I'm sure you've all heard of the band Queen. I mean, who hasn't? Whether one likes them or not, they're undoubtedly one of the most popular rock bands of all time, easily among the Top 3 bands worldwide. The legendary Freddie Mercury was unarguably one of, if not THE, greatest "clean" singers of all time. I consider his group one of the greatest and they're my favourite rock band.

On the other hand, I'm a massive metal freak and listen to all sorts of metal, melodic and extreme alike, albeit tending towards the latter. I've never liked Power Metal all that much but I've always wanted to hear a metal version of Queen that wasn't cheesy. I don't care if it's Black, Thrash, Groove, Heavy, Doom - whatever - so long as it isn't metalcore. And non-cheesy Power Metal only, please.

One more thing, the band doesn't totally have to sound like Queen, even a noticeable Queen influence will do.

So, my metallic mates(M&Ms), kindly enlighten me to the existence of such (a) band(s).

"Banned bands":
Cheesy Euro-Power Metal in general: Edguy, Rhapsody, Angra, etc.
Metalcore/Hardcore/Deathcore: A7X, Chimaira, Killswitch Engage, Converge, Atreyu and other gay bands in that vein.
Hard Rock: Heart, Led Zeppelin, etc.

The 70s albums by Judas Priest, especially Sad Wings of Destiny, is where you should go next.

Thanks, I already have that album(and all their other albums except Rocka Rolla, the latter 80's ones, Tim Owens ones and the 2000s ones). I'm pretty sure you think so because of the Queenesque ballad "Epitaph", right?

Allow me to let it be known that my favourite Queen epoch is the early to mid-70s. Their debut and sophomore albums are pretty metal for the time. So yeah, I guess I'd be happier if the bands henceforth recommended reflect that era. It also narrows down the field, I think because I bet otherwise a lot of people would've been rolling their heads due to Queen's odious 80's pop excursions.

Okay, then, I know you said no hard rock, but have you heard of the band called Angel? They were sort of Queen-influenced.

Dream Theatre cover Tenement Funster/Flick of the Wirst/Lily of the valley all in one song, and its a fantastic cover, its made metal

Yeah, I heard it, I have the album and would've gotten it anyway because I'm a Dream Theater fan.

KillingFloor, this was the first time I actually heard of Angel. I checked them out on YouTube but I didn't like them at all. Musically they're only a bit like Queen but they copied the royal rockers' garb right down to the white "wings"... Thanks anyway.

It's kind of hard to think of band who sounds like Queen. How familiar are you with glam rock and prog rock in general? Have you listened to Yes or T. Rex?

I think you're asking for much here, Queen heavily influenced certain bands in power metal, more "classic" and traditional metal and some thrash. Since you already outlawed power metal, which is where I hear most of their influence I can't really think of many other bands that have some sort of similar sound or influence within traditional metal or even thrash.

And I'd be very surprised if you found anything Queen related in any form of extreme metal.

As for anything I guess I could think of, maybe something like Krokus or Zanity? I dunno, maybe a stretch could say Trojan?

Well thanks for the help so far guys. I find a Queen vibe in:
Blind Guardian - "Uncheesy" power metal, most of the time at least. They've even covered Queen's Spread Your Wings... Good band.

Edguy - Cheesy power metal. Their song "Judas at the Opera" sounds like something Queen would do. Some parts of that song is good. But they're too over-the-top. Their song, "Superheroes" - seriously, what the fuck is up with that?

Into Eternity - Progressive Melodeath. Their operatic clean vocals remind me a lot of Queen but you might say it's rather a power metal influence. Search for "Severe Emotional Distress" on YouTube...

Any more?

The Symphony X song "Out of the Ashes" kinda reminds me of Queen for some reason during the line "Mama will you help me..." I'd recommend them anyway because they are awesome.

Yeah, I love Symphony X. Divine Wings of Tragedy is an awesome album. Totally forgot about them.

Symphony X' debut album(before Russell Allen joined) was pure Queen worship! But IMO it was a very bad and trite album.

Their song "Through the Looking Glass" also begins with the same guitar arpeggio as Queen's "Father to Son". Dream Theater also uses it at the beginning of their song "Surrounded"....