Album Rating: 3.5

Yoo Mars really? That's awesome :D

I've silently been on a power metal kick off-and-on throughout this entire year lol, have discovered a love for silly shred albums with cheesy uplifting choruses and stuff. Makes me feel happy + surprisingly good "time to get shit done" music.

Think I got here after checking a fellow Danish band called Manticora, who absolutely deserve a shout for being pretty stellar shredders themselves.

Album Rating: 4.0

yo manticora slap



marsbro drop me some good pm recs



none of that twilight force shit though pls, worst power metal band of all time

jam Equilibrium ;^)

Nah I was gonna rec Manticora lol since I've been obsessing over The Black Circus recently, especially "Enchanted Mind" which is like blowing my mind. But other than that, I've had a lot of fun with Beyond Twilight's debut (it's basically a Jorn Lande vocal exhibition, but with some really eerie synth-based soundscapes), Labyrinth's Return to Heaven Denied and Hibria's debut.

Beyond Twilight in particular is superb if you love all things Jorn. It's early 2000s too so he's in his prime.

Album Rating: 4.0

ait will get on that shi once I'm done with wuthering, big fanks

Also Power Quest's debut is dumb fun while not going overboard a la Twilight Force (even though I personally like them lol), singer has pipes but also normally sticks to a baritone which is a neat change of pace. Chorus to "Far Away" is a fucking earworm and the acapella opening is MMMMMMMMMMMM

Keep Wuthering brother m/

Album Rating: 3.5

Oh damn I forgot about Manticora. I was about to listen to one of their albums years ago but it never happened.



Iron Mask is another very overlooked PM band if you're interested to check Pika, kinda similar to this band. I'd start with the album Hordes of the brave

I imagine Manticora is one of those bands where the singer sounds too-close to Hansi that they get filed away. Which is a shame, because they've got a really cool dark atmosphere, especially on Black Circus pt. 1 that isn't often heard in power metal. It also deserves points for probably being one of the most concise concept albums in the genre at under 50 minutes; it shreds and then bids farewell without a moment wasted.

Instrumentally they're quite different, too.

Checked Manticora fairly recently, can confirm they rule. Also seconding Labyrinth and Hibria (which I coincidentally also rec'd to Mars lmao)

I stand by my belief that power metal is the ultimate vibe-check metal genre, if a metal fan can't get down to any of it then I worry they just can't have fun tbh

lol yeah Davey has definitely offered assistance, we seem to be taking a power metal journey together!

Tbh I've never had being a Blind Guardian clone as something to immediately dismiss a band. Plenty of bands I've heard that sound very similar to BG and most of them rule. Even if originality isn't their strong suit, they do a damn good job at what they do. And hey, if you're really going to ripoff a band, Blind Guardian is definitely one of the better bands you could take from.

Yeah BG is a pretty good template to build off of, and prime Hansi was a beast. One of my fav vocalists of the genre, although my experience is probably still somewhat limited.

Jorn is probably my #1 lol

I wouldn't even know where to begin on my favorite power metal vocalists. Hansi is definitely up there, and Roy Khan is also a strong contender himself going off his albums with Kamelot. One I'd definitely love to see more love for is Daniel Heiman of Lost Horizon. I recently checked his work with Sacred Outcry for their newest album and the man's still got godly pipes (also P.S. if you guys haven't checked that album already you definitely should, it's probably my AOTY atm).

Album Rating: 4.0

sacred outcry are fucking amazing yeah

Album Rating: 4.0

also I don't think I've ever listened to lost horizon or labyrinth