Conception have reissued their early albums and some of these new bonus tracks sound pretty dope. Mainly 'Move Closer' (which features bits that would appear on 'Sanctuary') and the expanded version of 'In Your Multitude' are really interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQOpNTVjjqM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y73T7orOu8s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR3Lx_0lAkI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpjLR5GVGpQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtj023Pm6Dw

Oh man I never had those albums. That's great news.

Here's some killer prog... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkuE_ktC9d8

Heavy, percussive, intense stuff.

Calling all power metal fanatics!

Here's the deal : I've been on a power metal kick lately, a genre I haven't bothered with since high school\college. I was quite into pm around 98-01 but fell out of love gradually. Anyway, I'd like to discover lesser known acts from the golden days of the late 90's, early 00's. Bands that did put out some quality stuff, but either disbanded early or were simply forgotten. I am quite familiar with all the big names and some b-listers too.

I assume from the dates you've given that you're referring to the more popular European brand of power metal, as opposed to USPM, which was bigger in the 80s and early 90s? I'm not the biggest European power metal person around these parts, but I know some of the lesser-known acts. Do you know bands like Dark at Dawn, Angel Dust, Domine, Existence, and Wizard (Germany)? Those are all somewhat lesser-known acts that released strong albums during the time period you listed. They tend to be on the heavier side of things, as that's my personal preference. I'm sure others such as Empyreal could direct you to stuff on the softer or "flowerier" side of things if that's your jam.

I was mainly referring to euro power metal indeed, however I'm open to discovered uspm acts from that era too.

Beautiful Sin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObxoPhLD9bo

Black Knight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRQKbD6bjgQ

Crescent Shield
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx0zuanWrRw

Dawn of Destiny (stop at the 3rd album, they drop off HARD after that)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCsq0nRdgLs

Derdian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZL0jLoqueU

Dreamtale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPPKMSItTZo

Dungeon/Lord
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsXSRe9x1Oo

Falconer (might be bordering on being too well-known, but eh)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi0A2LKPA_w

Heavenly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ytDeSJ3f0

Imagika
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWdM66E4d-E

Leverage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1P1Zksj0Ww

Seventh Wonder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDKiemSbFhs

Twilightning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDRZRfAXTMM

Vision Divine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5LPMcJD7Y4

Wildpath
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeXQSTqOtgE

Wisdom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaXzK8RPTxw

Wuthering Heights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7hm3gTi9sU

Thanx for these recs!

I already knew of Heavenly, Vision Divine, Falconer and Wuthering Heights, the last two veer a bit too much on the folk side of things for my taste. Will check the rest later today.

Hi,
take a look in some that are i appreciate most:
Insania - https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Insania/3103
Cryonic Temple - https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Cr ... emple/2357
Olympos Mons - https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Olympos_Mons/7434
Thy Majestie - https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Thy_Majestie/2037
Kaledon - https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Kaledon/2779
Theocracy - https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Theocracy/14509
Power Quest - https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Power_Quest/3111
Galloglass - https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Galloglass/6252
Dionysus - https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Dionysus/3031
Twisted Tower Dire - https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Tw ... r_Dire/495
Domine - https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Domine/755
Human Forstress - https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Hu ... tress/2031
Pyramaze - https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Pyramaze/13287
Persuader - https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Persuader/987

God it's great to have Conception's In Your Multitude finally. I only ever heard this through Youtube rips.

Persudaer I already knew, great stuff. I have not checked all of your recs yet, but out of the few I did, Domine and Thy Majestie are pretty much what I'm looking for.

Recommended reading:

"My Journey through United States Power Metal", a woman explains and reviews the nerdiest music genre ever.

Why is that remarkable? Because I thought – and you thought and she thought and we thought – that nerding around with razor-sharp falsetto voices is such a male-dominated profession that every male guilty of it might sometimes feel inclined to hide it in a cupboard. Bye, bye, cliché! A witty and knowledgeable little blog.

