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Heavy Metal Thunder European Power Metal

Genres Heavy Metal Power Metal European Power Metal

European Power Metal

Dragons, double-kick drums and vast singalong choruses, played with total conviction and not a trace of irony.

Active years
1988 – present
Origin
Germany / Finland / Italy
Family
Power Metal
Bands here
18

Start here

Four records in order of how easy they are to get into — which is not the same as best first.

  1. Nightfall in Middle-Earth Blind Guardian, 1998 The landmark

    A Silmarillion concept album with twenty-two tracks, and somehow the least embarrassing thing in metal. Hansi Kürsch multitracked his own voice into a choir because there was no budget for one.

    Listen to Nightfall in Middle-Earth

  2. Visions Stratovarius, 1997

    The Finnish template. Timo Tolkki writes the guitar parts as counterpoint to the keyboards rather than over them, and Timo Kotipelto sings the whole record at the top of his range.

    Listen to Visions

  3. Ecliptica Sonata Arctica, 1999

    The most tuneful record in the genre. Unashamedly poppy, extremely fast, and the one most likely to convert somebody who thinks they do not like power metal.

    Listen to Ecliptica

  4. Land of the Free Gamma Ray, 1995

    Kai Hansen left Helloween and made this, which is Helloween. Enormous choruses, a guest list of half the genre, and no interest whatsoever in restraint.

    Listen to Land of the Free

What it sounds like

Double kick under a major-key melody, and a choir on every chorus. The European strand takes power metal and makes it faster, more melodic and considerably more orchestral: keyboards are a lead instrument, guitar harmonies are constant, and the vocals are layered until one singer sounds like forty. Songs are long and often narrative, with whole albums following a story. Neoclassical scales are everywhere. Compared with the American strain it is brighter, lighter and far less heavy, and its commitment to dragons and quests is absolute. Irony would ruin it, so there is none. Vocals sit at the very top of the range for whole songs, and the drummer almost never stops the double kick, which is either exhilarating or exhausting depending entirely on the day.

  • Heaviness 3 out of 5
  • Speed 4 out of 5
  • Aggression 2 out of 5
  • Technicality 4 out of 5
  • Darkness 2 out of 5
  • Melody 5 out of 5

Where the name came from

A geographic and stylistic qualifier distinguishing the melodic, fantasy-themed European strain — primarily German, Finnish, and Italian — from American power metal's heavier, thrashier approach. The term became standard in metal journalism through the 1990s.

The bands

Hear these first

  • Blind Guardian Germany
  • Stratovarius Finland
  • Gamma Ray Germany
  • Sonata Arctica Finland
  • HammerFall Sweden

And 13 more

  • Rhapsody of Fire Italy
  • DragonForce UK
  • Edguy Germany
  • Avantasia Germany
  • Primal Fear Germany
  • Powerwolf Germany
  • Freedom Call Germany
  • Serious Black Germany
  • Firewind Greece
  • Luca Turilli's Rhapsody Italy
  • Rata Blanca Argentina
  • Almafuerte Argentina
  • Lethal Argentina

Where it happened

Counting this genre and everything descended from it.

  • Germany German Power & Teutonic Thrash 4 bands
  • Argentina Argentine Heavy Metal 3 bands
  • Finland Finnish Metal — Folk, Symphonic & Extreme 3 bands

If you liked this

Closest in sound outside this family, leaning towards the similar or the gentler rather than straight into the deep end.