What went wrong?
 
Power Metal is a both loved and not that appreciated genre within the Metal community, some of the criticism is well grounded other without much purpose or real argumentation.
Putting this kind of music down is almost seen as something mandatory for some people. You can always point fingers at the clichés of Power Metal, if you got nothing better to do that is.
 
I love Power Metal and has been a fan for the last 15 years or so, to me a lot of the heaviest, most energetic, bombastic and best pieces of music comes from this particular brand of Metal. But the last years have made me wonder if the genre has reached a state of crisis, my main motivation for this article is based on true concern for the genre.
 
Now when it comes to music, we all have our subjective likes and dislikes, discussion music is fun and I invite everyone to join in with your thoughts. There are plenty of Power Metal bands and albums that I haven't heard or included in this article, so drop a line.
 
Now back to the opening question: A steady decline of quality and inspiration is what went wrong if you ask me, classic Power Metal bands has stopped making great albums, and very few newcomers has taken over the flame (to remain within related terminology).
In my perspective the genre peaked within what could be named "The Golden Age Of Power Metal", from the late nineties and into the beginning of the new millennium (roughly 1998-2003). I recently went through my CD's and dug out one great Power Metal album after the other:
 
Angel Dust. Border Of Reality (1998)
Angel Dust. Bleed (1999)
Angel Dust. Enlighten The Darkness (2000)
Angra. Temple Of Shadows (2004)
Avantasia. The Metal Opera (2001)
Avantasia. The Metal Opera Pt.II (2002)
Blind Guardian. Nightfall In Middle-Earth (1998)
Brainstorm. Ambiguity (2000)
DGM. Misplaced (2004)
Dionysus. Sign Of Truth (2002)
Dionysus. Anima Mundi (2004)
Domine. Dragonlord (Tales Of The Noble Steel) (1999)
Domine. Stormbriner Ruler - The Legend Of The Power Supreme (2001)
Edguy. Theater Of Salvation (1999)
Edguy. Mandrake (2001)
Edguy. Hellfire Club (2004)
Evergrey. In Search Of Truth (2001)
Evergrey. Recreation Day (2003)
Evergrey. The Inner Circle (2004)
Freedom Call. Eternity (2002)
Gamma Ray. Somewhere Out In Space (1997)
Gamma Ray. Powerplant (1999)
Gamma Ray. No World Order (2001)
Grave Digger. Knights Of The Cross (1998)
Grave Digger. Excalibur (1999)
Grave Digger. The Grave Digger (2001)
Hammerfall. Glory To The Brave (1997)
Hammerfall. Legacy Of Kings (1998)
Helloween. Better Than Raw (1998)
Helloween. The Dark Ride (2000)
Helloween. Rabbit Don't Come Easy (2005)
Iced Earth. Something Wicked This Way Comes (1998)
Iced Earth. Horror Show (2001)
Iced Earth. The Glorious Burden (2004)
Iron Savior. Unification (1999)
Jag Panzer. The Fourth Judgment (1997)
Jag Panzer. Thane To The Throne (2000)
Jag Panzer. Mechanized Warfare (2001)
Kamelot. The Fourth Legacy (1999)
Kamelot. Karma (2001)
Kamelot. Epica (2003)
Kamelot. The Black Halo (2005)
Labyrinth. Return To Heaven Denied (1998)
Labyrinth. Labyrinth (2003)
Lost Horizon. A Flame To The Ground Beneath (2003)
Masterplan. Masterplan (2003)
Metalium. Hero Nation - Chapter Three (2002)
Mob Rules. Hollowed Be Thy Name (2002)
Nocturnal Rites. The Sacred Talisman (1999)
Nocturnal Rites. Afterlife (2000)
Paragon. Steelbound (2001)
Paragon. Law Of The Blade (2002)
Primal Fear. Primal Fear (1998)
Primal Fear. Nuclear Fire (2001)
Rage. XIII (1998)
Rage. Welcome To The Other Side (2001)
Rage. Soundchaser (2003)
Rhapsody. Symphony Of Enchanted Lands (1998)
Rhapsody. Dawn Of Victory (2000)
Rhapsody. Power Of The Dragonflame (2002)
Running Wild. The Rivalry (1998)
Sonata Arctica. Ecliptica (1999)
Sonata Arctica. Silence (2001)
Steel Prophet. Dark Hallucinations (1999)
Steel Prophet. Messiah (2000)
Steel Prophet. Unseen (2002)
Stratovarius. Visions (1997)
Stratovarius. Destiny (1998)
Stratovarius. Infinite (2000)
Wuthering Heights. Far From The Madding Crowd (2004)
 
 
That's 70 albums! So much cool music within relatively few years, hard to believe actually.
From perhaps the best vocal performance ever in Daniel Heiman's stunning delivery on the epic A Flame To The Ground Beneath by Lost Horizon, over Rage's genius mix of orchestra and Metal on their XIII output, Evergrey's wonderfully dark Recreation Day, Gamma Ray's impressive onslaught that was Somewhere Out In Space, Labyrinth's masterful and clever self titled album from 2003, and not to forget Iced Earth's Something Wicked This Way Comes, the perfect Power Metal album, I could go on for days.
 
