Power Metal

[jingle.boy]

Kiske is 45, turning 46 this month. When I met him, I was surprised to find out we were the same age.

His first solo album, Instant Clarity is amazing. Features both Kai Hansen and Adrian Smith.

Sounds intriguing.  I don't have much of Kiske beyond Avantasia.  Love his hairstyle though!   

[wolfking]

Kiske is 45, turning 46 this month. When I met him, I was surprised to find out we were the same age.

His first solo album, Instant Clarity is amazing. Features both Kai Hansen and Adrian Smith.

Sounds intriguing.  I don't have much of Kiske beyond Avantasia.  Love his hairstyle though!   

Instant Clarity is good, but only has those two on a couple of tracks.

[gazinwales]

Kiske is 45, turning 46 this month. When I met him, I was surprised to find out we were the same age.

His first solo album, Instant Clarity is amazing. Features both Kai Hansen and Adrian Smith.

Sounds intriguing.  I don't have much of Kiske beyond Avantasia.  Love his hairstyle though!   

Yes so do I, we both share the same low maintenance hair style.
Seriously though, check out Helloween's Keeper Of The & Keys Part I & II

[jingle.boy]

Kiske is 45, turning 46 this month. When I met him, I was surprised to find out we were the same age.

His first solo album, Instant Clarity is amazing. Features both Kai Hansen and Adrian Smith.

Sounds intriguing.  I don't have much of Kiske beyond Avantasia.  Love his hairstyle though!   

Yes so do I, we both share the same low maintenance hair style.
Seriously though, check out Helloween's Keeper Of The & Keys Part I & II

I did...from TAC's top 50, and tried Rabbit Don't Come Easy from wolfie's Top 50.  I was underwhelmed at first listen from all three.

[NotePad]

I can't remember if i saw this posted here, so here's a link to a really interesting Helloween video about Pink Bubbles and the making of the Kids of The Century video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5tqv3D33lc

I can see how Kiske could have been an overpowering personality. From the sounds of it he was very involved with the creative and musical direction of Helloween, probably as a result of Kai leaving. He was the frontman, he's very confident here. I like the part where he's talking about how different the album is and how each new record will be more and more different.

But then i remember that they all wrote many songs for Chameleon. Kiske gets so much of the blame for Chameleon, but they were all responsible for the expirimentalness of it. But i guess Kiske wanted to keep it that way and go further, whereas Weiki and Grapow didn't. On that point, i think Grapow may not have been a good replacement at the time. His songs got better later on, and Masterplan is kickass power metal, many of their songs would be awesome for Helloween. But back in the day, another guitarist/songwriter may have resulted in a better and more metal album.

Whatever.....


Hey, is Evergrey really power metal? I hear them referred to as power metal, but I'm not so sure about that. Damn, they're a really great band i gotta say. I'm looking forward to getting more into them.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Evergrey are more of a melodic progressive metal band. I guess.

[gazinwales]

I've been sorting out all my CD's today and I still haven't bloody finished, which gives you an idea just how many I have 
Anyhow I came across my Helloween collection and decided to throw on 7 Sinners, seeing how I can't remember a thing about it.
First song was great, next couple not too bad, 4th one was enough and I turned it off. Maybe when I'm in a better mood I might try and take in the rest 

Yes I would say Evergrey is PM, they were a really good band, first 4 or 5 albums were great and then they went through a revolving door of band members.
That said they still have their moments, but I really doubt if they have another great album left in them, though I'd love to be proved wrong.
They are a great live band too, I've seen them 3 times over the years and always put on an energetic loud live show.

[NotePad]

What I'v heard of them i really like. I used to listen to a few songs off Recreation Day which i loved, so i'v been listening to another album of theirs recently, don't know the name, but it's really great. And yea, they are very melodic, which is probably why i like them so much. Really heavy guitars, some fast PM elements, and great melodies. The singer doesn't really have a great voice when i pay close enough attention, but as a singer he is very competent. Add this to the great melodic metal songwriting and you get a great band. I decided to start listening to them again, and more, after hearing Jeff Loomis was a fan, and after seeing them recommended on here.

And hey, too bad to hear you don't like 7 Sinners. I think it's great. I'd say their new one is even better. Straight Out of Hell. Check it out. Some compare their recent 2 albums to Dark Ride. I can see why, they're very heavy. But not as dark. And these last 2 have been very consistent too. As song writers they seem to be working together well. A lot of their other albums don't have any flow, but these do. And Weiki's been improving as a songwriter. After Dark Ride his song contributions were quite horrendous. They really seem to be at the top of their game. Sascha Gerstner seems to have added some new energy to the band. And god damn does Michael Weikath know how to write a catchy chorus. I'd love to have an album full of songs like All Over The Nations and Salvation.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I have never thought of Evergrey as a power metal band. There's nothing in their music that makes me think of power metal at all. I would classifiy them as a metal band if you ask me. Awesome band though!

