The Metal Pigeon’s Best Power Metal Ballads

I have always been a fan of rock and metal bands doing ballads, full stop. I grew up being introduced to rock through artists such as Bon Jovi, Journey, Europe, and Guns N’ Roses, and the idea of the ballad, or more accurately, the power ballad was ingrained in hard rock culture during that era. During that time, their purpose in an artist’s repertoire was abundantly clear — for artists to have a song that was less aggressive, less loud, and more likely to get playlisted on commercial radio and MTV, and to appeal to a wider (read: female) audience. It was a tried and true formula, one that yielded artists of that era their biggest hits, the most eyeballs, and less dudes only at their shows. For a younger me just getting into hard rock and soon enough metal, I found a band’s ballads a fascinating counterpoint to the more rockin’ and aggressive material that I was there for in the first place. It was like getting to see another dimension to their sound that they kept under wraps, the band only revealing it in brief glimpses (as you imagine, I wasn’t thinking too much of the commercial reasons behind it at the time). Guns N’ Roses had the surreal grandiosity of “November Rain”, Scorpions were making oblique socio-political statements I didn’t quite understand with “Wind of Change” (a far cry from “Tease Me, Please Me”), and even Metallica was breaking new ground with “One”, a song that absolutely transfixed me with its dynamic approach.

I talked about it a bit during my little biographical essay, but the metalheads I grew up with were pretty tough and serious about their attitudes on metal. If it wasn’t kicking your ass, they just didn’t wanna know about it, and so “Nothing Else Matters” was worthy of scoffing mockery only, Dave Mustaine was getting called a poser for “A Tout Le Monde”, and “Silent Lucidity” was music for your mom to change your diapers to (I’m not kidding these dudes were brutal). So I kept my love of rock and metal ballads a secret, and in fairness to those guys, their attitudes actually forced me out of my comfort zone and kicked off my interest in death metal and harder thrash metal, with me finding my own way towards black metal very soon after, where in a few years I was listening to more extreme stuff than they were. But given the climate of that mid to late 90’s era of being a metal fan, being the ages we were, this was all part of your identity. I wasn’t about to talk about how much I loved ABBA and Laurel Canyon artists on California AM country radio that my mom used to listen to, and I certainly couldn’t admit to having serious fan opinions on Bon Jovi’s 1995 These Days album.

It really was the dawn of power metal that changed this closeted attitude for me, because I instantly felt an affinity for power metal’s highly melodic stylings and often unabashedly traditional ties to classic metal. And part of these artists album blueprints usually came heavily influenced by the fact that the songwriters in these bands also happened to love ballads, and they were committed to releasing the music they wanted to play, regardless of releasing it in a world dominated by disaffected alternative rock and post-grunge. So Blind Guardian was releasing pretty blistering speed metal, but were unapologetic about having a ballad called “Lord of the Rings” square in the middle of their album. Helloween dared fan blowback even more after replacing Michael Kiske by continuing their commitment to having a ballad on each album, and the new crop of Euro-power bands popping up in the late 90s were all trying their hands at them. It made me reconsider my outward commitment to the tough metal fan ethos that had been ingrained in me, particularly when I sat with an old metal buddy of mine named B.J. who played Manowar’s “Master of the Wind” in his Jeep and talked about how much he loved it and I admitted out loud that he was right.

After that I quickly let go of any insecurity about liking ballads (or power metal for that matter), and it opened up so much for me music wise. I soon discovered Sarah Brightman on PBS one night and became a huge fan of her sweeping, elegant balladry, and I openly admitted that I really liked H.I.M.’s music, despite all their Hot Topic dominance in the early 2000s. This kind of attitude eventually fueled my frustration with the small mindedness of metal communities online, with many of them still using all kinds of epithets and slurs to refer to a metal band doing a ballad, or artists that were deemed as less than metal just because their sound was lighter in tone or perceived as cheerful sounding. All these accusations of an artist being “wimpy” seemed like a way to mask some insecurity or another, and I wondered in particular why some vocal power metal fans were so against the idea of a band in this subgenre writing a ballad (shouldn’t the often emotional and vulnerable nature of power metal as a whole have shaken off those aversions, like they had for me?). I realized that even within the smaller community of power metal fans online, that ballads were still viewed with suspicious and downright hostility at times. It’s slightly less so today, but that attitude still resides within the community as a whole.

One of the big reasons I started The Metal Pigeon all those years ago was to have a platform to talk about subjects such as this, ones that are deeply unpopular even with fellow power metal fans. I realize that I’m probably going to be talking to myself with this article, but no matter: I’ve decided to take a shot at crafting a list of the best ballads that power metal has produced. The following list is separated in the only way that made sense to me, to decipher who best tackled this very tricky songwriting feat the throughout their careers. In that spirit, we have a singular grandmaster tier representing the artist who is peerless in their mastery of the ballad; a masters tier for those artists who have a handful of truly excellent ballads in their repertoire; an apprentice tier for artists with just a few awesome ballads to their credit; and a novice tier for those artists who managed one spectacular ballad in their oeuvre. If anyone besides me cares enough to read through this piece, undoubtedly questions will arise as to why some other ballad or another is not represented on the novices list. I had to limit it to the songs that were top of mind for me, but I completely allow that it is a tier that is open to expansion and updating, particularly if a song strikes me as worthy down the line.

Before we get to the list, I should take a moment to describe what I look for in a great ballad. The obvious factors of great songwriting, unforgettable melodies, and emotionally affecting lyrics or vocal performances aside, the key quality for me is the notion of bittersweet, or as it’s known in Japan as Mono no aware. It’s the singular element that ties all of these songs listed below or on this article’s expanded Spotify playlist, that despite the minor chords or often sad or melancholic undercurrent that flows through these ballads, they are tinged with hope and some degree of optimism. This is what separates ballads from rock and metal artists from the sugary sweet balladry of actual balladeers such as your Michael Bublé’s of the pop vocal world. It’s also what separates them from depressing dirges, like those of your favorite doom metal band. A successful rock or metal ballad should run through you and make you feel longing, wistfulness, empathy, regret, comfort and warmth in a few emotionally charged minutes. If you go through the songs below via the linked YouTube videos or the aforementioned Spotify playlist that’s linked below, I think you’ll begin to discern that commonality that I hear.

(Link to TheMetalPigeon Best Power Metal Ballads playlist on Spotify)


The Grandmaster

Tobias Sammet (Edguy/Avantasia)

Standing alone at the top of the power metal ballads mountain is one Tobias Sammet, the chief songwriter and ringleader for both Edguy and Avantasia. Upon building my research playlist for this exercise, he amassed a staggering twenty three worthy ballads on it culled from the expanse of both band’s discographies. Now power metal purists might scoff and say that post 2006 or so, Sammet abandoned power metal in favor of a fusion of styles that included hard rock, AOR, and symphonic metal in addition to power metal, thus excluding him as a pure power metal artist. I think that’s a nonsense argument in a discussion about ballads, but even if we entertain that criticism for a moment, Sammet would still sit at the top of the leaderboard from his 97-03 power metal era with nine entries. I have always loved his musical approach to ballads, from the more stoic and epic in tone cuts of the early Edguy era, to the bombastic sweep of Avantasia’s power ballads, and his demonstrable love for bands like Europe, Magnum, and Bon Jovi in his more AOR-influenced ballads later in his career. I firmly believe that much of his success at penning such beautiful ballads is rooted in his composing with keyboards and vocals first, not guitar riffs. It naturally shifts the weight of the song to the vocal melody, and he’s incredible at crafting those.

Yet it was Sammet’s lyrical approach to ballad writing that sets him apart from most of his power metal peers, that being his welcoming of romantic love as a theme, which as you’ll discover throughout the rest of this exploration is pretty darn uncommon. For sure he sometimes delved into the mainstays of power metal balladry lyrical themes, such as loneliness, isolation, light vs dark, a journey to be undertaken, etc. But Sammet mostly wrote unabashed love songs, starting early in his career at a time when he would still get flak for it, mostly from those aforementioned insecure listeners, whose aversion to anything without double bass and galloping riffs included any kind of seemingly unmanly sentiment being expressed in the lyrics. It’s hard to ignore lyrics in ballads, the vocals often front and center in the mix, and Sammet would take a direct approach in his ballads instead of couching his sentiments in his usual metaphors and metaphysical imagery. And even when he did venture away from romantic themes, he tapped into a wellspring of lump in your throat hopefulness that few in popular music, let alone power metal, can shape and wield as artfully as he has.

(As mentioned above, there’s simply too many Sammet ballads to cover in-depth here, but I’ll pick out a handful to focus on, with the rest having to take their spotlight in this article’s companion Spotify playlist. Some of these aren’t my personal favorites, but I tried to pick songs that illustrate Sammet’s range and versatility as a ballads songwriter, a prolific one at that.)

“Scarlet Rose” (Vain Glory Opera, 1998)

This was one of the rare guitar oriented ballads early on in Sammet’s career, with Edguy’s Jens Ludwig’s unforgettably beautiful acoustic guitarwork bookending these initial verses before the song explodes into power ballad territory with the Scorpions-esque “Still Loving You” treatment at the end with loudly ringing chords and a fully electrified solo that follows the acoustic passage midway through. I know “Land of the Miracle” is the obvious pick for a standout ballad early in Edguy’s career, but everyone knows that tune, and I feel some of these very early Edguy ballads get overlooked. This gem was a massive leap forward from the admirable yet rough “When A Hero Cries” off Kingdom of Madness in 1997 — and for a broader perspective on how quickly Sammet was learning his ballad craft, hear the massive difference on the 1995 Savage Poetry demos of “Roses to No One” and “Sands of Time” in comparison to the re-recording of that same album in 2000 (as The Savage Poetry).

“Farewell” (The Metal Opera, Pt. I, 2001)

Arguably the most iconic moment from The Metal Opera, Pt I, Sammet recruited Within Temptation’s Sharon Den Adel for a ice queen ready guest spot on this spectacular, joyfully exuberant folky power ballad. Brimming with shades of Blind Guardian’s Nightfall In Middle Earth musicality, this stunner was adorned with Miro Rodenburg’s phenomenal studio orchestration and in particular, a distinct flute-esque sound that piloted the top line melody throughout the song. But regal is perhaps the best adjective here, because I’m hard pressed to think of another power metal ballad that really inspires you to stand heroically with one leg up on your computer chair, back straight, arms akimbo while you look off into the distance (the wall) while this soundtracks whatever’s happening in your mind’s eye. The Wacken 2011 live clip is goosebump inducing.

“Forever” (Hellfire Club, 2003)

I wanna highlight this because its not only a beautiful song, but it was coming off Edguy’s first foray with mixing hard rock influences into their power metal brew, and you hear that in spades with this unabashedly 80s inspired power ballad. It’s actually hard to pinpoint individual artists here as inspirations because Sammet really does blur the lines between AOR styled hard rock power ballads and Edguy’s own idiosyncratic sonic palette, but when Ludwig’s guitar solo kicks in, I think glimpses of Guns N’ Roses filter through. The other important distinction here is the presence of the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg, being one of the few moments that a real orchestra has provided the backdrop to a power metal ballad. The presence of real strings lends depth to the atmosphere, particularly with how they swell during the chorus, their lyrical arrangement adding gravitas to Sammet’s soaring vocals.

“The Story Ain’t Over” (Lost In Space Pt.1, 2007)

One of the biggest hits of Sammet’s career, this song has achieved a bit of iconic status amongst power metal fans as being a genre classic, and certainly it ranks atop the affections of many of his die-hard fans. I’ve found myself having to take breaks from listening to it for lengthy stretches over the past two decades because of just how much I overplayed it when the Lost In Space EPs first came out and we all collectively wondered why this song wasn’t on The Scarecrow album proper as a single in it’s own right. There is something undeniably magic about its majestic sweep and theatricality, even Sammet’s unusual phraseology due to being an English as a second language speaker is endearing. Sammet was able to merge the grandeur of Jim Steinman’s songwriting for Meatloaf and Celine Dion with the magic of Magnum (not a coincidence that Bob Catley helmed co-lead vocals here), this is arguably the quintessential Avantasia power ballad.

“Thorn Without A Rose” (Tinnitus Sanctus, 2008)

A genuine bright spot amongst the turbulent tracklist of Tinnitus Sanctus, this nostalgia soaked 80s AOR power ballad was a continuation of the Bon Jovi meets Europe vibes that began with the Rocket Ride era (in particular that album’s fine power ballad “Save Me”). There was a time when I felt the intro verse was a little too slow paced for the rest of the song, but in time I grew to appreciate that gradual build up. The structure of the refrain here is classic 80s pop metal, with group vocals for emphasis on “Tomorrow!” and “…a thorn without roses!” And there’s something particularly affecting about the imagery in these lyrics, Sammet painting a picture of loss and sorrow over the passage of time (“You reach for the distance / And when you arrive the distance is gone / Already gone”). I always thought the song’s lone reference to romance was an incredibly strong piece of imagery as well (“I’d never known that dying embers / Would hurt more than the blazing fire we’d lit”), proving that Sammet was getting better as a lyricist, something we’d see a lot more of in later Avantasia albums.

“Alone In Myself” (Space Police, 2014)

It was a toss up for me to discuss this absolutely soulful gem off Space Police or the overlooked and underrated “Every Night Without You” from the woeful Age of the Joker album in 2011 (so I’ll talk about both a bit!). The latter was a classic pop-metal ballad with a surprising blast of late 90s power metal flourish via the placement of triumphant orchestral swells in the bridge, complete with punctuating horns that gave it a regal flavor ala Vain Glory Opera. But “Alone in Myself” inverted those stylistic choices, being built on pensive church organ sounding keyboard lines, rhythmic lowkey riffing, and drummer Felix Bohnke’s best Phil Collins impersonation ala loud/soft dynamic drum patterns. It all made sense when the chorus hit, with Sammet’s lamenting vocals being reinforced with a choir vocal that sang along to the lead vocal line, and providing interstitial harmonies that really gave the whole thing a genuine gospel vibe. I love how different this song is compared to the other Sammet penned ballads, it remains unique even to this day in his catalog.


