I think my taste in music has shifted the opposite direction. A lot of hipsterish stuff, some jazz, plus nursery rhymes thanks to my 9 month old son.

I'm happy to say I'm not over all metal. I've actually been on a huge death metal kick lately... burnt a few playlists for the ride to work.

Nothing like head banging to Mother Goose classics

Seriously though I'm not over PM but I've notice I'm purchasing less PM these days. Not because I'm sick of it,it's because of 2 reasons:

#1-More and more bands are breaking up these days and
#2-More and more bands are shifting away from PM into other niches

I also notice the quality of some new bands are left to be desired. It's because mostly they try to copy already existing material and not being original. How many Rhapsody clones do we need? See my point. The over saturation of the gender pretty much caused a bubble to explode.

The only good PM bands out are the ones that help pioneer this style. Bands like Helloween,Gamma Ray,Kamelot,Stratovarius and a few others are still chucking out good music but you get bands like Sonata Arctica and Edguy abandoning their roots you get less PM these days.

You're better off for it. Still dig classic heavy metal like Sabbath, Priest, Purple, etc? If I ever stopped caring about those bands then I would be a little upset.

That happened to me like fifteen times. All it did is making me listen to other metal genres, or other kind of music. I never stopped listening to PM, but I hardly can listen to bands like Helloween or Gamma Ray anymore. Actually, I gave the last Helloween a lot of spins, mainly because it sounds harder and (a little bit) darker. That's how I like my PM nowadays, mostly.

Boy, you trippin'.

For me it just kind of runs in cycles. I am starting to warm back up to PM now after a few years of "meh, whatever". I do believe that Power Metal's best days are behind it, with bands like Helloween, Blind Guardian, and so on mostly in the rear view. There is still good albums coming out, just fewer and farther in between.

The best metal that is coming out recently IMO are bands that haver really blurred genres as a whole and just approach the song writing with a WTF ever attitude.

Same for me. A couple of years ago I thought I had lost interest in PM because there wasn't anything new to discover. I concentrated on other genres that I enjoy, but I eventually started blasting PM again. I just fucking love it, and I can appreciate silly and cheesy PM as long as it is also fucking awesome. I can't think of any other music to blast whilst playing Street Fighter or FIFA and having a few beers with my friends on a friday night. I do believe I have heard everything worthwhile when it comes to PM however, which is really fucking sad

I think I know why so few new good pm acts are appearing, lately. I think the musicians that would have played pm naturally shifted to the new heavy & thrash metal revival.

I will never be able to understand the excruciatingly "cheese factor" behind 90% of PM.

As someone who only listens to PM in small doses and occasionally, I will say I can identify a certain appeal in the cheese factor.

Sometimes its nice to be goofy, especially in the face of the excruciating seriousness of most metal. It's like watching a saturday morning cartoon...goofy fun.

Still, it is a genre I must always take in small doses.

Indeed. I can only listen to Blind Guardian every year.

I only really enjoy the older power metal bands like Manilla Road Helloween, Blind Guardian, Iced Earth etc.
The newer cheesy euro stuff like Sonata Arctica I never enjoyed.
All in all, it's a genre I only listen to on occasions, and I'm not really trying to discover more power metal bands.

Actually, I still really do dig the classics. Made a Preist, Maiden, Diamond Head, and Angel Witch mix too. My only mistake, I also put Kiske Helloween on there... I skip it every time.

Well, it depends on what you think is cheesy. I don't experience most power metal as cheesy, of course some bands are cheesier than others and some are not cheesy at all. Like Falconpaawnch mentions Sonata Arctica as a cheesy band, I don't actually find them cheesy at all, except for maybe one or two songs. I personally see a lot of cheese in other genres like black and death where everything is so fucking EVUL!!... With power metal, I know it's just epic, awesome sword-waving silliness, with other kinds of metal I'm not so sure, people take themselves wayyy too seriously and I find it unbearable.

I see what you mean. You see when it comes to extremely flamboyant melodies and vocal works nothing can beat PM. The nature of "evil" and "Satan" is a classic theme throughout early first and second-wave BM. A lot of bands consider it as an atheistic kind of Satanism and a few others see it as an "theistic" kind of satanism. Like dungeons and dragon in PM, in BM, Satan is a general theme as well esoteric, metaphysical, and philosophical frameworks of lyrical content which can be seen throughout different bands. I love Helloween's first album. I love Helloween in general actually. However, that's one of the few PM bands that I can tolerate.

I always prefer to mix up the genres thus never tiring of any.

My Power Metal is pretty limited though:

Blind Guardian
Gamma Ray
Helloween
Iced Earth
Tad Morose

I used to not mind stuff like Brainstorm but once my burnt copies died I never replaced them.

Basically it's still got to have meaty riffs.

Power Metal's appeal for me has certainly faded if not gone altogether, I tend towards prog when I'm in that mood as they seem to scratch a similar itch - but do mix up my playlists and always like a variety, so maybe I should dip my toe back in, I think the last time I heard anything power metally was when I reviewed the new Iced Earth... Any recent releases I should check out, anyone? Be grateful.

I was a big power metal fan but the last few years have seen me getting a bit jaded. However, a few bands such as Dragonland, Sabaton and Ancient Bards are keeping the flame burning with excellent recent albums.

Power metal is mostly a weak sauce.

I still dig it... been listening to Power Quest, Dragonland, and Keldian the last few days.