Dark Forest's new EP, Ridge and Furrow, is wonderful. Love this band, one of my favourite discoveries of recent years.


https://darkforest-uk.bandcamp.com/albu ... and-furrow

https://skullview.bandcamp.com/album/legends-of-valor

Jamming some Skullview today. Didn't know they had all their shit on bandcamp. This is pretty killer - they're not afraid to go nuts and just write these big epics with the whacked out vocals. It's cool as fuck.

Sad to see this once popular thread turn into a ghost town these days. 30+ days since last reply....yikes.

I don't see folks talking about the new Borealis. It's pretty sweet.

Which Powerwolf album should I start with?

Lupus Dei it's probably their most fun, but they are not a band well known for variety... even the last one could be a nice introduction
i'd only avoid at first Symphony of Sin since it's orchestral and the cover album Metallum Nostrum

Okay, so I tried listening to that new Onward album I mentioned awhile back, and it's...not good. The riffs are pretty decent, but the production is rather wonky - the guitars sound a bit squeaky (like maybe they were too close to the mic? not a guitarist but that's my best guess), the drums are tinny, and the vocals are too low in the mix a lot of the time. I guess that could be good, though, because Robert van War definitely hasn't improved, and honestly from what I recall of his performance on Attika's first two albums I think he was better there. Unfortunate, because some of the soloing especially seems really cool but there's just too much going against it for me to really like it. Looks like Opus's prediction was correct. Hope if the band does any more albums they get a different vocalist and a better producer.

Breaking my lurking habit to strongly agree. My album of the year. Great melodies, he's a very strong vocalist, and really tastefully integrated keys/orchestration.

Grab yo sword, grab yo axe. It's time to ride to ruin and the world's ending.



GATEKEEPER (Vancouver, BC) are back and it's time to saddle up and join us on a journey from Byzantium to Yorkshire and back. “Exiled King” is the debut single from our upcoming album From Western Shores. This is our first new song since 2019 and it recounts the trials and triumphs of Harald Hardrada, the last Viking king of Norway.

Ride with us. Fight with us. Die with us.

The album is our March 24, pre-orders online now and “Exiled King” is streaming on all platforms.

Be sure to save the song and add it to your playlists. Don't fuck around.

Bandcamp:
https://gatekeeper.bandcamp.com/

Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/54siTMV ... LwX1M--5jw

What a horrible, horrible production! The vocals occupy the exact same frequencies as the guitars, making them pretty much inaudible (not that that is any bigger loss). And the drum machine must be from the 80s. The thinnest drum sound I have ever heard outside of toy keyboards. What a disaster! "Producer: Toby Knapp" How does these things happen?
The cover art is nice though.

Just wanted to mention to all the hardcore USPM fans out there - I was sorting through my album library and found a fantastic album I'm not sure I'd ever fully heard before that managed to slip through the cracks - that being The Awakening's sole full-length album, Invictus. Apparently this was a name changer for Axemaster, but it's far better than anything Axemaster ever put out. More ambitious, with some progressive elements, and a dark, ominous tone. I'd like to review it when I have time and a few more listens under my belt, but I thought I'd share with the community as I don't recall ever seeing it mentioned. Here's a sample:



Best USPM I've uncovered in a while for sure. Just when you think you've heard almost everything the genre has to offer, something comes to knock you on your ass...shows how you never truly can fully explore a genre 100%, there's always rocks to overturn somewhere!

This Iron Fate - Crimson Messiah album... along with Glacier, Sanhedrin and Sonja, maybe the best new trad metal going. This shit is amazing.

Musically that was pretty good, almost a thrash feel to it which I like in my USPM, but the vocals, while not terrible, are missing the X factor and don't match the quality of the music. Maybe if they weren't mixed so far out front.
The lyrics are rubbish too, which doesn't help the vocalists cause at all.
It's an interesting and obscure find tho.1995 as we all know was not a good time for this sorta stuff.