The Masters

Hammerfall

One of the key figures of the power metal movement in the late 90s, Sweden’s Hammerfall introduced ballads as an integral part of every album in their career, beginning with the title track of their immaculate debut album Glory to the Brave. It’s fair to say their ballads divide their audience, because those of us who love them really love them, while detractors say that they’re the worst aspect of the band’s sound. Those latter folks are unfortunately missing out, regardless of whatever reason they have for objecting, because while not every Hammerfall ballad hits the mark, the ones that do are embedded with the DNA of what we pinpointed earlier as being crucial to the magic of a great rock and metal ballad. These are bittersweet perfection.

“Glory to the Brave” (Glory to the Brave, 1997)

You have to give Hammerfall credit for being unafraid of including a ballad on their debut album, a fully traditional sounding heavy metal album with a kick of speed ala Helloween that could almost solely be credited as the singularity for the EUPM style and approach to cement the definition of the term “power metal”. That they were already delivering an unfashionable approach to heavy music in the late 90s was one thing, but to reinforce it with a piano led, seven minute plus power ballad was another. I’ve always heard shades of the influence of Scorpions and Accept on this song and it’s cousin “Remember Tomorrow” on the follow-up Legacy of Kings in 1998. I’m thinking specifically of those band’s classic tunes such as “Still Loving You” and “Seawinds”, with their tales of world weary experience and a long journey to come. This isn’t my personal favorite Hammerfall ballad, but I can concede it’s their most epic.

“Always Will Be” (Renegade, 2000)

I love the way the lead guitars in the intro here sound like they’re coming from far off, over a distant hill perhaps. This is a fine example of how Hammerfall and singer Joacim Cans in particular can evoke melancholy with just a few chord patterns and subtle vocal inflections — you can hear the latter on the pre-chorus when he sings “You were the wind beneath my wings, taught me how to fly”. Although this song speaks of longing for lost romance, I’ve always felt that its musical accompaniment suggested something far more grander, a sort of soul searching vibe. The best bit here is the middle bridge with “When I turn to the east, I see no dawn / But after darkness comes the light”, because the vocal melody its sung to is so emotively stirring that I find it downright inspirational. Is this how gospel music fans feel when listening to CeCe Winans?

“Dreams Come True” (Crimson Thunder, 2002)

My personal favorite ballad by the band, “Dreams Come True” is emblematic of the fundamental qualities that make power metal ballads so appealing to me, with its bittersweet mix of melancholic tones and dewy eyed lyricism. I’ve always loved the guitar tone in this song, the acoustics bright and vibrant sounding, right upfront in the mix to dance alongside Cans’ emotional vocal melodies (in fact this might be their first song without any electric guitar whatsoever.) Should a song about the narrator staring deep into the eyes of someone who could get him to “surely melt and die” be set to such a beautifully sorrowful melody? Apparently yes, that’s how Hammerfall interpret these feelings and clear the goddamned hall if you’re not onboard. They have yet to play this one live, but they use it as the outro track when they’re taking final bows, with Cans always visibly singing along. C’mon guys, I need to hear this performed at least once.

“Restless Soul” (Steel Meets Steel: Ten Years of Glory, 2007)

One of the new songs specifically written for the band’s decade long career retrospective, this song is Hammerfall’s most skyward reaching, symphonic metal drenched ballad ever. The orchestration is a crucial element here, rocketing up the drama during the chorus as it soars alongside Cans’ vocals. They flipped their formula around on this one, beginning loud and then descending into softer verses, and I love their placement of the group backing vocals during the chorus as a point-counterpoint to the lead vocals. The backing vocals always fire me up on this one, and its not a surprise to see a guy like Thomas Hackmann in the credits here, he’s been a backing vocalist for numerous power metal bands recording around Germany for ages now. It’s harder than it seems to make songs sound as epic as this, but Hammerfall execute it here by carefully arranging simple elements in clever ways.

“Second to One” (Dominion, 2019)

Deep into their career, Hammerfall has continued to deliver emotionally loaded ballads, and none finer than this one off the otherwise uneven Built to Last, their last middling album before they righted the ship with Dominion three years later. Heavily reliant on a bed of piano but driven largely by Cans’ solo vocal melody, this is one of the most sparse ballads the band has ever delivered. The openness has given it room to serve as a platform for a vocal duet, with Battle Beast’s Noora Louhimo joining Cans on a special version released as a single in early 2020, and also joining the band for a live duet rendition found on the Live! Against the World double live album. I love her voice, and she adds a more theatrical edge to the song on the studio duet, but the original is what I keep coming back to again and again.

Kamelot

There was a time, long ago now, when Kamelot broke the mold for power metal in so many ways. One of the ways was through then singer and co-songwriter Roy Khan’s incredible talents as a lyricist and vocalist. His talents in both those areas shined brightest when he was ceded the lone spotlight, as was often the case on the band’s ballads during that glory era of the band. I will admit that I have enjoyed a few of their post Khan-era ballads with current singer Tommy Karevik, but while they’re enjoyable in the moment, they lack the enduring impact of the songs crafted via the classic Thomas Youngblood-Khan partnership. Ages back I wrote one of my most popular articles in this blog’s history on Khan’s lasting legacy on the band, and the crux of what I was arguing there still rings true today, that he was unparalleled as a lyricist and a vocalist in power metal, and when considering these ballads, a case can be made that he’s still without equal.

“A Sailorman’s Hymn” (The Fourth Legacy, 1999)

Simply put, this is one of the most beautiful acoustic ballads in power metal history, a simple repeating guitar figure with folk undertones in it’s melodic motif, accompanied by swathes of piano and keyboard strings courtesy of the great Miro Rodenberg. Though it was Khan’s second album with the band, The Fourth Legacy was where he finally got to make an impact as a songwriter, working in tandem with Youngblood to craft a power metal classic for the ages, and you can really hear his delicate touch with vocal melodies here (also I’ll give a nod here to it’s sister medieval folk ballad “Glory” towards the end of the album). Delivering a perfectly paced narrative performance, Khan’s relatively plaintive vocal delivery here is still punctuated by just the right amount of emoting at various key moments. Few singers would feel comfortable enough to carry the entire melody of a song on their backs, but Khan made it seem effortless on this masterpiece.

“Don’t You Cry” (Karma, 2001)

Likely the sweetest ballad on this list in tone, sentiment and musical arrangement, “Don’t Cry” is a rightfully dubbed classic from the incredible yet often overlooked Karma. Built on a renaissance faire ready acoustic guitar melody with Khan at his emotive best (those falsettos!), “Don’t You Cry” was bolstered by the presence of an actual string quartet providing a delightfully sugary accompaniment. The lyrics here relate more to Queensryche’s “Silent Lucidity” in that it’s a ballad about comfort instead of a lament about the loss of romance. Youngblood wrote this about the death of his father and it’s said that the verses are him dealing with the grief of that loss, while the chorus serves as his father replying with words of comfort. Pretty heavy stuff packed in a ballad that didn’t feel weighed down by the subject matter, the lightness of the sonic palette and the soft touch of the arrangement making this an absolute joy to listen to repeatedly.

“Wander” (Epica, 2003)

There’s a review of the Epica album on Amazon from a guy named Lord Chimp whose words about this song (and it’s companion ballad that we’ll talk about below) have always stuck with me. He talked about how the sound of this song was akin to the summery magenta flush of longing — er something like that, basically that the sound design of this song matched the setting and theme of the lyrics. Khan sings of the events of “one summer’s night within the month of June” and “flowers in mahogany hair, and smell of earth in bloom” when two star-crossed lovers meet at the wishing well. His lyrics in this song are incredibly evocative and conjure such powerful images, even in the abstract when he sings “My shade will always haunt her / but she will be my guiding light”. Led by an elegantly crafted orchestral arrangement, this is theatricality in ballad form at it’s very best, simultaneously vivid and captivating yet also sounding effortless and dreamlike.

“On the Coldest Winter’s Night” (Epica, 2003)

Our friend the aforementioned Lord Chimp also noted that quite opposite of the summery glow of “Wander”, the chill of winter seemed to permeate this aptly named ballad. He described this song as frostier and darker in tone, and in my favorite line from his review, “A simple plucked guitar figure feels like cold snowflakes on the skin”. Too right Lord Chimp. The details that abound in this masterpiece of a ballad give it so much musical depth, from the casually articulated piano runs, to Rodenberg’s restrained use of orchestral swells to accent Khan’s vocal narration. This is also one of those few times I paid attention to the bass work more than the guitars, because one André Neygenfind, the live bassist for Avantasia is a guest musician here laying down some jazz double bass alongside Olaf Reitmeier’s acoustic bass. It all does lend a grounded earthiness and fireplace warmth to this scene of Ariel and Helena’s bittersweet reunion. Once again, Khan’s lyrics are just a chef’s kiss… rarely in power metal is subtlety such an integral part of a songwriter’s choice of diction like it is here.

“Abandoned” (The Black Halo, 2005)

I was hard pressed to choose between “Abandoned” and the pair of ballads from the last two Khan era albums (Ghost Opera’s “Anthem” and Poetry For the Poisoned’s “House on a Hill”) for this brief look back on Kamelot’s oeuvre, but be assured that both of those are on the playlist. I was always in particular taken with the latter where Simone Simons returned for her second duet with Khan and they serenaded us with a blast of melodrama that would inform later Kamelot balladry during the current Karevik era. But “Abandoned” off The Black Halo is one of those tour de force type tracks that defines the greatness of a vocalist, with Khan swinging from his deep tones of hushed pensiveness to that jaw dropping controlled explosion of emotion at the 3:11 mark. It was arguably the emotional high point of their excellent concert film One Cold Winter’s Night, and I’d argue it was the emotional center of The Black Halo, coming at a crucial despondent juncture for our protagonist Ariel in his trials and tribulations.

Blind Guardian

The bards would immediately find themselves on a Mount Rushmore of power metal these days, but back in the late 80s before that label came to mean what it would in the mid 90s, Blind Guardian were largely considered as a speed metal band. Then they released Tales From the Twilight World and Somewhere Far Beyond, and it was ballads such as “Lord of the Rings”, “The Bard’s Song”, and “The Black Chamber” that would not only separate them from their peers, but provide the evidence for fans and journalists to apply the power metal label to them retroactively. Their balladry was oriented around acoustic guitars, but rather than employing them for their soft sounds to platform power ballad hooks, they wrote medieval folk inspired ballads that were sparse and breathed. Hansi Kursch’s vocals were the perfect mix of melodic, rich and full of character while retaining his rough throaty texture he unleashed on their heavier and faster songs. His lyrics were transportive, speaking of tales of faraway, imaginative worlds and painting pictures so vivid you felt you were there, right around the campfire, seeing your breath in the cold night air.

“The Bard’s Song” (Somewhere Far Beyond, 1992)

Maybe no other song on this list needs as little introduction as this evergreen classic from the bards’ 1992 album Somewhere Far Beyond and well, every live album they’ve released in their career. A concert staple since forever, this is the kind of song that most of us know the lyrics to by heart by virtue of having heard it over and over again because it never gets old. I’ve gestured along to it on car rides, inside pavilion tents at renaissance festival campgrounds, on a friend’s third floor balcony in a utterly drunken state where in retrospect way too many of us were hanging out one night, and of course in concert as recently as this past April of 2024 where we serenaded Hansi in Austin because he simply doesn’t need to sing that much of this at all since the crowd is doing it for him. Similar to some of their other ballads on this list, the bards differentiated themselves with the tone and musicality of their ballad songwriting from other metal bands, crafting folky, campfire ready acoustic guitar based sing-alongs instead of anything resembling a power ballad.

“A Past and Future Secret” (Imaginations From the Other Side, 1995)

It’s easy to point to “The Bard’s Song” as the genesis of Blind Guardian’s anointing as bards, as the fans have affectionately come to refer to them as — but I’ll argue that it really was cemented here. The narrative structure of this hushed masterpiece is framed lyrically as a bard telling the tale of King Arthur to a gathered crowd. It’s not explicitly detailed where the setting of this crowd is, perhaps in the center of a village or a packed tavern, but a circle of travelers around a campfire is as likely as any. And I don’t need truth serum to admit that I’ve always thought this was the band’s best ballad, a singular moment that was so captivating the first time I heard it that I had to replay it multiple times before letting the album carry on. For me, it’s the absolute passion Hansi is giving, not only in his engaging performance as the narrator, but in those damned epic, full throated screams that are mixed to sound like distant battle cries. I don’t think I’ve ever heard another song quite like it, this mix of gentle acoustic balladry with these ferocious, rage and despair filled screaming vocals that should sound out of place and jarring, yet… simply don’t. I think it was this song that made me realize how transcendent Blind Guardian were, that they could infuse real passion into fantasy lyrics and make them come alive and feel emotional and vital.

“Lord of the Rings” (Forgotten Tales, 1996)

Originally recorded for their 1990 major label debut Tales from the Twilight World, the band wisely reimagined this epic tune for their 1996 grab bag compilation of other reworked songs and surprising cover songs (the Beach Boys anyone?). This is the superior version of this tune, with a sharper arrangement that benefits from the spacing required by the keyboard orchestrations, loses the clunky drums that admittedly cluttered up much of the original version, and adds in layers and layers of backing Hansi vocals towards the ending crescendo that really empowers the melodies and creates a beautiful finish. It was really interesting to listen to this version and go back to the original, while tracing the band’s songwriting development from the five to six years in between. Their experiences on Somewhere Far Beyond and Imaginations From the Other Side in particular helped mold their understanding of how to utilize vocal harmonies and layering to maximum effect, something we’d see more of on their later work including one of the ballads listed below.

“Curse My Name” (At the Edge of Time, 2010)

This was a knowing nod to the band’s past acoustic campfire balladry ala “A Past and Future Secret” and “Skalds and Shadows”, albeit a touch sped up with the presence of an actual violin and flute providing a peppy, folk inspired accompaniment. The introduction of these instruments and the unorthodox vocal harmonies set to military drumming during the bridge sequence combined to elevate “Curse My Name” from more of the same into something that felt truly fresh and vibrant. It takes a legitimately great song to get friends to sing (or silently mouth) along to it during car rides without any shame or embarrassment. There is some excellent vocal layering happening towards the back half of this song, with Hansi almost vocal battling the group backing vocalists in a duel — this is the kind of thing that few power metal bands ever try and even fewer get away with, just because I suspect its far more difficult to arrange without coming across as clunky and sounding cluttered.

