subject: Where Did Power Metal Bands Orginate From? [print this page] Heavy metal has many subgenres of heavy metal music. But nothing beats Power Metal. Power metal has heavy metal features, but more speed like today's metal. American speed metal was the beginning of power metal plus some European metal. With the different styles and alternations of techniques, this was something for the metal music news community to analyze. This opened the door for a lighter and more melodic music style.
Different Factors of Power Metal
Clean vocals and growling are a common feature in power metal. These growls or screams are associated with death metal or black metal. There are several vocalists who have had an effect on power metal vocals. Ronnie James Dio (Dio), Rob Halford (Judas Priest) and Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) are the ones that got power metal started. But bands started to experiment with more singing and higher notes in their music. Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween), Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), Timo Kotipelto (Stratovarius) and Michele Luppi (Vision Divine) started to push this style into their music.
Power metal songs and lyrics tend to be about mythology and fantasy. But there will always be bands to sing about religion and politics. Even with the religion and politics in their music, they still would put a fictional twist to them. This trend was followed by bands like Symphony X, Hammer Fall, 3 Inches of Blood and DragonForce. Helloween, Gamma Ray and Lost Horizon sang a lot about positive situations. Artists like Manowar, Sabaton, Firewind and Iced Earth sang with a dark outlook on their lyrics.
Instrument Style of Power Metal
Like most band power metal is no different, they'll use guitars, bass, drums and keyboards. Their music is a little different than other metal genres. Their chord progressions are much slower than typical metal music. Besides their slow chord progressions you can watch for some very powerful electric guitar solos. Also watch for a bass electric guitar in the background overlaying some deep bass notes.
Drummers will use a double bass pedal or dual bass drums on their kits in Power Metal. It is a common characteristic for most heavy metal. They use the double bass for a continuous beat or give rapid bursts in sequences. This heavy metal type of drumming have been used in all genres of metal music.
This type of metal music genre has been known to use keyboards within their music. Probably the greatest bands to include keyboards into their power metal is Nightwish and Rhapsody . Keyboards are used for small accents in music to full melodies.
Power Metal Cultures
In the early 1990s, American started to try out Power Metal. It was something they grew from the branches of speed metal, heavy metal and thrash metal. American power metal is a faster and is more similar to heavy metal than what was evolving with European power metal. More distortion and a higher pitched vocal singer for most of American power metal. For additional American Power Metal look into Manowar, Iced Earth and Savatage.
Most European Metal has more of a melodic sound for their metal music. Folk metal is a very well-liked in European countries and have been a major part of impact in metal music. Less distortion in their music, clean vocals and more palm mutes the type of trait for European power metal. The style has grown to be extremely popular and is probably the largest subgenres of metal music. Check out Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica and Helloween for European power metal.
