Eventually I'll just mash all the posts in one huge list when I am done. Original list I made can be found here. http://truestofthetrue.blogspot.com/2010/04/big-list-of-traditional-speed-and-power.html
Helloween Genre Speed/Power From: Germany Formed in: 1983 Albums to check out- *Walls of Jericho*, Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I and II Notes: Hugely popular power metal band from Germany. Pretty much started the whole modern day euro power metal thing that we know today. Their first album was more speed metal than anything though.
Riot Genre: Heavy/Power/Speed From: United States Formed in: 1976 Albums to check out- Fire Down Under, *Thundersteel* Notes: Influential band to heavy metal, speed metal, and USPM. When Riot disbanded temporarily, some of the guys started a heavy metal band called Narita who released one demo before they got Riot back together.
Titan Force Genre: Power/Prog From: United States Formed in: 1987 Albums to check out- *Titan Force*, Winner/Loser Notes: There were rumors that they were working on a new album after they reunited but nothing has come out.
Fates Warning Genre: Power/Prog From: United States Formed in: 1982 Albums to check out- The Spectre Within, *Awaken the Guardian* Notes: One of the most popular USPM bands out there. Their albums that were released later have more of a prog sound.
Jag Panzer Genre: Heavy/Power From: United States Formed in: 1981 Albums to check out- *Ample Destruction*, Thane to the Throne, Mechanized Warfare Notes: Released one of the best power metal albums ever in Ample Destruction. You probably want to stay away from the album Dissident Alliance, though.
As always, the original list I made of some of my favorite bands from these genres can be found here... http://truestofthetrue.blogspot.com/2010/04/big-list-of-traditional-speed-and-power.html
Angel Dust Genre: Speed/Thrash From: Germany Formed in 1984 Albums to check out- *Into the Dark Past*, To Dust You Will Decay Notes: Later reformed as a modern melodic power metal band. Their first two albums are quite rare and pretty pricey.
Cauldron Born Genre: Power From: United States Formed in 1994 Albums to check out- Born of the Cauldron Notes: Their vocalist and style changed on their second album, which is not as good as their first in my opinion.
Taliön Genre: Power/Speed From: England Formed in: 1988 Albums to check out- Killing the World Notes: Created by members of the band Tröjan
Griffin Genre: Power/Speed From: United States Formed in 1981 Albums to check out- *Flight of the Griffin*, Protectors of the Lair Notes: One of the pioneers of US Power Metal. Flight of the Griffin is a classic of the genre.
Blind Guardian Genre: Power/Speed From: Germany Formed in 1986 Albums to check out- *Battalions of Fear*, Follow the Blind, Somewhere Far Beyond, Imaginations from the Other Side, Nightfall in Middle Earth Notes: One of the most popular power metal bands in the world.
Original list can be found here (and is still being updated) http://truestofthetrue.blogspot.com/2010/04/big-list-of-traditional-speed-and-power.html
Axehammer Genre: Power/Heavy From: United States Formed in 1981 Albums to check out- *Lord of the Realm(EP)* Notes: Released a few demos and an EP in the 80s, released their only full length in 2005
Iron Grey Genre: Heavy From: Belgium Formed in 1983 Albums to check out- Metal Item(demo) Notes: Pretty obscure heavy metal band from Belgium. Only released a demo and appeared on a split with a couple other bands.
Tokyo Blade Genre: Heavy (NWOBHM) From: England Formed in 1982 Albums to check out- Tokyo Blade, Midnight Rendezvous, *Might of the Blade* Notes: Pretty well known NWOBHM band with a few very good releases.
Judas Priest Genre: Heavy(NWOBHM), Speed From: England Formed in 1969 Albums to check out- Sad Wings of Destiny, Stained Class, Hell Bent for Leather, British Steel, *Screaming for Vengeance*, Painkiller Notes: One of the most popular and influential metal bands of all time.
Battleaxe Genre: Heavy(NWOBHM) From: England Formed in 1979 Albums to check out- *Burn this Town*, Power from the Universe Notes: They recorded a third album but it was never released.
Grim Reaper Genre: Heavy(NWOBHM) From: England Formed in 1979 Albums to check out- *See You in Hell*, Fear No Evil, Rock You to Hell Notes: One of the giants from the NWOBHM scene.
Saxon Genre: Heavy(NWOBHM) From: England Formed in 1977 Albums to check out- Saxon, *Wheels of Steel*, *Strong Arm of the Law*, Denim and Leather, Power and the Glory Notes: I really can't pick which album is better between Wheels of Steel and Strong Arm of the Law, so check out both. Saxon are quite a popular heavy metal band, and have a wonderful discography.
Morgana Lefay Genre: Power/Thrash From: Swedem Formed in 1986 Albums to check out- Symphony of the Damned, Knowing Just as I, The Secret Doctrine, *Maleficium*, Sanctified, Grand Materia, Notes: Power metal band from Sweden with some thrashy stuff mixed in. The band split apart and Charles Rytkönen and Tony Eriksson lost the rights to the band and started a band called Lefay.