“War of the Thrones” (At the Edge of Time, 2010)

The bard’s most elegantly dressed ballad and my favorite track off this album, “War of the Thrones” married thoughtfully layered vocal harmonies to solitary piano lines and understated keyboard strings to magnificent effect. It was startingly cheerful in tone, diametrically opposed to its lyrical subject matter and the source material of A Song of Ice and Fire that it was inspired from. I just love the little moments through this song, the piano flourish nine seconds in for no reason at all other than “oooh pretty”, and Hansi’s pronunciation of legacy as “lege-acy”, as well as the momentary bridge that soars (“Watch the river it flows / Now and ever / I cannot believe in more / And now my time will come”). But this song might have my favorite ending of any song on this list, or any Blind Guardian song ever for that matter, when the group choir vocals join Hansi in a gloriously epic vocal extension of his main vocal melody (it starts at 4:06 for reference). I can’t begin to describe the sheer joy hearing this for the first time brought me, and every time I hear it since then, my ears perk up at attention, and my spirit lifts just for a moment.

Sonata Arctica

Sonata Arctica’s Tony Kakko is perhaps the one other songwriter on this list that has pure talent to be counted as a grandmaster alongside Tobias Sammet, for the sheer quality of the band’s early ballads and his unorthodox way with lyrics that was part charming, part clunky, and very heart on sleeve. Yet both he and the band are placed in The Masters category largely due to his wayward fall from power metal grace, not coincidentally timed with the departure of guitarist extraordinaire Jani Liimatainen, whose presence in the lineup with his power metal forward inclinations influenced Kakko to the good stuff (and if you’ve heard Sonata’s ballads post-Liimatainen, you’ll know that Kakko unleashed all his eccentric tendencies since then). Despite this, Kakko’s brilliance as a lyricist and songwriter is on full display with this small handful of songs — he like Tobias Sammet wasn’t afraid of romantic themes, and he crafted genuinely immersive stories within them, with sympathetic characters and scenarios that were swimming in pathos.

“Letter to Dana” (Ecliptica, 1999)

I’ve always been fascinated by the perspective of the narrator in “Letter to Dana”, off the band’s debut album and power metal masterpiece Ecliptica, because it pitted conflicting emotions against each other in a bizarre yet engaging way. If you haven’t heard the song in ages or just never paid much attention to the lyrics (its worth the minute to glance over them), but the gist is that our narrator has penned a letter to Dana after her father’s death in which he casts judgement on this childhood friend that he is declaratively still in love with, for the choices she made throughout her life (“My eyes might have betrayed me but I have seen / your picture on the cover of a filthy magazine. / And I think my heart just cannot handle that”). He says at one point that although he told her he’d wait for her forever, now that he knows she’s in someone else’s embrace (I guess he’s assuming one road leads to another here) he’ll have to lie for the first time in his life. So… he’s humble bragging about his life as a man devoid of sin here I guess? There are loads of theories about the meaning of this song on Songmeanings.com, but you need not read them to enjoy Liimatainen’s aching solos, Kakko’s passionate phrasing, and that glorious keyboard melody during the finale (the 4:10 mark).

“Tallulah” (Silence, 2001)

Arguably the band’s most beloved ballad, “Tallulah” not only introduced legions of us around the world to a distinctly unusual name (apparently Native American in origin as well, not Finnish like I naively assumed), but this song could rightfully be considered the most mushy song in power metal history. Yet for all its sticky sweet, syrupy nature, Kakko managed to tug all of our collective heartstrings with lyrics like “I remember little things, you hardly ever do” and “It’s easier to live alone, then fear the time is over”. The entire verse passage where his narrator describes the loaded minutiae of his interactions with Tallulah and the significance of her letting his hand go is for all its romance novel subtext, pretty powerful in its lyrical impact. I think Kakko’s greatest gift as a lyricist has been his imperviousness to embarrassment, or maybe its his embrace of vulnerability — either way, he penned lyrics here that other singers would likely feel a little conspicious singing, and that some of us quietly felt self-conscious at enjoying. I’d be remiss in not mentioning my love for Kakko’s penchant for adding beautifully timed vocal overlays that add that extra oomph to the overall emotional resonance of the lyric, such as at the climatic ending refrain where he adds in an extra “oooooovveeerrrr” (the 5:02 mark). Even with the lyric “I see you walking hand in hand, with long haired drummer of the band” being a very real thing here, this is inarguably one of the greatest power metal ballads of all time.

“Mary-Lou (Acoustic)” (Orientation EP, 2001)

The original version of this song as a bonus track on import editions of Ecliptica is pretty good, but this re-worked acoustic version that landed on the Orientation EP that I had to order from Japan for I dunno, 40 something bucks back in the day, was perfection itself — and so worth the money alone (not to discount their legendary cover of “The Wind Beneath My Wings” on the same release). Similarly to “Letter to Dana”, this song sees Kakko voicing a narrator who is speaking to mothers in general in a moralizing sermon about “Mary-Lou”, who ran away as a teenage misfit with a boy, found a job as a waitress, got pregnant, the boy bounced to see other women, and now her existence was reduced to “nothing to do / eating for two”. I’ve always been fascinated by Kakko’s framing of these sad tales, where “Letter to Dana” gave off creepy stalker vibes from the narrator, this one gives off a smug yet similarly creepy vibe, with the narrator telling mothers that their little angels “ain’t always so clean”. Excuse me sir? Get out! Lyrics aside, the vocal melody at work here is masterful, and Kakko imparts genuine passion in his inflections, awash in pathos which helps bring Mary Lou to life.

“The Misery” (Winterheart’s Guild, 2003)

This was an overlooked gem from Winterheart’s Guild, a tremendous album where most of the attention understandably went to “The Cage” and “Victoria’s Secret”. This time, instead of depicting the stories of troubled young women or pining after some winter princess who skipped off the band, Kakko turns inwards, giving voice to the narrator’s burden of being a songwriter tormented by erm, misery in order to write songs. Its an interesting lyrical idea because he’s personifying this emotion and singing to it, which is its own kind of disturbing, but it does remind me of his buddy Tuomas Holopainen’s lyric writing, particularly the line “I am the playwrite and you are my crown”. This was years before Holopainen wrote “The Poet and the Pendulum”, but he was exploring similar ideas on Century Child which came out shortly after this Winterheart’s Guild. I wonder how much of each other’s work influenced one another, because Tuomas dropped the fantastical bent of the early Nightwish albums after awhile, likely taking a page from Kakko’s preference for more human oriented stories. The inverse occurs here, with this being the most Nightwishy tune Sonata Arctica ever penned.


The Apprentices

Falconer

Sweden’s Falconer, rising from the ashes of folk metal band Mithotyn, made balladry a part of their sound due largely to the presence of vocalist Mathias Blad, a theatrical singer whose day job saw him performing on theater stages across Sweden and England. His vocal approach was not that of a metal singer in that he did not aim to project power through his voice with a screaming, Bruce Dickinson-ian delivery. Yet his voice was powerful, able to sing melodically with a natural strength that made everything he did seem almost effortless, and though that really came to the forefront when juxtaposed with metal riffs, the band’s ballads allowed him to employ the more delicate qualities of his vocals to gorgeous effect. Those old folk metal tendencies would also pop up again on these tracks, with guitarist/songwriter Stefan Weinerhall demonstrating a mastery of acoustic guitar oriented songcraft.

“Wings of Serenity (Acoustic)” (Falconer, 2001)

Another instance of a song whose original incarnation was a fully electric, metalized offering and subsequently converted to an acoustic affair, “Wings of Serenity” is the best of the re-imagined tracks on Falconer’s anniversary Ultimate Edition of their debut self-titled album (and they were all good). As much as I do love the original in the album’s tracklisting proper, this song’s lyrical imagery about admiring the grace and nobility of the eagle just lends itself to the acoustic ballad treatment. I love the little detail here of the gentle tambourine hits that punctuate in the distance during the chorus, adding to the idea that this song is sung in some far distant fantastical lands around warm fires with various people taking up instruments. The translation from metal to ballad with this song really speaks volumes about Weinerhall’s ability to write lyrical songs that are firmly anchored to the vocal melody. And with a theatrical vocalist such as Blad, such adaptations were seemingly effortless. It’s a shame this band didn’t write more ballads throughout their career.

“Portals of Light” (Chapters from a Vale Forlorn, 2002)

I defy you to find a more somber yet beautiful ballad in all of ballad-dom than Falconer’s achingly bitter lamentation “Portals of Light”, where Mathias Blad gives voice to the pain of someone losing their beloved. Stefan Weinerhall is at his core a lyrical songwriter, despite his penchant for awesome riffs and killer solos, and his talent at crafting a beautiful song on the strength of the vocal melody and lyrics alone is fully evident here. Accompanied mostly with a pianissimo, Blad’s theatrical training kicks into high gear here in interpreting these lyrics to give weight and deeper intonation on particular words or even syllables. I love the way he gently bends the ending words of those lines in the chorus (“inside” and “guide”), or the little lilt upwards he does while singing “What is there left to live for”. Fans of Blad will know that these little details are part and parcel of his overall approach throughout his work with Falconer, but they mean so much on delicate, softer songs like this, where a small thing like that can suggest so much about the meaning being imparted by the narrator. A masterpiece.

“Long Gone By” (Northwind, 2006)

My personal favorite Falconer ballad off what I consider the band’s third best album (after the debut and Chapters…), “Long Gone By” shares the medieval tinge of other Falconer tunes despite not sounding at all like something more on the nose like Kamelot’s “Glory”. This is largely due to the content of the lyrics, which I’ve always long suspected are Weinerhall dipping his pen into the inkwell of Tolkien’s universe, namely the events of The Silmarillion. When I actually sat down to read the lyrics of this song ages back, it only made me love the song more, because despite its rich musicality and maybe the most evocative and emotional guitar solo in the Falconer catalog (like hearing a cloud streaked sunset in your ears), the lyrics of the song speak about the elves leaving Valinor to sail for Middle-Earth (“Our robes have gone grey / As we sailed to mortal shore”). There’s a great verse in here about the elves wandering through the ages, with secrets getting lost due to the passing of time, and how they are “Recalling our lives / As tomorrow, it fades”. This is my Tolkien nerd showing, but I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of the elves existing for thousands upon thousands of years, and this song nails the bittersweet underpinning that I’ve always felt when contemplating that idea.

Serenity

Similarly to their major influences in Sonata Arctica and Kamelot, Austria’s Serenity centered their balladry around the smooth tenor of Georg Neuhauser, one of the most gifted vocalists in the power metal scene in the last twenty years. His strength as a singer gave them the flexibility to allow him to carry their ballads almost exclusively through his vocal melodies alone. In the early era of the band with guitarist Thomas Buchberger, these songs were a nice change of pace from the dense, riff heavy songwriting that characterized so much of their earlier albums. In some ways though, they were previews for Serenity mach 2.0, post Buchberger, where Neuhauser’s vocals began to lead the way on almost all of their music, almost giving their sonic approach a tinge of musical theater (particularly heard throughout Codex Atlanticus). Serenity’s ace up their sleeve is their excellent use of co-vocalists on many of their ballads, pairing Neuhauser with a complementary singer to where both voices are highlighted. These duets seem designed towards elevating a song, highlighting the importance of two voices in telling an interwoven story. It comes across as genuine and sincere, a rarity in a subgenre where duets are often pitched more as marketing gimmicks.

“Fairytales” (Fallen Sanctuary, 2008)

Originally appearing on the band’s sophomore album Fallen Sanctuary as a keyboard string drenched quasi power ballad with crunchy riffs and fully electric solos on the backend (and Dreams of Sanity’s Sandra Schleret doing guest vocals, an odd but delightful surprise), “Fairytales” was re-imagined as a simple piano ballad as a bonus track years later on 2013’s War of Ages album with then co-vocalist Clementine Delauney. As we’ve seen with other examples on this list of songs that were re-imagined as ballads proper, this song too benefitted by scaling back the original’s layered instrumentation and vocals. Neuhauser’s vocal take on this piano version much more nuanced, delicate, and reigned in. His approach actually allows Delauney’s own lead vocals to serve as a perfect foil when they join together in their duet after their individual lead vocal passages. Given the heartbroken lyrical bent of this song, Neuhauser’s Kakko-ian vocal tone, it’s easy to draw comparisons to Sonata Arctica, but their approach would change gradually into something more symphonic and theatrical.

“Changing Fate” (Death & Legacy, 2011)

This banger of a power ballad arrived on the band’s formative album, Death & Legacy, and was a dividing line between their older progressive power metal leanings and the more symphonic metal direction they’d begin exploring on this album and beyond. Featuring the awesome Amanda Somerville on co-lead vocals for this duet, she and Neuhauser conjure up a stormy, rollicking, back and forth dance that spirals into a crescendo during the bridge where she is accompanied by a heavenly choir. I love the addition of subtle strings that accompany the acoustic guitars and piano throughout, eventually unfolding into a full blown orchestration arrangement as we build towards the aforementioned bridge sequence. The vocal melodies throughout this song sound natural, effortless, and indicative of Neuhauser’s skill at building entire songs around his voice first (something that would come to dominate their songwriting once guitarist Thomas Buchberger left the band).

“The Perfect Woman” (Codex Atlanticus, 2016)

This was the band’s first post-Buchberger album, and the beginning of Neuhauser really taking control of the songwriting by leading the band in a vocal melody first direction (something he now shares with Marco Pastorini thankfully). This gambit paid off in spades on Codex Atlanticus, with the subject matter lending itself to a vocal melody forward, theatrical, almost Broadway-esque approach to the songwriting. That applied to the power ballad on offer as well naturally, with “The Perfect Woman” being one of the band’s very best songs, and the high point of a phenomenal album. On this list anyway, this ranks up with Falconer’s “Wings of Serenity” as the strangest lyrical topic for a ballad, being about Leonardo DaVinci’s painting of the Mona Lisa. Such an unusual topic demanded a light touch, breezy and effervescent even, which is exactly what the Broadway treatment here provided in spades. There’s something refreshing and sunny about this song that comes across as the perfect tone for a historical topic that didn’t need over the top histrionics and unnecessary gravitas.