It was on the 2nd listen that Iron Fate impressed me. Powerful, classy stuff. Straight forward mix of USPM and Euro PM. I've only heard the 2 promo songs so far, so I can't speak for the quality of the whole album yet.

I haven't been obsessed with a new band like this in a while. Been replaying it a shitload. The Dragonchaser review up on MA here really does do it justice.

I've been thinking about posting here for a few weeks now, so here goes... After Blind Guardian won album of the year I decided to really dig into power metal for the first time in my life, and well now I'm addicted. The one thing I know for sure so far is that HammerFall is my new favorite band. I started with Glory to the Brave and about halfway through the first song I was instantly in love. Just non stop headbangers and unexpectedly soul crushing ballads. The second and third albums are just as good. Someone really should have warned me about the ballads... they just get sadder and sadder. I didn't think it could get worse than "The Fallen One" but then I made it to "Always Will Be" which made me have the hardest cry of my entire life at 2 AM while blasting it and smoking weed. That is the most brutal song ever, I even got my ex to listen to it and tell her this is how I feel about us. Fuck. So, yeah I got into power metal to find something more uplifting and positive than black metal and ended up finding something even more depressing

Some other bands I've been enjoying quite a bit, but have still only really just dabbled in some of them:
Helloween - I really like everything I've heard, even the new stuff sounds good. I already bought tickets to see them and HammerFall
Blind Guardian - The God Machine rules, I listened to a couple of their other highest reviewed albums once, but they didn't hit me as hard
Persuader - Kinda came up randomly on Spotify and I listened to at least 1 full album, just noticed they're on hold which sucks
Bloodbound - Only really listened to Nosferatu, but it's killer
Twilight Force - Disgustingly happy, just completely over the top, it's awesome.
Visigoth - Amazing but only listened to each album once so far
Edit: Gamma Ray - Land of the Free is the shit
Running Wild, Elvenking and some others all sound very promising, but there's a lot to listen to!

I guess if anyone has any suggestions for some more essential stuff from any of these bands or similar that would be cool. Maybe give me like your top 3-5 albums including at least a few essential/classics and maybe a couple newer or lesser known ones?

Thanks for reading

Here's what I'd recommend...

Tad Morose - the albums from Undead through Modus Vivendi
Falconer - first two albums and their final one
Black Majesty - first two albums
Angra - Rebirth
Iron Savior - Condition Red
Vision Divine - the albums from Stream of Consciousness through The 25th Hour
Dark at Dawn - Of Decay and Desire, s/t
Morgana Lefay - I guess almost anything, but Grand Materia especially
Excalion - Pretty much any of their shit, especially Waterlines
Edguy - Mandrake, Hellfire Club
Sonata Arctica - First 4 albums
Kamelot - Anything between The Fourth Legacy and The Black Halo

Scanner - Hypertrace
Scanner - Terminal Earth
Viper - Theater of Fate
Angra - Angel's Cry
Angra - Holy Land
Conception - Parallele Minds
Running Wild - Death or Glory
Symphony X - Divine Wings of Tragedy
Queensryche - Warning and self titled EP
Savatage - Sirens
Attacker - Second Coming
Sacred Warrior - Rebellion
Crimson Glory - Crimson Glory
Hibria - Defying the Rules
Power - The Justice of Fire
Recon - Behind Enemy Lines
Theocracy - As the World Bleeds
Riot - Thundersteel
Stratovarius - Visions

The two posts above have listed some good stuff, so a few different suggestions:

Masterplan - Masterplan
Triosphere - The Road Less Travelled
Triosphere - The Heart of the Matter
Skeletoon - The 1.21 Gigawatts Club
A Sound of Thunder - Out of the Darkness
Stratovarius - the last five have all been really good

Some proper medieval heavy metal with amazing vocals please! Thanks!

I don't think they had heavy metal as such back then.