I highly recommend anyone to listen to In Search Of Truth if you haven't already.

[gazinwales]

Yeah I'll give 7 Sinners another shot sometime, I did really like the production, sonically it was spot on.
I'm pretty fussy with my sound I like and I have a pretty decent system to listen on.
I think I might have 'sampled' Straight Out Of Hell when it came out, I'll check it out again.

I remember seeing Evergrey playing in 1999 in Holland and the sound was just so dark, so mechanical and so cold, like nothing I'd ever heard before.
If they are not PM, then just a damned good metal band will do me.

[adace]

New Sonata Arctica album "Pariah's Child" to be released on Mar. 28. Looking forward to this one!

Edit: Whoops, didn't see this was already posted in the Sonata Arctica thread. Oh well, the more promotion for them the better.

[jingle.boy]

Not sure what specific sub-genre of metal Evergrey would fall into.  Personally, I think they are closer to prog than they are to power or melodic.

No matter, they kick all kinds of ass.  Not a single album that I don't like by them.  NotePad... Solitude Domninance Tragedy, and Recreation Day are essential.

[gazinwales]

I really hope that the forthcoming Sonata Arctica is a return to their old sound.
The old logo and wolf are back on the cover, I'm hoping it's an indication of it's musical contents?
For a long time they were my favourite power metal band, until their change of direction a few years back.
For me their first 4 albums are almost faultless, essential power metal albums.

[NotePad]

Yes, like Iron Maiden, Evergrey should just be referred to as a metal band. I see this as being the case with many bands ;p

I heard that In Search of Truth is a concept album based on the non-fiction book 'Communion' by Whitley Strieber. I'm actually a huge fan of Whitley Strieber's work, both his non-fiction and his fiction. Communion is based on his experieces with alien abduction. His novel '2012: The War For Souls' is an awesome fiction novel i recommend to everyone on earth! Just sayin'. I'm surprised I have yet to listen to more Evergrey based on this, In Search of Truth in particular. I must get on that pronto!

Cold is a good word to describe their music. There is definately a coldness and a greyness to what i'v heard of them. The songs off Recreation Day I used to listen to were soooo great! The melodies were amazing, and as a whole those songs had a big effect on me. Don't remember the names of them though. I'll be sure to buy Recreation Day and other albums buy them.

And the production on Helloween's last 2 CDs are a lot better then Gambling. And as a whole they're better albums. Helloween have been very consistent the last few years. More consistent then they have ever been, and they've been around for awhile. I think the addition of Sascha has added some longevity to the band. And the new Drummer Dani is really really good. Creatively, he doesn't write songs like Uli Kusch did, but when it comes to talent as a drummer, Dani is better, or so it appears. Unlike every other Helloween record, i have really enjoyed and payed attention to the drumming on the last 2. Wanna Be God is such a cool song!

[gazinwales]

Interesting end of year list:
https://blackwindmetal.com/kings-among-men-black-wind-metals-official-top-power-metal-of-2013/
Not even heard of many of these, something to check out though.

[wolfking]

Interesting end of year list:
https://blackwindmetal.com/kings-among-men-black-wind-metals-official-top-power-metal-of-2013/
Not even heard of many of these, something to check out though.

Wow, amazing to see Lord on this list.  Terrific metal album.

[jingle.boy]

Interesting end of year list:
https://blackwindmetal.com/kings-among-men-black-wind-metals-official-top-power-metal-of-2013/
Not even heard of many of these, something to check out though.

Wow, amazing to see Lord on this list.  Terrific metal album.

It was one of my lower ranked one's from 2013.  Maybe I need to re-listen to it.  DGM and Serenity on the other hand were awesome.  Can't say I'd call Avantasia Power Metal.  Don't have any of the others.

[TAC]

DGM hasn't grabbed me. It came out the same day as Odd Dimension and I bought both together. I just took to OD more.

[jingle.boy]

DGM hasn't grabbed me. It came out the same day as Odd Dimension and I bought both together. I just took to OD more.

Give Momentum another shot.  One of my top 5 from '13.

[Jaq]

I have that Bane of Winterstorm album and holy fuck, it out does Rhapsody for sheer bombastic over the topness. 

[NotePad]

Judging by the album covers, pretty much all the bands on that list strike me as being fantasy based power metal. Except Helloween. Was watching the power metal episode of that show Metal Evolution. Kind of funny how Helloween started the power metal thing, and all the bands that are considered their successor's and contemporaries are playing fantasy based PM, while Helloween still rides alongside them (or above) doing their brand of PM without fantasy tropes.