Ancient Bards

I have a hard time putting into words how much I adore Sara Squadrani as a singer, and how much of a travesty it is that Ancient Bards barely have a couple of ballads in their admittedly short discography. She’s not the most powerful singer, nor would I argue that her voice is the most distinctive, but I think perhaps more than any other woman singing in the power and symphonic metal subgenres, she makes the most of her talent through her vocal choices in phrasing, inflection, and raw earnestness in her delivery. In that way she reminds me of Anette Olzon during her stint with Nightwish (and why I loved their music even more with her in the band), and similarly, there’s precious little of her recorded output available to us. I’ve left off “All That Is True” from Souless Child here, because although its a good song, it was their first crack at really attempting a ballad and had thinness in spots that they’d fully understand how to address on the next album.

“In My Arms” (A New Dawn Ending, 2014)

This was the song that got me into this band, via its unconventionally sparse, making the best of a limited budget music video. For such a lore heavy band (their own original Black Crystal Sword Saga, the Italians love their sagas), “In My Arms” does represent an emotional moment within that storyline. Yet even if you’re not interested in the specifics of the lore, this song works on its own despite references to characters such as Sendor and Daltor. That’s largely because the dramatic sweep of the refrain here is so affecting in itself, with Squadrani delivering heavy, heavy lyrics about the death of an infant child. You’d expect something so somber to be delivered in death doom dirge mode, but this song actually sweeps upwards in stages as it moves along, calling attention once again to that bittersweet principle at work.

“Light” (Origine: The Black Crystal Sword Saga, Pt. 2, 2019)

Infinitely more cheerful, “Light” is perhaps the most Disney princess ready power ballad you’ll ever hear coming from a metal band, but I think if you can pull it off, its worth doing. And Ancient Bards pulls it off with ease, once again through Squadrani’s incredible performance, her clean soaring tones providing natural uplift to a vocal melody that is meant to sound empowering. The song is their leanest and most economical ballad to date, layered with orchestrations and choirs on the backend, but the arrangements are kept to a minimum for the most part, leaving just lead vocals over a piano bed. Once again, the lyrics fit into their own lore, but this song in particular saw the band keeping things as broad as possible to work as a standalone single. I’m sure some balked at the tone, sentiment, and indeed the bright sunrise laden, gesturing on the Adriatic shore music video (to say nothing of the cutaways to interpretive dance), but I imagine those naysayers disliked ballads to begin with.

Helloween

Michael Weikath famously said once that an album isn’t complete without a ballad, and I’m right there with you Michael (well… we’ll make an exception for death and black metal, you know what he’s trying to say). That is of course an extreme opinion to many, and for some melodic metal bands, it might not even be the right move (those bands that aren’t gifted in writing quality ballads for example… many who were excluded from this list), but for guys such as Helloween fans Tobias Sammet and Oskar Dronjak, it clearly was. That Weikath and the Helloween bunch didn’t land higher on this power ballads tier is a bit of a shame, because they certainly have the numbers game on their side in terms of sheer quantity. But when they managed to hit the sweet spot, as they did on the two cuts below, it was a bullseye.

“Forever and One” (The Time of the Oath, 1996)

Someone might be wondering where the hell is “A Tale That Wasn’t Right” from Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I, and the truth is that it was always my least favorite song on that album… and while I like parts of it, I just don’t think it was a very cohesive ballad. It wouldn’t be until Andi Deris was at the vocal helm that Helloween struck genuine gold with “Forever and One”, a composition solely credited to Deris that was haunting and heartbreaking. It was a significant step forward from Deris’ first crack at a ballad on Master of the Rings, “In the Middle of a Heartbeat”, which though boasting a solid hook, didn’t quite gel enough everywhere else. I was fortunate enough to catch Helloween in Dallas in 2023 where Deris and Michael Kiske sang this song together in an unforgettable duet, easily the highlight of one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. It made me remember right then my memories of the late 90s power metal scene, reading interviews with both Helloween and Kiske, and how they swore they’d never reunite, and how surreal it was to see the scene I was watching. This song was a perfect soundtrack to a genuinely happy moment for me.

“Hold Me In Your Arms” (Straight Out of Hell, 2013)

A classic power ballad from the Helloween in the vein of 80s AOR hard rock, this string drenched slice of romantic melancholy was a Sascha Gerstner composition, surprisingly enough. I would have figured something like this to come from Andi Deris himself, especially given his hand in crafting some of those early era slick Pink Cream 69 tunes such as “Close Your Eyes” and “Ballerina”. But Gerstner has proven himself to be a pretty great songwriter in his own right during his time with Helloween, and maybe those few years running with Chris Bay in Freedom Call contributed to that in some formative way. This is a slow burner, with an almost Queensryche feel to that introductory verse, and its unusual for a ballad to not include any kind of prechorus situation at work. The chorus here just rockets directly upwards from ground zero, and it speaks to how strong it’s arcing hook is that it doesn’t need any assistance in getting up there. I love the understated guitar solo there, just a few sparse figures stitched together, matching the tone and vibe of the song as a whole.

Dragonforce

Ages ago, during their run with original vocalist ZP Theart, Dragonforce included a ballad on every album, and though the pair below were clearly the cream of the crop, the others were good songs by a band who understood what the sweet spot was of all the hits that rock bands used to land with ballads in the 80s and 90s. That being big, BIG choruses of course. Dragonforce’s lyrics have always skewed towards functional nonsense, in other words, lyrics that are meant to sound epic and might be coherent enough, yet ultimately are pieced together in service of working for the music as a cohesive binding agent. That sounds like a slight, but actually, I think it speaks towards just how talented these guys were at writing songs from a music first perspective that were specifically designed with a particular goal in mind. In that sense, they stand apart from the others on this list. It’s a shame they’ve drifted away from ballads, a reason I can only suspect is perhaps due to new vocalist Marc Hudson having an aversion to them.

“Starfire” (Valley of the Damned, 2003)

There’s a charming naivete and exuberance coursing through “Starfire”, the ballad on Dragonforce’s hallowed debut album. This is dating me but I remember this song as one of the original Dragonheart demo songs on on the old MP3.com, and thinking at the time that if they went back and polished it up (there were strange tempo issues on that version) that it would be a great ballad. Nearly three years later they would do just that, and it made all the difference — Theart’s vocals were steady this go around, fuller and more confident in his delivery, and they fixed the timing issues and tightened the whole thing up. The result was a song that shimmered and soared, and despite its awkward construction and visible seams it felt like a genuinely emotional sentiment was pouring through, one of deep nostalgia.

“Dawn Over a New World” (Sonic Firestorm, 2004)

Dragonforce’s best ballad and one of the all-time masterpieces of their career, this song arrived on the album that brought the concept of extreme power metal to the world. Yet for all Sonic Firestorm’s frenetic crackle and electricity, the heartbeat of the album was locked into this cinematic, mountaintop sung power ballad that was a brief respite from the album’s breakneck pace. To this day, I’m still no sure what these lyrics are supposed to be referencing, what epic event has befall our narrator to where he’s making such a bold and promising declaration (hint: likely nothing!), but I still get caught up in the drama being presented therein. The chorus here has a wide, expansive arc, and Theart really sounds like he’s giving everything he has here, that he really feels conviction for these lyrics. It’s simultaneously heartwarming and empowering.


The Novices

Silent Force – “Spread Your Wings” (Worlds Apart, 2004)

Okay despite the presence of the annoying kid during the first few seconds here, this is an oft overlooked gem of a ballad on Silent Force’s incredible Worlds Apart album, itself one of the defining albums that arguably falls into the tail end of that Golden Age of Power Metal we all so often reference (well, us power metal nerds anyway). The man with the golden pipes carrying this tune on his back with strong, muscular vocal melodies is one DC Cooper, one of the more unheralded classic metal/hard rock vocalists of 90s and early 00s when you consider his early work with Royal Hunt as well (Paradox anyone?). This tune always reminded me a bit of Queensryche’s “Silent Lucidity” thematically in that it seemed to be about parental guidance with the narrator speaking to a child. Cooper’s little changeups in vocal inflection are so subtle yet masterful throughout, his performance always holding my interest every time I listen to this song. Easily the band’s best ballad, it was a shame they didn’t try more of them with Cooper in the lineup.

Gamma Ray – “Farewell” (Land of the Free, 1995)

So this is a bit of a tale of two songs, because as Gamma Ray fans know, this quasi-power ballad starts off one way, and veers off wildly in a totally different direction with Hansi Kursch on board as co-pilot, and then kinda returns to it’s piano ballad state to finish things off. But I felt it merited inclusion here because it’s first minute and change is so emotionally affecting that its long been a favorite Gamma Ray song of mine that I’ve had to be careful not to overplay. People give Kai Hansen a ton of crap for not being a great singer, but I found his vocals during this section to be perfect in their imperfect, rough gravelly tone, singing “Do you remember? / How we used to play / Like kids in the sun” over a gorgeous solo piano line. The layered backing vocals here (by the great Thomas Hackmann) and their placement as ending accents to Kai’s lead vocal lines were a gorgeous touch by producer Charlie Bauerfiend, and a preview of what he’d come to expand in his work with Blind Guardian later on. Longtime keyboardist Dirk Schlächter wrote this one, and it did indeed feel a little different from Kai compositions, but in a very good way, lending the band a multidimensionality that made Land of the Free such an enduring classic.

Power Quest – “When I’m Gone” (Neverworld, 2003)

Most of you know that I’m a Power Quest fanboy and don’t need a lot of prodding to praise them in all their underappreciated glory, but here’s a deserved mention. Coming off their classic 2003 album Neverworld, “When I’m Gone” matched in power balladry the intensity, exuberance, and excitement evoked by the rest of the album’s more energetic and uptempo songs. What defined this album wasn’t technical virtuosity, but Steve Williams heartfelt and earnest songwriting, and this song’s meditation on grief, loss, and carrying on is genuinely moving. This song’s success is the combination of its relatively simple elements, the subtle keyboard orchestration, minimalist instrumentation by the band, and vocalist Alessio Garavello’s brightened delivery… it all adds up to magical effect. There’s an undercurrent of genuineness and honesty that underpins this album, and you hear it all bubble up to the surface here with these naked and raw lyrics. Bittersweet formula at work to the max here, proof that Power Quest wasn’t the ultra cheery band that casual power metal fans tend to peg them as.

Demons & Wizards – “Fiddler on the Green” (Demons & Wizards, 1999)

It would be disingenuous to not include this song on even a personal list of great power metal ballads, as this one is, because even though Jon Schaffer is persona non grata these days in metal circles, I’m including this because fifty percent of this band is the great Hansi Kursch, and his work deserves to be heralded regardless. Schaffer for his part wrote a hell of a song here, and honestly, if he didn’t do what he did, a couple Iced Earth songs would likely be on this list because the man knew his way around a power ballad (“When the Eagle Cries” being a notable exception to this). The duo’s debut album was excellent throughout, but this singular moment of acoustic based balladry was the emotional heartbeat of the entire record. Hansi’s vocal delivery is nothing short of stunning, heightening the impact of vocal melodies that come across as almost nursery rhyme-esque. And Schaffer’s little acoustic guitar lead figure at the 1:44 mark that serves as the bridge before the explosive ending have to his credit always been my favorite micro-moment to enjoy here. Though they tried, they’d never get anywhere close to the wallop this song packed with any of their subsequent ballads, which makes this one all the more special.

Dream Evil – “Losing You” (Dragonslayer, 2002)

Sitting in the middle of one of the most accomplished debut albums in power metal history, Dream Evil’s “Losing You” shows a side of power metal that was influenced by the hard rock golden throats of the 80s such as David Coverdale and Joey Tempest. Dream Evil vocalist Niklas Isfeldt turns in a performance here that still stands as perhaps his finest moment, among a discography full of incredible ones. His tone is smooth, nuanced, and that subtle Swedish accent adds a touch of distinctiveness to the way he stresses syllables or delivers phrasing, and he introduces a vulnerable depth to the loaded verse passages here. I’ve always loved that this was a deliberately scaled back and reigned in power ballad on an album full of bombastic, over the top power metal. Even the beautiful string accompaniment seems to be designed for a minimalist approach, never overwhelming the rest of the instrumentation or Isfeldt’s vocals. Yet for all the romance related lyricism, this is a muscular song, crafted with confident melodies, a strident rhythm section at work, and guitarist Gus G. and Frederick Nordstrom’s wild and passionate lead melodies.

Manowar – “Master of the Wind” (Triumph of Steel, 1992)

Collectively, we all give Manowar a bit of stick, and deservedly so for the most part. Yet it would be willfully ignorant to not acknowledge that they have made some excellent music at points in their career, and perhaps their finest singular moment is this masterpiece of a ballad. Whereas their power ballad “Heart of Steel” on their previous album Kings of Metal was overwrought and hollow, “Master of the Wind” was delivered with gentle orchestral swells, an often hushed vocal approach by Eric Adams, and with mystical touches such as the lone pan flute accompaniment. I love that we get a fade out on the reiterations of the chorus, a choice that leaves us feeling wistful upon hearing the final “…fly away”. Lyrically, this also one of the more mature statements by Manowar (not a high bar I know), a simple metaphor about life and destiny, and its easy to take solace in Adams belting out “Nothing is as bad as it seems”. Among friends of mine, this song has developed a bit of a mythical quality, sage-like in its meaning that it imparts and something you should listen to every once in a while for a pep talk. I’m not even kidding.