Talking about good and bad periods is of course not quite fair and brings with it a fair share of generalisation. When looking back at recent years I nevertheless detect a clear pattern, quite a lot of Power Metal albums failed to live up to the expectations I had:
 
Avantasia. The Scarecrow (2008)
Blind Guardian. A Twist In The Myth (2006)
Brainstorm. Liquid Monster (2005)
Brainstorm. Downburst (2008)
Demons & Wizards. Touched By The Crimson King (2005)
Edguy. Tinnitus Sanctus (2008)
Freedom Call. Dimensions (2007)
Gamma Ray. Majestic (2005)
Grave Digger. Rheingold (2003)
Grave Digger. Liberty Or Death (2007)
Hammerfall. Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken (2005)
Hammerfall. Threshold (2006)
Iced Earth. Framing Armageddon - Something Wicked Part 1 (2007)
Iced Earth. The Crucible Of Man - Something Wicked Part 2 (2008)
Iron Savior. Battering Ram (2004)
Kamelot. Ghost Opera (2007)
Kotipelto. Serenity (2007)
Masterplan. MK II (2007)
Metalium. Nothing To Undo - Chapter Six (2007)
Labyrinth. 6 Days To Nowhere (2008)
Nocturnal Rites. The 8th Sin (2007)
Paragon. The Dark Legacy (2003)
Paragon. Revenge (2005)
Primal Fear. Devil's Ground (2004)
Primal Fear. New Religion (2007)
Rage. Speak Of The Dead (2006)
Rage. Carved In Stone (2008)
Rhapsody. Triumph Or Agony (2006)
Running Wild. Rouges En Vouge (2005)
Seven Witches. Deadly Sins (2007)
Shaman. Immortal (2007)
Steel Prophet. Beware (2004)
Stratovarius. Stratovarius (2006)
Wuthering Heights. The Shadow Cabinet (2006)
 
 
Now that doesn't mean that these albums are bad, in fact I wouldn't use that word for any of them, some are below average, some just that and again others overall rather good releases... but when looking at what you know some of these bands are capable of things seem pretty bleak.
 
Iced Earth released the Something Wicked story 2007/2008. Seen isolated, good albums but a far cry form the exciting, crushing anthems in days of yore.
 
And something happed to Tobias Sammet as well; based on expectations from earlier works the new Avantasia and Edguy discs appear thin and without the same kind of drive, both being too mid-tempo based and simple in structure.
 
Kamelot has put out fabulous efforts for years, Ghost Opera was pretty good, but when you almost destroy what could have been an album highlight (Anthem) with distorted vocals it gets too alternative for my taste, I missed the range and epic depth that The Black Halo had.
 
Gamma Ray and Helloween for some reason saw it necessary to release albums titled Keeper III and Land Of The Free II, the result was two cool albums but not reaching the standard of those earlier recordings.
 
Bands like Rage and Rhapsody seemed to have reached a point of stalemate but the biggest disappointments nevertheless came from Steel Prophet (Beware), Freedom Call (Dimensions), Running Wild (Rouges En Vouge) Hammerfall (Threshold) and Seven Witches (Deadly Sins) releasing albums with only a few inspiring moments and quite a range of dull and predictable fillers.
 
So how do you explain such a disappointing streak of albums within a genre? I don't know of there is any reasonable explanation but it seems like many of the bands that helped kick the last brilliant period into high altitude has lost momentum, while some of the older bands perhaps has reached a "natural" limit on how many albums you can come up with and still remain a high level of creativity.
 
Another aspect is that relatively few new exciting Power Metal bands have surfaced in recent years. Firewind is one of them, bringing along lots of energy but they haven't really released an amazing album yet (although Allegiance came close), after A Flame To The Ground Beneath nothing more came from Lost Horizon...unfortunately.
Perhaps part of the explanation lies with the record companies...to some extent making different priorities, not keeping an eye or supporting Power Metal bands as much as when Hammerfall proved that this genre could in fact mean good business?


The positive stories

When it all comes down to it there are of course disappointments in the first period mentioned as well as great albums in the later period (see the two lists and you'll find a handful).
I'll end this by mentioning some of the latest Power Metal albums that comes highly recommend.
 
I loved Evergrey's 2006 Monday Morning Apocalypse and even though this years Torn couldn't live up to that it's still a solid piece of work.
Pyramaze released the really competent and vigorous Immortal with Matt Barlow in charge of the vocals. Otherwise this year haven't provided much Power Metal bliss.
 
Last year Vision Divine released The 25th Hour, a blazing, melodic and technical concept album, in fact it was one of my favourite albums from that year. Hell Destroyer was unleashed by Cage and exactly the kind of album the genre needed. A different, thrilling, fierce but equally melodic piece of energetic Power Metal.
 
In 2006 the before mentioned Daniel Heiman returned with a new band Heed, realising a great and ingenious album in The Call.
 
Also worth mentioning is the dark and heavy Become Death from Symphorce and the newest Sonata Arctica album Unia, a refreshingly innovative collection of quite complex songs.
 
So I have ended this rather depressive article on a brighter note, in the hope for a better future for a most excellent genre.
 

Written by Tommy
Tuesday, December 30, 2008