But yea, I'm starting to discover that power metal isn't exactly my thing. I mean, I like Helloween, Masterplan, and some other bands like Evergrey or Nevermore that are sometimes PM. But other new bands i try that are branded PM i can't get into. Stuff like Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica and Hammerfall sound too bland to me. Kind of like the 2 first Keepers albums sound to me. I guess I'm just into more unique sounding metal. Something like Dragonforce, where they're admittedly just trying to be as fast as possible, while having typical fantasy pm traits- it just doesn't work for me.A big factor is most of these bands have Kiske sounding vocalists. The bands I mentioned as liking have very unique vocalist considering their mainly pm bands.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

It's funny, I love power metal, but I've always been bored by Helloween.

[NotePad]

I think they're the best of the best. I can see why people called them a faster Iron Maiden at first.

Do bands like these get played on the radio, anywhere?

[Bolsters]

Do bands like these get played on the radio, anywhere?

Maybe on Neptune.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I don't think so. Not in America, at least.

It's been years since I actually listened to the radio...

[NotePad]

I don't listen to the radio much at all anymore. I'v head some Maiden songs of radio, the hits like Number of the Beast and Run To The Hills. I think that's cool because Maiden is often put in the same group as these bands we're talking about. And Priest, who obviously have more commercial acceptance.

But I'v never heard a newer Maiden song on the radio, like BNW stuff and everything after. I saw MAiden on A really popular talk show here in Canada, on CBC. This was when AMOLAD was new. They even showed clips of the video for Different World. But I'v never heard it on the radio. And I'm also curious as to whether or not new Judas Priests get radioplay. Priest is very well known here and their big hits like Breakin the Law are played a lot.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

The only radio play those sort of bands get is the "classic" stations, and they're not going to play anything released after the 1980s or so.

[Evermind]

In Russia you can hear Helloween sometimes on Rock FM. I don't listen to radio almost at all, but when I decided to give it a go once, I was pleasantly surprised to recognize If I Could Fly there.

[?]

Judging by the album covers, pretty much all the bands on that list strike me as being fantasy based power metal. Except Helloween.

I haven't heard the new Stratovarius album, but at least on the other albums they usually write about life and realistic themes.

Do bands like these get played on the radio, anywhere?

Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica (plus Nightwish if you count them as PM) have been pretty successful in Finland, receiving gold discs for their albums and getting some airplay as well.

[gazinwales]

Notepad, have you checked out Sabaton?
They are my favourite PM bands for the last year since I discovered them (very late)
All bar a couple of songs, lyrics are about historic event/wars.

[NotePad]

I know that If I Could Fly was a huge hit.....somewhere. Germany probably. The only time i think I'll see or hear Helloween is around Halloween, when the music video for 'Halloween" is sometimes shown late at night around Halloween. I was in Europe once, and I remember going to a couple record stores, one of them in Budapest, and seeing all these awesome CDs I'd never find where i live. I remember seeing Andi Deris solo albums, any Helloween record i could find, you name it, this type of metal is so much popular there. That's where i bought ARKs Burn The Sun, and have not stop loving it. This is when i was around 13 or 14, so i couldn't buy all my heart desired ;(

gazinwales, I'v seen Sabaton suggest a few times now to me. I'll have to check them out. I need to be more adventurous like i used to be. A lot of the bands i listen to i found out cuz most of them were somehow, even in really distant ways, related to Helloween. Hell, I only got into Helloween cuz i saw their name listed as touring with BLAZE and thought they had a cool name. Before this when i was younger i used to say that Halloween should be renamed Helloween. It made no sense to me that it wasn't.....

[gazinwales]

Most if not all Sabaton songs have a lots of keyboards, so I don't hear any Helloween influences.
Have a look on YT for their recent live release, Swedish Empire Live.

[NotePad]

I don't know man. I'll have to check them out a second time. I keep hearing about them.

I remember hearing a song by Metallium a few years ago that i really enjoyed. Maybe I'll check them out again. Stratovarious I just cannot get into. Dragonforce just sounds like an even faster version of them. I don't really think that, but you get what i mean ;p These are all bands that are so Kiske and Keepers influenced. I'd rather bands influenced by, say, The Dark Ride, or Better Than Raw   

[gazinwales]

Even stop to think just why so many bands bear the Kiske era Helloween era influences and not the Deris stuff  ?

[NotePad]

Even stop to think just why so many bands bear the Kiske era Helloween era influences and not the Deris stuff  ?

I think I know why. First of all, they're held up as the greatest in it's genre (the 2 keepers). It has a lot to do with it's legacy. They're the main example for what power metal should be like. And Helloween with Deris, well...no longer has the prototypical power metal voice as their vocalist.

Helloween strayed for a few albums. I wouldn't even really say Master of The Rings is a total power metal album. I'd say Time Of The Oath, and then Better Than Raw is where they wen't back to their roots. And if you look at, say, their last 3 or 4 albums, musically they arn't that different from the Keepers. They just sound more modern, plus they have songs where they expiriment more. They're no longer strictly a power metal band.

I just don't like hearing all these bands and such mention Helloween as a main influence. Because i know they're only talking about the Keepers albums.