Celebrating a Masterpiece: Therion’s Sirius B / Lemuria Turns Twenty

This past May 24th, a quiet 20th anniversary passed for Therion’s twin 2004 albums Sirius B and Lemuria, with only the band themselves acknowledging the event via one of bandleader Christofer Johnsson’s retrospective Facebook posts he’s been fond of writing lately. It is predominantly the view of the metal community at large that Theli is the band’s widely accepted masterpiece, and rightfully so, that album being a genre defining landmark of symphonic metal and still one of the most vital metal albums of the 90s. Yet within the communities of Therion fans I’ve dabbled with, there is an almost pervasive belief that the band struck upon a pair of unheralded masterpieces with these twin albums. I have long held this belief myself, actually since first getting my hands on a pre-ordered double disc edition from Nuclear Blast all those many years ago. It was the first new Therion release I was anticipating, having only became a fan of the band shortly after the release of Secret of the Runes back in 2001, and to say that it lived up to the hype is an extreme understatement. I knew from press tidbits ahead of the release date that the scale of production on these two albums was massive, 170 musicians involved, including The City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, and an arsenal of folk instruments, most alien to the traditional format of heavy metal. But there’s a huge gulf between press release ambitions and the actual artistic execution thereof, and I wasn’t prepared for just how magnificent the latter could truly be.

The presence of a large orchestra was indeed a new thing for Therion, having only utilized small orchestras or ensembles on their prior four symphonic metal albums. If the goal in utilizing the Prague Philharmonic was to sound massive, Therion succeeded in spades, with the orchestra adding a lushness, depth and textural grandeur to the albums that they had never achieved before. Rounding out the symphonic sound were the expected hosts of professional classical vocalists and choirs, a Therion staple since Theli, but the band also chose to reintroduce the concept of actual lead vocalists once again. The most notable of whom was Christofer Johnsson himself, delivering lead vocals for the first time since his fierce barking on Theli, but really hearkening back to his guttural death growls on Symphony Masses. Also returning for guest appearances on select tracks was Piotr Wawrzeniuk, former Therion drummer and vocalist whose distinctive clean vocals graced those iconic Theli songs. But a fresh face entered the Therion world around this time in former Yngwie Malmsteen and then current At Vance vocalist Mats Levén. To say Levén would become an integral part of the Therion sound and line-up is an understatement, he became their touring vocalist for the supporting tour, and was a key component to the excellent follow up Gothic Kabbalah where he in many ways became the face of the band alongside fellow lead vocalists Snowy Shaw and Katarina Lilja. The vocal variety on these two albums are part of their success, creating a diverse listening experience that was fresh and unpredictable, a break from the past few albums relying mostly on lead choral vocals alone.

I underestimated just how difficult it would be to put into words why I believe these albums are genuine, Theli-level masterpieces and capstones of the symphonic metal genre. I could tell you that they sound epic… but that adjective gets thrown around so much by all of us in regards to metal, particularly of this vein, that it’s almost lost all meaning in the grand scheme of things. When I was listening to the albums repeatedly over these past few weeks, I tried to recall my memories of what it felt like when I first listened to them twenty years ago. One of those memories that tended to be top of mind was that I’d sit and listen to them on headphones while staring at their breathtaking cover artwork, courtesy of the great Thomas Ewerhard. The music on the albums sounded like it was telling the story of these bleak yet beautiful mythical landscapes depicted on both covers, or in some fantastical way, was recorded music that was obtained from those places. The flood plain stretching before skeletons of skyscrapers on the Lemuria artwork always struck me as evoking a sense of mystery, loss, and sorrow — while the hot, scorched earth desert plateaus of the Sirius B artwork brought to mind a feeling of eternity, elegiac and wondrous at once. That gigantic planet framing the bleak, blood red sky in the horizon with a menacing, eye of Sauron type of image in the center only added to the sense of the mystical and forbidden.

The music on both albums matched the imagination of their artwork, pushing aside any notions of aiming to be hooky and catchy (although those qualities exist in subtler, untraditional ways) and instead pulsing with an emotional ripple of the heady rush of indefinable spirituality. These tracks felt more like movements in a grander, overarching piece of music as opposed to just being regular songs, at times reminiscent of the pacing of a film score. One of the admittedly stranger references I keep coming back to is that sometimes the music here reminds me of the way the German group Enigma’s music was put together, with an ear towards unconventional structures and disparate elements that somehow gelled beautifully. Therion had been working with unique song structures for awhile by this point, with plenty of fine examples on their prior four albums. Yet here they seemed to let their artistic ambitions run free, veering wildly from one sequence to something else entirely, such as the way “Dark Venus Persephone” opts for an orchestral swell during the mid-song bridge instead of a traditional guitar solo, horns and woodwinds combining for a transcendent moment. Or the opening minute of “The Khlysti Evangelist”, where vinyl pops and crackles accompany what appears to be a lost recording of an opera, lulling us into a false sense of security before a battery of snare drums and Accept-ian riffage shakes us out of our reverie. The entirety of “An Arrow From the Sun” is a lucid example of this overarching tendency, from beautiful lead guitar figures erupting out of nowhere during the refrain to usher in a heavenly blanket of choirs, to a group of mandolins gracefully floating in towards the end without warning.

One of the things I’ve always loved about Therion is their tendency to utilize purely instrumental musical motifs as the “chorus” or refrain in lieu of the standard way of building one out of a vocal melody. It always made them feel more organically symphonic than any other artists tagged as symphonic metal, and lent their music an original identity that separated them from their peers. That tendency is on hyperdrive throughout both Sirius B and Lemuria, but a wonderful example of the band taking a more traditional vocal melody forward approach is on the title track “Lemuria”, a gorgeous, acoustic guitar meets swelling strings lament. Here Wawrzeniuk shines on lead vocals, delivering perhaps his most iconic moment during his time with Therion, his distinctly accented singing voice taking command during the chorus, sounding strangely alien in this lush context, yet somehow fitting perfectly. The lead guitar that echoes his vocal melody is pitch perfect in tone, and a vivid example of just how fluid Kristian Niemann is as a lead player, his work throughout these albums is jaw dropping. He contributed to songwriting on “Feuer Overtüre / Prometheus entfesselt”, and I love how he and Johnsson live for these unpredictable and exciting placements of lead guitar explosions, defying convention and listener expectations (you can normally tell when a solo is coming in standard metal tunes, not the case at all here). When I hear his signature tones on the fantastic Sorcerer albums he’s been on since leaving Therion, I’m reminded of all these incredible moments he laid down with Therion on albums such as these (he’s seriously one of my favorite guitarists of all time).

I mentioned a sense of the spiritual earlier, and I get those feelings when I listen to tracks such as the cinematic “Call of Dagon”, with its call-and-response horns and woodwinds musical figure that serves as the wordless refrain over rumbling bass and dirty riffing. I feel it during “Three Ships of Berik, Pt 1/ Pt 2”, a truly grandiose, perfect fusion of orchestra and metal where Johnsson’s death growls are contrasted by joyfully power metal-ian lead guitar figures and a regal, triumphant orchestral counterpoint. The glorious, dramatic, sturm und drang ending is so unexpected and spirit lifting that it still catches me off guard all these thousands of listens later. I would be remiss not to mention “The Wondrous World of Punt” in this context, because its perhaps my favorite moment on both albums, a piece of music that explored territory that recalled prior classics such as “Eternal Return” and “Clavicula Nox”, yet expanded on those ideas in broad, sweeping brushstrokes. It does indeed have the quality of an oil painting, intricately textured and detailed. I’m hard pressed to explain why this piece of music hits me so hard… there’s something tranquil in the vastness of it’s plaintive acoustic guitars, patient piano patterns, and mournful organ melodies. The distant sounding choir vocal arrangements, particularly in the middle passage, glide gracefully through the ambient space, and the combined effect is something I find so profoundly spiritual and meditative that I’m always emotionally affected when listening to this piece of music. That it ends so unexpectedly bright and upbeat is fitting for Therion, particularly the addition of a Greek sounding melody on mandolin towards the end as a why the hell not accent, a charming bit of levity to punctuate the band’s most breathtaking moment.

I could keep citing my favorite moments, but these are simply albums that have to be experienced if you haven’t by now, or revisited if you had in the past but didn’t vibe with them for whatever reason. Therion would go on to continue making great music (the first in the Leviathan trilogy was my 2021 album of the year), and they’ve even attempted projects that would rival the scope and ambition of this twin album recording project (three albums if you consider that leftover material was used for 2010’s Sitra Ahra). But here Christofer and the Niemann brothers reached for the stars and actually touched them, creating a pair of albums that truly transcended symphonic metal as we know it and redefined what was possible within it’s framework. Their uniquely combined talents, Johnsson’s inexplicable ability to articulate his musical vision into reality and the Niemann brothers ability to help steer that vision here (also shoutout to the underrated and awesome Richard Evensand behind the kit) are what gave them such a strong musical identity throughout this era of the band from Deggial through Gothic Kabbalah, and though I love the new lineup for what they’ve brought to the table, I can’t help but have a soft spot for this particular Therion lineup. I’m happy to have finally written something about these particular albums, even if it sounds like the ramblings of a fanboy. These albums have been so important to me for so long, and this anniversary felt like a good time to remind myself of their magnificence, and others of their existence.

A Breezy 2024 Mid-Year Catch Up

I’ve never done mid-year in review features before, but seeing as how we’re in year two of this blog mostly eschewing the reviews treadmill, and thus not actually getting to talk much about new music here (I tend to save it for the podcast), I figure it would be a good way to cast a wide eye on the past handful of months since 2024 began. I’m going to do this in as rapid fire a manner as I possibly can, though with a sharp ruler hitting my hand to avoid this becoming a massive reviews cluster type thing that I can frequently allow myself to fall into. Instead I figure this time I’d discuss in chunks the stuff that impressed me, the stuff that didn’t move me much one way or another, and finally the stuff that disappointed me.

I also want to take a moment to mention that I caught Blind Guardian on the Austin stop of their now finished North American tour back on April 26th, after a long, what… near six year drought since seeing them last! It was my fifth time seeing the bards and easily their best performance of them all. I’ve had some pretty rough luck with their tour stops in the past — first the whole 2002 tour cancellation of the Houston date which… makes me too sad to write about, then a couple times Hansi (captured in all his glory by me in the pic here) was sick and had to power through as best as he could vocally, and a few other times the mix wasn’t quite right due to the chosen venue (the old Warehouse Live in Houston) always being an absolute tin can for acoustics. This show was at Emo’s East in Southeast Austin, and shout out to the venue for delivering killer sound (kudos to Blind Guardian’s sound guy as well). Hansi was perfect in the mix, he also sounded the best I’ve ever heard him live, just ferocious and full of energy, and I heard every single note that Andre played to utter perfection. They busted out “Ashes to Ashes” live which was likely on my top five list of songs I’d never imagine the band would ever play, and damn do the songs off the The God Machine sound really excellent live (I gave the entire album a thorough listening the week before the show and came away feeling far more favorably about it than I did back in 2022).

It had been a minute since I’d been to a show, and I dunno, maybe seeing bands like Seven Spires and Helloween in the past couple years has spoiled me, but I really just crave seeing bands that I have a genuine emotional investment in (as opposed to just going to shows to go to shows). Seeing shows like those and Blind Guardian just shakes off the cynicism and jadedness and I feel real enthusiasm — those have always been the shows I’ve remembered the most. I don’t think this means that I won’t go casually check out a good bill just for the hell of it anymore, but I just long for more live experiences like this past one in Austin, because the older you get, the fewer and far between they seem to occur.

Anyway, onto our new music talk, I’ll try to keep this as breezy as possible for both your benefit and mine, here we go:


New stuff that impressed me:

So straightaway on the power metal front, there’s been a handful of big names with new albums out these past few months, but none have stuck with me the way that Opera Magna have with their newest Heroica. I vaguely remember this band from maybe over a decade ago when they were splashing around making waves as the second coming of Elisa Martin era Dark Moor. Their sound has morphed and developed in the intervening years into something that actually has more in common with Alfred Romero era Dark Moor and other influences such as Rhapsody of Fire and Angra. As with Sacred Outcry’s exceptional work these past few years, Opera Magna are a band that crafts power metal without wry ironic humor and self-deprecating pretense. Lots of tasteful symphonic arrangements that aren’t syrupy, with enough complexity in the songwriting to satisfy — but nothing that distracts from the effectiveness of a fantastic vocal melody (cue up “Volver” for a great example of this).

And though I’ve mentioned this on the podcast recently, I want to mention Myrath’s Karma here, because it’s maybe the best front to finish album they’ve ever made. They seem to really have nailed down where to emphasize their songwriting, that being with a focus towards their rhythmic strengths and Zaher Zorgati’s powerful vocal ability. They were clever on this album in avoiding trying to be overly heavy (unlike their last album where it sometimes seemed like they felt the need to prove themselves as a metal band), something which I don’t think is their strength anyway. There was an increased emphasis on bringing their middle eastern sound to the forefront as well, particularly with the rhythm section in conjunction with Arabic strings. Look, fans of their older, more Symphony X adjacent sound will likely hate the direction they’re heading in, but this poppy hard rock infused folk metal is the sweet spot for Myrath, and I’m glad they’ve finally landed on it dead center.

Gotta heap praise upon Dialith’s new EP Alter as well, who were in 2019 if you recall, my album of the year list toppers with their still incredible Extinction Six. It’s tempting to pair this with 2021’s Atrophy EP and call both of them together the second Dialith album, but the three year gap there bothers me. I’m not sure whether or not the band’s plan is to keep sticking with the EP route (certainly a fine and understandable thing), but I won’t mind as long as they’re all as genuinely excellent as this one is. Krista Sion’s distinctive tone and delivery is so damn affecting to me, and Alasdair Mackie is still sticking with that melodeath guitar tone that’s so fantastic in a symphonic metal context. The combination of these two is so masterful that I didn’t even flinch at the saxophone weaving through the background of “Ironbound” (seriously maybe the best ever use of that confounded instrument I’ve ever heard in a metal context). My only gripe with the EP format here is that these are short EPs, I’ve heard K-Pop albums longer than this… so just as “Shadowdancer” has me banging my head, its all over and I’m longing for more new music. I can only hope more is just around the corner, nevertheless, do not sleep on this one.