Heir Apparent Genre: Power/Heavy From: United States Formed in 1983 Albums to check out- Graceful Inheritance Notes: Their second album is quite drastically different from the first. Graceful Inheritance is a gem though and everyone should check it out.
Warfare Genre: Heavy(NWOBHM)/Speed Formed in 1982 Albums to check out- Pure Filth, *Metal Anarchy* Notes: Very punk influenced(more so than a lot of NWOBHM bands) heavy/speed metal.
The original list I made of some of my favorite bands of these genres can be found http://truestofthetrue.blogspot.com/2010/04/big-list-of-traditional-speed-and-power.html
Brocas Helm Genre Heavy From: United States Formed in 1981 Albums to check out- Into Battle, Black Death, *Defender of the Crown* Notes: Underrated heavy metal band. Only released the three albums and some demos and singles. Gained more popularity with the rest of the world when two of their songs were on the Brutal Legend soundtrack.
Metal Church Genre: Heavy/Thrash From: United States Formed in 1980 Albums to check out- *Metal Church*, The Dark, Blessing in Disguise Notes: One of the most influential bands in all of metal.
Mercyful Fate Genre: Heavy From: Denmark Formed in 1981 Albums to check out- *Melissa*, Don't Break the Oath, Notes: Hugely influential to traditional metal bands, thrash metal, and black metal. Vocalist King Diamond went on to have a successful solo career as well.
Running Wild Genre: Power/Speed/Heavy From: Germany Formed in 1976 Albums to check out-Gates to Purgatory Branded and Exiled, *Under Jolly Roger*, Pile of Skulls, Black Hand Inn Notes: The originator of "pirate metal" and the best.
Iron Angel Genre: Speed/Thrash From: Germany Formed in 1983 Albums to check out- *Hellish Crossfire* Notes: Very underrated German speed/thrash metal band. Only released two albums.
Just going to be picking the bands from the list at random...When I refer to the word Power Metal, you should know I mean old 80s power metal, german power metal, USPM, and what I call REAL power metal, not the europop happy nonsense you hear today.
My favorite album will by the band will have a * next to it. A lot of these bands have lots of good albums, but I am just going to post a few of my absolute favorites. Stormwitch Genre: Heavy/Power Metal (with a big NWOBHM influence) From: Germany Formed in 1979 Albums to check out- Walpurgis Night, *Tales of Terror*, Stronger Than Heaven Notes. One of the originators of true power metal in my opinion. Has a nice NWOBHM influence. Tröjan Genre: Speed Metal From: England Formed in 1982 Albums to check out- *Chasing the Storm* Notes: Members of this band became the band Taliön.
Wolf Genre: Heavy Metal From: Sweden Formed in 1995 Albums to check out- Wolf, Black Wings, *Evil Star*, The Black Flame Notes: One of the bands in my opinion that helped revive the new wave of traditional metal scene.
Attacker Genre: US Power Metal From: United States Formed in 1983 Albums to check out- *Battle at Helms Deep*, The Second Coming, Soul Taker Notes: One of the biggest and most popular bands from the USPM scene.
Savatage Genre: Power Metal, Heavy, Progressive From: United States Formed in 1983 Albums to check out- Sirens, *Hall of the Mountain King*, Edge of Thorns Notes: Very influential and popular band for many genres of music. Also Jon Oliva helped form the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Omen Genre: US Power Metal From: United States Formed in 1983 Albums to check out- *Battle Cry*, Warning of Danger, The Curse Notes: One of my favorite power metal bands and a huge band from the USPM scene.
Black Knight Genre: Heavy/Power From: Canada Formed in 1981 Albums to check out- Master of Disaster(EP), *Black Knight* (compilation) Notes: Heavy/Power metal with female(and male) vocalists. Not very well known, but very good.
Manilla Road Genre: Heavy/Power From: United States Formed in 1977 Albums to check out- *Crystal Logic*, Open the Gates, The Deluge Notes: Simply put, one of the greatest metal bands of all time.
Skid Row Genre: Heavy Metal Formed in 1986 From: United States Albums to check out- Skid Row, Slave to the Grind Notes: Always gets lumped with glam, hair metal, hard rock (which drives some metalheads away without giving them a chance) but they are definitely heavy metal and worthy listening to if you haven't given them a chance for whatever reason.
W.A.S.P Genre: Heavy Metal Formed in 1982 From: United States Albums to check out, W.A.S.P, *The Crimson Idol* Notes: Another one of those bands that gets lumped with the hair metal scene, but actually plays heavy metal and has some great albums out there. Definitely worth checking out if you haven't for whatever reason.
Adolf Castle Genre: Power (with some folk elements) From: Russia Formed in 1992 Albums to check out, *Really Crazy Germans* Notes: Only released the one album as far as I know. Eventually changed their name to Castle. There are rumors that Cyril Thor might start the band up again.
Helloween