Anything worth checking out in EUPM for someone who is not into the stereotypical sound of the genre? So far the only eupm or eupm-adjacent band I really enjoy is Heavens Gate. If I had to pinpoint the why, it's a bigger influence from Heavy Metal, an almost prog/technical edge, overall more restraint (no synths, no double bass drum wall of sound, not all breakneck speed all the time). Doesn't have to sound like them, I prefer my bands unique. But something off the beaten path. Ideally something around that time period, I'm not fond of modern production.

This is such a huge scene, I feel like I'm locked away from many potential discoveries by not being able to pierce through it.

What are some other bands you like and don't like? It is hard to give recs based on just this.

There are definitely some cool acts out there that don't conform to the flashy, keyboard-heavy stereotypes, those tend to be the types of European PM acts I gravitate towards as well. Here's a few recs from 80s/early 90s:

First that comes to mind as it is both incredible and very unknown is Final Prophecy's sole demo <i>Beyond Reality</i>. This has some crazy guitar work and does things very few European acts were really doing at the time:

The Dutch band Martyr was also very interesting, both their first two albums are worth checking out but I'll link a song from the first album since it's a bit catchier:

Adramelch from Italy are incredible, epic power/progressive metal that has a cavernous sound to it, not sure if it's quite what you're looking for as it doesn't sound much like Heavens Gate but give it a try anyway because it rules:

The Dutch band Angus also released two solid slabs of heavy/power metal steel, I'll link a song from both albums as the first is a bit more aggressive but the second has more of a catchy sound with some hard rock influence.




Also since you said you like unique bands, you have to try Germany's Existence, the time period is a little later (though the original album was listed on here as 1990 until recently, so I always assumed it was), but they're some oddly technical power metal that's just very unusual but charming.
Let me know what you like from these and I may have more to recommend! Cheers.

I'm not sure what you're familiar with already and what vocals qualify as amazing, can you give any examples of what you like in this style already?

The first thing to come to mind is Manowar, they definitely have a medieval flair to their sound and Eric Adams is great.

And the most medieval-sounding heavy metal band I've ever heard is Brocas Helm, but the vocals aren't as technically proficient or "powerful" as you might like, though they are very charming and fit the music well.

Other than those I think I would need some more specifics in order to recommend something else.

Things I like that share some elements with EUPM:

Warlord - Deliver Us (synths and very melodic)
Manowar - Into Glory Ride and bits of Hail to England (epic medieval vibe), I don't like their later faster stuff
Crimson Glory - Transcendence (kind of wall of soundish, took me a while to fully appreciate it)
Riot - from their power era, I couldn't get into Thundersteel, but I adore The Priviledge of Power (I like the variety it offers, and that the vocals don't stand out as much)

I also hear a very strong Judas Priest influence on Heavens Gate debut, which I dig.

Thanks, I will be checking them out. Adramelch I aleady knew but they were too lo-fi for me. I will try again.

I also will be checking stuff from your USPM guide. I was surprised you didn't include Mystic Force - The Eternal Quest. Is it because they are relatively obscure and late comers to the scene? Or you just don't find them very good? IMO musically they are among the best there is. It's like Watchtower playing USPM. The technicality is insane and the best part is the songwriting doesn't suffer for it.

From what I remember I didn't like them too much but it has been a long time since I've checked out Mystic Force. I will have to give them another shot. There often end up being things that I've passed over at one time or another that I later appreciate so it's highly possible that could be the case with them! Thanks for the mention.

Also based on your mention in the above post that you like early Manowar I would recommend Valkyrie's Deeds of Prowess demo. It has a similar vibe to Into Glory Ride, but, in my opinion, without all the unnecessary flashiness and commercialism Manowar often brings to the table. Kinda doomy, I think you'll dig it.

EDIT: Yeah okay, just two songs deep into The Eternal Quest and...this rules! Not sure how I didn't dig this the last time I heard it but I'm sure it must have been years ago. Thank you for mentioning this! Will almost certainly be going into my USPM guide and my regular listening queue! Cheers!

Thanks, and you're welcome!