On the extreme metal front, I have to thank Harsh Vocals for recommending Dödsrit’s Nocturnal Will, this is a beautiful record that blends together gritty black metal with washes of power metal inspired melodicism via gorgeous lead guitars that soar and ring thanks to the crisp and clean production on offer. There’s an often overtly Scandinavian folk metal influence flowing through the album here too, which befits the band’s own tagline for the album being “Mournful Hymns of Archaic Strength and Heroic Bloodshed”. I haven’t been able to stop listening since I heard it weeks ago, and the same goes for the new In Vain album Solemn, easily the best album of their career. This is a band that’s been on my radar since 2013’s Ænigma, but who have never before popped off as creatively as they have here. Remember Dialith using saxaphone to spectacular effect above? Well In Vain bring in a whole damn horn section and somehow make it sound right and natural amidst their blending of black and death metal elements into one big progressive blender. It is one of the most engaging metal albums of the year, one that’s worth checking out even if you’re not a fan of this type of extreme metal because I think there’s genuine crossover potential here (a surprising amount of clean vocals throughout as well).

New stuff that was either good, solid, or that I was indifferent to:

Hard to think of a more accurate subtitle to this section than that, though it may sound harsh. Look solid albums are fine, I mean, you’d rather they be great albums but solid is better than lackluster no? That being said, I’m a little bit uncertain about some more than others. But first, the actual good stuff here — first that comes to mind is the recent Borknagar album Fall, which is entirely mood dependent for me because there are some listens when I’m very receptive and will absolutely sing its praises, and other times where I just find myself impatient during a play through. Historically this feeling has always prevented an album from landing in my top ten list, but I do have to say that I enjoyed Fall way more than recent Borknagar albums so I’m a little puzzled as to where I’m really at with it. On a more certain note, the new album Honor. Power. Glory. by power metal newbies Glyph (though the band is comprised of veterans of the subgenre) is a fantastic USPM meets Euro merger that marries the best elements of both styles. If you liked Ravenous, you’ll recognize R. A. Voltaire on vocals here and he sounds perhaps even better on this album than he did with his other band (though I do dig them). Its nothing revolutionary but its solid power metal done really well and with that refreshing sense of earnestness that I know many of us have been seeking lately.

I similarly enjoyed the debut album Of War and Flames by Alterium, an Italian symphonic power metal band headed up by former Kalidia vocalist Nicoletta Rosellini. I loved Kalidia’s The Frozen Throne album back in 2018 and thought Rosellini had a knack for crafting clever vocal melodies. She brings the same spark to her new band, and though its music that adheres fairly strictly to that particular style, they execute it pretty damn well. And same goes for the new Firewind album Stand United, where Herbie Langhans pulls off his best Jorn Lande impersonation in a killer vocal performance throughout. I know my cohost on the MSRcast Cary is big on this album, and he just caught their recent Houston gig as a testament to his Firewind fandom. I dug the album, Langhans is a joy to listen to, and Gus G is well, awesome in his own right. I was a little less wild about the new Einvigi album Monokroma, a band who if you’ll remember landed on my best albums list in 2022 with Yö kulje kanssani. I’m missing all the gorgeous, melancholic moodiness that characterized so much of that previous album, because it seems like the band went off on a rather strange direction on the new one. April saw the release of the new Tyr album, Battle Ballads (which isn’t a collection of ballads, and I’m a little bummed about that), and its a solid Tyr album if not exactly a very good one. Although there were moments here that I did enjoy, “Hammered” and “Torklis Dotur” for example, I found myself wishing the band would ditch the overly layered sound they’ve been mining for the past many albums now (2013’s Valkyrja seemed to be the pinnacle of this approach) and get back to something a bit more stripped down and primal.

New stuff that disappointed me:

And so we get to the downer section, first there’s the new Sonata Arctica album Clear Cold Beyond… and I suppose I’m one of the few people out there who didn’t think this was any kind of return to form (in the sense that it was being touted as such before it’s release). There’s a few potentially good moments in the first half, but the last half of the album is the kind of meandering modern Tony Kakko-ness that drives me up the wall. Part of the magic of those early Sonata albums was that energetic, nigh-frenetic bursts of speed that characterized so many of those classic songs. I know that the band has changed, gotten older and understandably this is reflected in their sound — but then what’s with all the return to their power metal sound pap that was swirling around this album? Mistaken fan hysteria? Incredibly disappointing in the end. It all just made me think of Jani Liimatainen’s collab with Tony on the former’s solo album last year and what could be if those two could join forces again for a full length album. With Liimatainen out of Insomnium, the door is open to him pursuing something like that, a new side project perhaps? I don’t know what it is that makes him so keyed in on being able to write great power metal (Cain’s Offering, The Dark Element in addition to his era in Sonata), but Tony needs a balancing songwriting partner like him who can help unlock his potential as a songwriter and vocalist like he did in the past.

And finally, I wanna say my piece on the new Amaranthe album here, a band who in the past have garnered their own full length reviews for their new albums. I realize looking back that much of that had to do with how well their lineup clicked with former vocalist Joacim Lundberg (now in Cyhra) and just how much I enjoyed his contributions to the band’s songwriting. In his new band, I hear echoes (and sometimes bangs) of what he brought to the Amaranthe table for their first four albums, particularly the still excellent and joyously fun Massive Addictive. His replacement, Dynazty’s otherwise excellent vocalist Nils Molin is on album three of his tenure with the band, and look, that’s enough of a sample size now to declare that it just doesn’t work. The transitions from Elize Ryd’s lines to Molin always sound jarring, lacking the smoothness that Lundberg was able to somehow craft. Ryd and Molin’s vocal tones might be the warring factions here, to my ears anyway, because they sound like they’re fighting each other, not complementing one another in the slightest. Screamer Henrik Wilhelmsson bounced last year, replaced by Mikael Sehlin who does a decent job in balancing texture and enunciation, but he’s really not the issue here. Molin’s a pro and he’s likely not going anywhere if he doesn’t want to, but Olof Morck and company need a clean vocalist who works with their sound, and sadly, I just don’t think Molin does. As a result, my enjoyment of their new music has diminished exponentially over the past three albums (“Outer Dimensions” being a sole exception on the new album, a decent tune).


That wraps it up, I know we’re in a little early before the true halfway point of the year in June, but screw it, there was more than enough music to talk about and quite a bit that I didn’t really listen to enough to comment on. Shout out to Blaze Bailey for delivering another decent album, given all the health challenges he’s had lately, that’s a win in its own right. Really looking forward to what the second half of 2024 brings, possibly some new Avantasia, Hammerfall, and Nightwish even… it will be interesting for sure.

The Metal Pigeon Recommends — Part Five: Dark Moor (the Alfred Romero era)

Dark Moor have always been one of power metal’s most intriguing artists (to me anyway), a band that is well known in name across the power metal community, yet infrequently cited in conversation or debate. Much like their regional neighbors in Heavenly being for a time the leading light in power metal from France, Dark Moor have been Spain’s most recognizable power metal artist since 1998. In their nascent late 90s era, they were fronted by vocalist Elisa Martin and after a shaky debut effort, they released two of the finest releases of that 97-03 golden era of power metal back to back in The Hall of Olden Dreams and The Gates of Oblivion. Martin was a revelation at the time, a female vocalist in a genre that hadn’t seen very many of them up to that point, particularly in the European scene, with a voice that could be just as rugged and gritty as it was soaring and melodic. Like many power metal fans, I love those albums, and followed anything Martin did afterwards out of sheer love for her unique style of singing. And like many, I was bummed that she left the band, and when her replacement Alfred Romero arrived, I was skeptical of the idea of Dark Moor without her considerable talent.

Like Martin, Romero had a rough start to his gig as Dark Moor’s vocalist, with his debut on the 2003 self-titled album that was comprised of songs largely written with Martin in mind, and Romero’s first artistic input coming on 2005’s Beyond the Sea. Both were uneven albums with some bright moments, but they were the sound of a band finding its footing with their new singer — which they did in full force on 2007’s Tarot. The band’s sound changed for sure, from the Helloween meets Rhapsody Euro-power mix of the Martin era to something far more unique, a robust blend of theatrical power metal that was informed by classical music, shades of gothic rock, and AOR-ish hard rock songwriting. Romero began to blossom as a singer, showcasing a vocal approach that was rich with character and full of dramatics. Like Martin, his voice had a noticeable accent that was quite different from other contemporary power metal vocalists from Germany or Italy. He didn’t sound grounded and gritty like Kai Hansen or Hansi Kursch, nor quasi-operatic like Fabio Lione or Roberto Tiranti, instead delivering a vocal tone that reminded me more of Tony Kakko crossed with Fher Olvera of Maná. He sounded different from anyone else in power metal, and as the songwriting changed to suit his voice, his Spanish language vocal color infused more and more of his performances on the albums.

With this further development of Romero as a singer, the band would embark on an era where they released some truly incredible music, with some very good to great albums to their name such as the aforementioned Tarot, but also Autumnal and Ancestral Romance in back to back years. Those three records in particular are a wealth of genuinely refreshing, creatively inspired romantic toned power metal that sounded like nothing anyone else was doing. Yet for all that ingenuity and effort into renewing their sound, when people talk about Dark Moor to this day, they speak about the band’s first couple albums with Martin, and either ignore or gloss over the Romero era. I suspect there’s a few reasons for this, and some of them are self-inflicted injuries on the part of the band. To wit, this is a fairly low key band that does little in the way of self-promotion: interviews are few and far between, and compounding matters, they aren’t all that active on social media when that is the way things have been working in publicity for years now. So when someone goes looking for info on this band called Dark Moor they’ve just discovered, they get the impression that there’s a chance they don’t exist anymore. Their last album also came out way back in 2018, and with the exception of a couple recent tracks released as singles, Dark Moor has been way too quiet (ironically just like the aforementioned Heavenly).

I think it’s a shame that Dark Moor has started to be forgotten a bit, their name slipping through the cracks as the years go by and the subgenre has taken some unfortunate musical paths. To my tastes, the Romero era is far more interesting than the Martin era, sacrilege to many I’m sure, but I say that with conviction. He changed the band’s sound for sure, but he also gave them an identity that separated them from their original influences and made them stand out as unique artists in the power metal world. So with ten tracks listed below in chronological order (being the traditional way of this particular recurring feature), I’m going to attempt to convince you with actual music rather than just words that Romero-era Dark Moor is worth exploring:


The Chariot” (from 2007’s Tarot)

Like an actual chariot breaking out from the gates of a Roman coliseum (or something similarly historically epic), Tarot’s album opener rushes out at you with door breaking force. You’d be mistaken if you thought that vocalist in the intro was Elisa Martin, because it’s actually future (and now former) Nemesea vocalist Manda Ophuis, whose crystalline, powerful vocals are a perfect foil for a duet with Romero. Both singers join in on this song’s uplifting, soaring chorus with some truly unique and charming lyrics about making fun of death. Tarot was a thematic album about the major arcana trump cards in a tarot deck, with each song in the track listing representing one. It led to the infusion of some mystical sounding sonic elements in the mix, such as the charming, tinkling piano interspersed amongst the energetic riffing during the middle bridge. The band’s neoclassical inclinations are still in full effect here, not only in the unabashedly symphonic melodies coursing through everything, but in Enrik Garcia’s shredding solo three minutes in. A glorious ride indeed.

The Star” (from 2007’s Tarot)

The symphonic swagger that permeated so much of Tarot gave all the songs on the album a skyrocketing trajectory in sound and spirit, and “The Star” is a vivid example of this. Unlike the “The Chariot” with it’s juxtaposing dips down into mid-tempo groove territory, “The Star” was written in the mode of late-90s pure power metal Dark Moor. This meant melodies that raced along and slightly ebbed in speed but without ever taking the foot off the gas pedal. The series of neoclassical styled solos that Garcia unleashes beginning just before the three minute mark, with that particularly gorgeous one at the 3:17 mark is my favorite instrumental moment on an album that is full of great ones. There’s a common opinion out there that Tarot was the last real metal album Dark Moor would release (I’d disagree but I understand the sentiment), but it’s possible that “The Star” is the last old school traditional power metal song the band released, and what a glorious finale it was.

“Phantom Queen” (from 2009’s Autumnal)

Folk music inspired strings introduce “Phantom Queen”, one of the highlights off the masterful Autumnal, an album that continued the symphonic metal influences from Tarot, but in tones that were darker shaded, far more… well, autumnal and fall-like in their colors. Listening to that violently swirling orchestration in the pre-chorus as Romero heightens the tension, you can picture winds kicking up fallen leaves on some desolate forest path. There’s something at once delicate and majestic about this song, a balancing act between its softly strummed verses and the frothing boil that bubbles up suddenly during the chorus which is as regal and dramatic as we’ve ever heard Dark Moor. I love the addition of growling vocals in the bridge as a counterpoint to all the elegant, sweeping loveliness. I know that “Swan Lake” gets a ton of the attention off this album, and I understand why, but for me “Phantom Queen” was always more memorable in the heightened pomp and splendor department.

“For Her” (from 2009’s Autumnal)

When it came to sheer dramatic theatricality, few things in power metal can top the outright majesty of “For Her”, one of the earliest and most prominent examples of the band incorporating romance as a lyrical inspiration. Its a testament to this song’s sticking power that I picked it over other great Autumnal tracks such as “When the Sun is Gone” or “And End So Cold”. I think the insistent, propelling tempo the band sets here is a significant part of the song’s success, lending real urgency to Romero singing a veritable recitation of all the things he did “for her…”. His vocals here are as impassioned a performance as we’ve ever heard in power metal, equal parts pleading earnestness and chest thumping bravado that empowers the intent of the lyrics he’s delivering. Romero is joined by soprano Itea Benedicto in the chorus, a duet combination that adds a touch of classical gravitas to the vocal melodies. And I love the subtle layering in the background of some horns, be they keyboard generated (or not), their punctuating presence another detail that adds to the glorious nature of this fantastic song.

“Love From the Stone” (from 2010’s Ancestral Romance)

>

More accenting female vocals! Which I’m fine with, because Dark Moor were demonstrating that they knew exactly when and where to use them as counterpoints to Romero. His vocal tone being deeper, as well as full of depth and rich in character meant that he could sing alongside a lighter, floatier vocalist and complement them instead of drowning them out (I’m reminded of Sarah Brightman’s spectacular duets with José Cura). Throughout Ancestral Romance, Romero pairs with soprano Berenice Musa of Tears of a Martyr, and their combined effect was stirring, as evidenced here. Dark Moor returned again to romantic love for inspiration on this song, and this time turned in their most poetic and artfully constructed set of lyrics to date. Romero’s rhythmic delivery echoes their poetic meter in an inspired way, and the imagery is as vivid and heart-on-sleeve as lyrics from Ville Valo. I think Romero deserves a lot of credit for being able to deliver lines like these with conviction, because I think few could pull it off without sounding hammy, which he deftly avoids.

“Mio Cid” (from 2010’s Ancestral Romance)

>

This is an interesting one, because I loved the original version of “Mio Cid” on Ancestral Romance which is largely sung in English, telling the tale of El Cantar de mio Cid, (a Castilian epic poem which is now a national epic of Spain), but recently in 2023 the band re-recorded the song in Spanish. I gotta say, the Spanish re-recording is even more epic, the orchestration richer and full of depth (have orchestral sample libraries improved that much since 2010?!), and the lyrics just seem to fit better in Spanish. On that note, something interesting is happening with Dark Moor lately, their three 2023 singles being all releases with Spanish lyrics — it made me think back to comments Garcia made in an interview with Metal Shards in 2018, where he commented, “We committed the great sacrilege of being a Spanish band singing in English, a mortal sin for this Catholic country.”. He detailed in that interview that singing in English closed doors for the band in Spain, and I’m left wondering if they might be considering trying to open those doors again with a full length Spanish language album in the future. It would be a fantastic move for them at this point in their career to be honest, because the Spanish language singles sound great. So great in fact that I chose to link the 2023 remake of “Mio Cid” above, but the original version is crucial to what makes Ancestral Romance such a spectacular album.

“Tilt at Windmills” (from 2010’s Ancestral Romance)

One of my favorite Dark Moor songs of all time, “Tilt at Windmills” is widely regarded as one of the band’s Romero era masterpieces by those who are clued in enough. This is a gorgeous song that’s at once tongue in cheek sly through its lyrical imagery referencing Don Quixote, and yet heartbreakingly epic in its dramatic, cinematic swell. Romero does a ton of heavy lifting here with an incredible vocal performance, particularly in the chorus where he bends and stretches syllables and manages to make it sound painfully anguished. I love the sheer passion he’s singing with there, the inflection in his voice at specific moments is inimitable, there’s just no one else in metal who sounds like him at times. The softly rising brass section that reinforces him during those parts is a beautiful, delicate touch that makes them sound transcendent. The figure that Romero is singing about in the lyrics comes across as more tragic as a result rather than foolish, like someone whose convictions are true but entirely misplaced. I think what has always struck me about “Tilt at Windmills” is how the overall sound here suggests that this should be a wistful love song, and not as it is, an allegory of a knight fighting in vain (and whatever modern social situations you could apply that to).

“First Lance of Spain” (from 2013’s Ars Musica)

The stirring, dramatic album opener proper to Ars Musica, “First Lance of Spain” is one of Dark Moor’s catchiest uptempo cuts, a symphonic power fusion that reminds me at times of Austria’s Serenity for its vocal melodies and strong, punctuating chorus. At this point in their career, Dark Moor was fully incorporating Spanish history and folklore into their lyrical topics, and just like “Mio Cid” on Ancestral Romance, they tackled another historical military figure here in Diego de León, 1st Count of Belascoáin. Famed for riding at the head of his lancers column and charging first into spots where the enemy was the most numerous, he definitely earned the title Dark Moor are bestowing upon him here, in addition to the heroic overtone that characterizes the sound of this epic song. The nature of the band’s symphonic side seemed to shift a little more on this album to be more Hollywood-esque, that bombastic soundtrack style arrangement as opposed to the quieter, subtler touches in Ancestral Romance and Autumnal. In that sense, Ars Musica felt a little like a throwback to Tarot, albeit replacing the power metal with more of a hard rock style that you’ll likely remember was seeping into a ton of veteran power metal bands around this time.

“Gara & Jonay” (from 2013’s Ars Musica)

Dark Moor, for all their inclinations towards romance as lyrical inspiration, did not write a lot of ballads — tending to prefer couching their most ardent ruminations on love in the context of dramatic, epic rockers. So it would take a tragic, Romeo & Juliet evoking love story such as that of Gara and Jonay to get Dark Moor to write this incredibly affecting, emotive piano led paean. It’s the Canary Islands folk tale of Princess Gara of La Gomera and Jonay, a poor peasant’s son from Tenerife and their families refusal to allow their relationship to blossom due to a foretold doom that it would cause. You can guess where its headed I’m sure, Gara and Jonay escape together, climb a mountain, hold a laurel lance sharpened at both ends between them and take their final embrace. The tone of this song reflects that tragedy in a way that’s not entirely somber, but almost hauntingly celestial, particularly towards the end when layered backing vocals start being interwoven into Romero’s narration. His delicate touch in phrasing and vocal inflection here lend so much weight and power to the narrative, yet another example of why he’s such an incredible vocalist.

“Birth of the Sun” (from 2018’s Origins)

Wild, raucous, and decidedly different from anything the band had attempted before, “Birth of the Sun” was the lead single off Origins, which as the title suggests, seemed to be an exploration of the band’s influences and roots, with a ton of 70s rock influences on display. Their folk influences, prominent throughout their career, really took hold in this song, which is easily my favorite off this album. (Sidenote, if you’re amused that 2015’s Project X wasn’t represented on this list, I’ll just say that I don’t think its as terrible an album as many have labeled it as, but it definitely was an experiment that just kinda missed the mark overall.) This song reminds me a bit of the band Boisson Divine, the folk metal band from Gascony (France) who deliver similarly rockin’, spirited folk swirled jams. For sure this isn’t metal, but Romero is the link that connects wildly different material like this to older Dark Moor. I love his hearty vocal delivery here, full of swagger, bravado and gusto all rolled into one. In the mystical themed music video, he displays why he’s such a great frontman too, songs like this demand grand gestures and theatricality to match. I was mixed about this album overall, but this remains a highlight, and a big reason why I’m so eager for another one.

Sons of Thunder: Judas Priest’s Invincible Shield

Six years ago, when we collectively banged our heads in appreciation at Judas Priest’s excellent Firepower, there was a feeling that perhaps it would be their final album and that, damn, what a great way to go out. It felt like the guys rose to the occasion to deliver a purposefully classic early 80s style Priest meets modern production album (even the album cover evoked memories of Screaming For Vengeance), with still new guy Ritchie Faulkner continuing to steer the band towards their iconic sound and producer Andy Sneap delivering razor sharp sonics that more than made up for Redeemer of Souls glaring audio problems. But in the background of all this was Glenn Tipton’s battle with Parkinson’s, a reportedly very up and down one, KK Downing publicly voicing his shock and displeasure at not being asked to be back in the band while Sneap was tipped to fill in on the tour, a tour that would for the first time not feature either of the band’s original iconic guitarists. Then two years later the pandemic happened, postponing a US tour (that’s finally happening four years later, albeit not in Texas…) and of course putting the band’s activities on ice for a year and a half. Then came the ultra scary incident at the Louder Than Life Festival on September 26th, 2021 when Faulkner experienced a ruptured aorta onstage while playing “Painkiller” to close out Priest’s set and miraculously made it to the hospital in time for life saving surgery. If they had chose to call it a career at that point, I think most fans would understand.

Yet they’ve returned with Invincible Shield, an album aptly named considering the turbulence of the past few years for them (and all of us really), and to not bury the lede, it’s simply their finest album since Painkiller. Yeah, Priest’s nineteenth studio album, with a 72 year old Rob Halford sounding younger than he has in ages is their best work front to finish since 1990. That’s not to diminish Firepower in any way — in fact, I think I could argue that Firepower’s had more singular high points than Invincible Shield, but that overall as an album experience, the new Priest album is just thunderingly awesome in it’s songwriting, execution, and performances. For all the talk of this being the band’s best work since Painkiller (I’m not the only one saying that), I think its biggest strength lies in it not being a replica of that seminal album. Sure, the opener “Panic Attack” does sound like its built with the same approach that informed classics such as “All Guns Blazing” and, er… “Painkiller”, but give a closer listen to that intro sequence with the synthesizer guitar effects. That’s directly or indirectly a nod towards the Turbo era sound, it doesn’t really matter which because the effect was the same, to instantly evoke that era to any knowledgeable Priest fan. Unlike Firepower’s determination to stick to that early 80s Priest palette, Invincible Shield sees the band wrapping their arms unapologetically around (most of) their entire musical history.

Lets talk highlights here, because despite the entire album hitting the one hour mark yet not having a bum track in the bunch, there are some songs here that really had me hitting repeat and banging my head with a little more emphasis. The aforementioned “Panic Attack” is an obvious choice, being one of the band’s most convincing singles and album openers ever, but “Invincible Shield” itself could’ve easily filled in both of those same roles, Faulkner and Tipton (I think) spitting out fiery licks over imposing, mechanized riffs. And I love the hard rock Priest edge infused in “Devil In Disguise”, characterized by that kinda rockin’, strutting rhythmic shuffle that marked so much of early 80s Priest. I love the dip into slower, “A Touch of Evil” meets “Out In the Cold” territory on “Crown of Horns”, one of my personal favorites off the album. Not only is the songwriting emotionally affecting, the solid backbeat reinforced groove lets Halford show off his vocal chops via a simpler expression than his usual metal god attack. There’s something about the way he sings “…something grew inside of me…” during the second verse that I found incredibly raw and real. As a vocal moment, it was reminiscent of his recent duet with Dolly Parton on her recent new album, where he had to simmer down to complement her style. It’s a battle between that tune and “As God As My Witness” for my absolute favorite here, with it sometimes leaning towards the latter for its full barreled assault and glorious lead solo tradeoff midway through. And I have to praise “Trial By Fire” here, a slice of classic Priest, I love the way this is constructed, those cutting riffs slicing away under Rob’s half a beat behind vocals.

So why is this album so good? That answer I think begins with Ritchie Faulkner’s continued involvement as a primary songwriter within the group, continuing on the course plotted way back during the making of Redeemer of Souls. They’ve hinted as much in interviews, but I suspect they underplay just how much Faulkner really got the guys to abandon the progressive leanings they were exploring on Angel of Retribution and Nostradamus and just get back to the nuts and bolts of Priest’s sound. On Redeemer, they worked to get the songwriting headed back in the right direction, on Firepower, they brought in Andy Sneap and Priest’s longtime 80s producer Tom Allom to work together to craft a modern sonic identity for the band that was at once classic yet fresh. Now on Invincible Shield, they’ve realized the fruition of both of those collective efforts into something truly fully realized and bursting with an energy and excitement that a band this late in the game rarely delivers (Magnum did this through their last decade too, props). People have been comparing this record with the new Bruce Dickinson album, but that’s an apples and oranges comparison — they should be using it as a lens through which to regard Maiden’s last two studio albums, which sound stodgy and old in comparison. Priest deserves kudos for putting in the work to improve their art, and Maiden could learn a lesson or three from their generational peers, mostly that fresh blood in the creative process (*cough* producer) and refocusing the songwriting approach to get back to the essentials is something worth considering.

Arc of Space: The Remarkable Solo Career of Bruce Dickinson (Part Two)

Continuing this retrospective of Bruce Dickinson as a solo artist, we move into the most creatively fruitful period of his career. The Tattooed Millionaire/Balls to Picasso eras were characterized by accidents such as stumbling into recording opportunities and re-recording an album from scratch three times. He was trying to find his voice creatively and was still a member of Iron Maiden for most of it. In contrast, this next era was defined by Bruce entering into his own creatively and figuratively, he had left Maiden by the time Picasso emerged, and he plunged ahead with a new band that would become the Skunkworks lineup. This was also a strange time period in the music business when metal and hard rock artists were in gradual decline with the general public, yet could still collide with major label budgets based on virtue of their brand name alone. In Bruce’s case, this meant that his artistic efforts around this time were met with his record company’s casual indifference towards actually promoting them beyond throwing money at music videos and press tours. And in fairness to those companies, it was hard to know how to promote a veteran metal artist’s solo efforts at the time — grunge and alternative had changed things irrevocably in the pop culture landscape and even the mighty Maiden were feeling the brunt of its effects.

Yet this was also the most adventurous, throw caution to the wind period of Bruce’s career, from flying into war-torn, besieged Sarajevo in December of 1994 to play a surreal concert in a life threatening situation, to more trivial things such as completely cutting off his hair and refreshing his public image to a less “metal” profile (much to the chagrin of metal fans, who were about to go ballistic with the then upcoming Metallica album Load and its provoking band photos). He shook up his sound with Skunkworks, working with a decidedly not-metal band and the result was something that existed in between genres, not quite alternative or grunge nor metal. He then reunited with Roy Z and the Tribes of Gypsies guys and pioneered a modernized approach to traditional metal, and in doing so forged his own sonic identity towards the back half of the decade. I love reading old interviews from him during this era, and especially in hearing him more recently recall this period with the benefit of hindsight, because it’s very fearless nature was exactly what made him a compelling solo artist. He was never afraid to experiment in public, even at great personal expense and risk, and his failures were as interesting as his successes. I’ve tried to explain this to people in the past, that it wasn’t Bruce’s amazing records with Maiden that made me become a massive fan of the man personally (even though I loved those) — instead, it was the albums I’m discussing down below that really did it, and all the stories behind them.


Skunkworks (1996, Raw Power)

Perhaps the most misunderstood album in Bruce Dickinson’s solo oeuvre, Skunkworks is a document that reflects not only the times during which it was written and recorded with it’s nod towards mid-90s alternative rock, but also of Bruce’s ambition to step out of the shadow of Iron Maiden even more so than he had done on Balls to Picasso. People sometimes refer to this as his “grunge” moment, but I’ve always felt that was a narrow and simplistic description, perhaps hyper focusing on the involvement of alternative rock producer extraordinaire Jack Endino. Bruce’s true ambition at this moment in his solo career was to establish a new band called “Skunkworks”, though he was denied by his record company at the time and basically forced to release it under his name for commercial reasons. But in considering this new band that he pieced together for the Balls to Picasso tour that carried over into this album — and that he chose to co-write the entire album with his relatively unknown new guitarist Alex Dickson, it’s understandable that he was trying to do something genuinely fresh in his career as a musician. It’s true that Dickson was more of an alternative rock guitarist as opposed to having a hard rock or metal background like Roy Z, and you hear this in his approach both as a co-songwriter as well as his performances here. Like Roy Z on Picasso, Dickson was the only guitarist in the lineup, and would have to fill up more of the sound on his own, veering between rhythm and lead playing. I’ve always felt that the singular guitarist lineups on Picasso and particularly on Skunkworks were the key in connecting those albums to the sound of bands such as Faith No More, Rollins Band, and even Rush more so than the twin guitar attack of Maiden.

Those aforementioned bands come to my mind in fits and spurts when listening to this album, largely because of the three piece guitar/bass/drums stripped down attack, and especially how Dickson loosely veers between laying down an awesome riff that glides in and out of gloriously fuzzy and psychedelic lead patterns whenever appropriate, only to fall back into a solid groove alongside bassist Chris Dale. Yet Rush is really the band that I think is the most apt comparison here, because so much of what Dickson is doing both as a songwriter and a guitarist is crafting prog infused hard rock that is breathable, loosely held together with melodic threads and with ample space for Bruce’s vocals to come in and take things into a refreshing direction with his soaring tenor. The obvious examples here are the two singles “Back From the Edge” and “Inertia”, where the contrast between a sky high soaring vocal melody during the pre-chorus and chorus is such a sharp contrast to how rhythmic and tight the verse sections are. The result are hooks that explode from the speakers, full of vibrant energy and colorful sonic imagery. Personally I’ve always felt that this album was awash in the color blue, like sky blue streaked with pinks, reds, and purples like some glorious sunrise or sunset. That kinda fits with the theme present in tunes such as “Solar Confinement” and particularly “Space Race”, where Bruce sings “Just want to feel the starlight on my face / Reach out my hand and touch beyond”, a not so veiled allusion to his then blossoming pursuit of becoming a qualified pilot.

This prog-influence I’m hearing wasn’t purposeful I think, but the byproduct of Dickinson’s natural tendencies and range as a vocalist working in the context of a band that wasn’t very Maiden-y at all. There’s a strangeness to this album that makes it one of a kind, a meeting of musical worlds that normally did not cross paths during this era (the grungier albums by once reigning pop-metal artists like Warrant don’t count because that was them trying to be something they weren’t, whereas the guys in the Skunkworks lineup were the genuine article). And look, I know the album isn’t quite perfect. The first five cuts here from “Space Race” to “Solar Confinement” are bangers, but the album hits a middle lull with “Dreamstate” and “I Will Not Accept the Truth” which although I do rather enjoy in the context of a full album listen myself, I’m willing to admit that you really have to be in the right headspace for them to land. The album finishes rather strong however with some strong psychedelic moments and an absolute epic in “Strange Death in Paradise”. Overall, its an album that might land some punches on you the first time around, but is definitely is a grower overall, requiring listens over time to fully open up. In that sense, it was a first for Bruce, a mood based album that relied on a listener being in the right headspace for it rather than just racing right into your subconscious via calvary charge ala “The Trooper”. That explains its mixed reaction when it first came out (and again, the haircut likely didn’t help), but this album has aged well in it’s opinions online from fans over the years. Bruce himself regards it fondly and with a reverence that is refreshing, as opposed to trying to ignore it or pretend it never happened. Personally, I love Skunkworks and it exemplifies the adventurous spirit that I love about his solo career overall.

Essential Cuts: So this might be fairly obvious, but “Inertia” is one of the finest songs in Bruce’s solo discography to date, there’s just something so emotionally affecting about its vocal led intro over a loosely strummed chord sequence, a sharp change of pace from how we’d normally have heard him in the context of Iron Maiden songs with their usual intros (“Can I Play With Madness” a rare exception). It was also a sterling example of just how much he had grown as a lyricist within this new band context, because “Inertia” is an incredible piece of lyric writing, but truthfully he just delivered all across the board in that regard, and its one of the main reasons I think the album has aged so well. It was clearly a reference to his experience playing in the middle of beseiged, war-torn Sarejevo in December of 1994, when he and the band were snuck into the city center and famously played a show there under the threat of mortal peril. I’ll also cite “Back From the Edge” here because its such an undeniable tune, with a refrain that’s powerful, making full use of Bruce’s range, and he just sounds exceptionally sharp on it. I also wanna make special mention of “Octavia”, an overlooked gem in the back half of the album with Dickson’s most psychedelic guitarwork, an almost Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream tone on that lead guitar that is so warm and fuzzy and works as a beautiful counterpart to Bruce’s emotive vocal throughout.

Accident of Birth (1997, Raw Power)

Widely regarded as a close second to The Chemical Wedding as the best album of Bruce’s solo career, Accident of Birth arrived less than a year after he had finished touring the Skunkworks album. He said farewell to the guys in that band, who mind you, he’d been touring with since 1994, and reunited with both Roy Z from Tribe of Gypsies and the Balls to Picasso album as well as the one and only Adrian Smith. Eddie Casillas and Dave Ingraham, fellow Tribe members who also played on Picasso, were roped back into the fold to round out the rhythm section and together this line-up can be considered the most iconic for Bruce’s solo career, yielding two masterful albums and one crushing live album. Regarding the line-up change, Bruce was quoted in Rock Hard Germany at the time stating, “We came to the point where our musical aims were so far apart that there wasn’t any sense in working together any longer. I had certain ideas about the further development of Skunkworks that weren’t shared by the other band members. After I heard their song ideas for the last album and compared them with what I wanted to do, I sat down with them and said: ‘I want a crushing, politically incorrect metal album, but you seem to want to do something completely different.’ Their world seemed to turn around Beck and stuff like that, while I was in a metal mood. So I took a plane to California and wrote a big part of the material together with Roy Z”.

I wonder if Bruce’s change in mood towards returning to metal was fueled by the blowback he got for the changes in sound and image during that era. It may seem preposterous now (and then as well), but those things really did matter with metal fans (this was after all the era of Metallica’s Load and the absolute chaos that ensued with fans when that album was released). He’s been vocal about suggesting that management and the record company didn’t get Skunkworks, and that it was Roy Z who reached out to him with some unexpected new material: “It was actually Roy that dragged me back into some assemblance, because he called up and he said, ‘Listen, I’ve got some stuff and it’s like a metal record.’ And I wasn’t thrilled, I wasn’t really sure that I had anything to offer … Then he played me some backing-tracks he’d done for what was to become Accident of Birth down the phone and I thought ‘There is something there.'”. The resulting process was quick, and there’s not much of a major difference between the demos (later released on the expanded edition of the album) and the finished album versions. Adrian was brought in and contributed three songs (“The Road to Hell”, “Welcome to the Pit”, and “The Ghost of Cain”) which complemented what Roy was doing songwriting wise with a slightly more straightforward metallic take on the new sound. During interviews at the time, Bruce talked enthusiastically about how Roy had brought the heaviness of modern metal bands such as Biohazard to a traditional heavy metal songwriting approach. It was in many ways, a novel thing that no one else was really doing at the time, with European power metal bands staying faithful to the Helloween mode and older traditional bands such as Maiden carrying on as usual.

I wish I was one of those fans that got to hear the album directly when it was released, in the context of knowing what Skunkworks was all about. I came to Accident of Birth first, and Skunkworks after that, but I wonder how many nervous fans felt crestfallen at the first few seconds of the opening cut “Freak”, with its grunge fuzz toned guitar wail, only to get immediately punched in the gut when the slamming metal riff kicked in the doors. A purposeful bait and switch? Undeterminable. As an opener, “Freak” was a spectacular microcosm of what the new Bruce sound would offer — a slightly downtuned guitar sound built around dense, thick riffing and a fat rhythm section anchoring the bottom end. The contrast between this purposeful instrumental design and the traditional, melodic metal mode of songwriting created a vibrant, bracing sound that still sounds fresh and captivating today after decades of the “modern metal” sound permeating every subgenre of metal. Fellow bruisers such as “Starchildren” and “Welcome to the Pit” served as similar tone setters for the album, that this was not only the heaviest album you’ve ever heard Bruce sing on, but by far heavier than anything Maiden had put out (certainly not a slight, just a fact and a surprising one at that). These heavier tunes were a collective statement, that Bruce wasn’t afraid of trying to modernize his own sound and that this album wouldn’t sound out of place in a playlist with current bands.

For all the sonic heaviness of the album, there was a buoyancy to the tone of these songs that came through via the soaring lead melodies and of course, Bruce’s penchant for crafting uplifting, empowering vocal hooks. I’ve always thought “Road to Hell” had layers of depth to it despite the lyrics and riffs being very straightforward and relatively simple on the surface. Maybe its something about Bruce’s lyrics towards the back half where he contemplates how “We all have to live with our family inventions” — it rings even more autobiographical after having read Bruce’s book “What Does This Button Do?” where he detailed his rather turbulent childhood and home situation. And epics like “Darkside of Aquarius” and “Omega” were multifaceted, dynamic songs that unfolded in surges of heightened dramatic tension, the former built on passages that recall hints of Dio era Sabbath while the latter boasts one of the thickest groove riffs you’ll ever hear in a song that is inherently very un-groovy. I love “Omega” in all it’s progressive, moody, temperamental glory, especially the skyward aiming guitar solo midway through — but it also was an example of how Bruce was continuing the coming into his own as a lyricist that began on Skunkworks. Though “Accident of Birth” as a title track is very autobiographical in regards to Bruce (despite the hellish imagery), it also was an apt description for the creation of this album as a whole, an unexpected collaboration that reunited Bruce with his most successful writing partners, and launched a renaissance that would carry through to rejoining Maiden two years later.

Essential Cuts: Although I loved the heaviness of the album as a whole, the songs that left the deepest impression on me were the ones that were built on beautiful vocal melodies such as the powerfully epic “Taking the Queen”, where Bruce serenaded a plaintive lyric over a gentle, almost lullaby-like melody. That U-turn when the chorus hits is in my top ten favorite Bruce moments of all time, the sheer crackling power that erupts when those guitars kick in and he dramatically sings “The howling shriek of death in your eyes / The hawklord and the beast enter your room”. That layered, echoing effect on “enter your room! — just inject that in my veins please. Its the kind of moment that not only makes the song, but is emblematic of why I love the drama and theatricality of metal. In this same melodic vein, the wistful ballad “Arc of Space” sees Bruce delivering an emotionally wrought and longing vocal performance that paints a cinematic picture of a dreamlike, haunting vision. I’ve never been able to decipher what this song is supposed to be about, but I certainly know that it hits me hard and leaves a powerful impression every time I hear it. That gorgeous finger plucked acoustic guitar solo accompanied by an aching cello and violin just hits my heartstrings in a way few ballads ever have.

The Chemical Wedding (1998, Air Raid)

Finally, we arrive at the apex, not only of Bruce’s solo career but arguably some might say of metal in general in the late 90s. Frequently cited as one of the great metal albums of the decade, The Chemical Wedding is a marvel of worlds colliding, with the band further developing the down tuned, uber-heavy sound they began on Accident of Birth and fusing it with Bruce and Roy’s most inspired songwriting to date, all woven together with the literary inspiration of English poet William Blake. The collision of a truly modern metal sonic approach merging with some of the finest traditional metal songwriting of Bruce’s career resulted in a sound that was genuinely new, incredibly fresh — not just for Bruce, but for metal overall. In looking back on this record and when it was released, I defy you to find another album released before the The Chemical Wedding that accomplished something similar with such spectacular results. It was a leap forward for traditional metal, proof that the genre could sound vital, gritty, dark, and rich with depth. It was also refreshingly self-serious in an era when irony, effervescence, and humor were held in higher esteem by the music press. The band — Roy, Adrian, Eddie Casillas, and Dave Ingraham all returning and contributing to the songwriting in moments, had grown into this sound, the seeds being planted on tracks such as “Laughing in the Hiding Bush” and “Hell No” on Balls to Picasso, and of course most of Accident of Birth. As a result of this natural progression, the sound here is fully realized, the fruits of something that began organically and over the course of time. The true strength of the album however is that despite all it’s era defining greatness, it sounds strangely out of time, untethered to anything we associate with the late 90s, largely due to I think because it is a fully realized, self-contained work of art, a world unto itself and it can stand alone as such.

Bruce says that the genesis of all this began with his interest in alchemy leading him to think up the potential album title of “The Chemical Wedding”. In an interview with the guys behind the Bruce Dickinson Well-Being Network (the oldest Bruce fansite) he explained: “So then, normally when I start writing albums, I start off by going to bookstore and I just walk around the bookstore looking for strange stuff. I was just browsing and this thing caught my eye which was an encyclopedia in art history of alchemy… A big thick book with loads of great pictures in it, ranging from early pictures of alchemical engravings, right up to H.R. Giger and stuff like that. And what’s linking them all together is that they all have an alchemical thread to them. And Blake features very heavily in this book, both his paintings and his poetry. One of them was this painting of Urizen and Los which completely blew me away. This was at the time when I had written three or four songs for the album already… And I was stuck. I thought “Alchemy, yea it’s kind of interesting” but I’m not sure there’s another four songs I can write about alchemy that’s gonna be up to it, you know. Then all of a sudden… enter William Blake! So I go off to the bookstore and found “Selected poems of William Blake”. I started reading and there it was…”. That copy of “Selected Poems of William Blake” brought into focus Bruce’s interest in Blake’s alchemical symbology and reminded him of his introduction to Blake’s work when as a student he’d have to sing the hymn “Jerusalem”, adapted from Blake’s poem “And Did Those Feet In Ancient Times”. This convergence of ideas manifested into a lyrical theme that he wove throughout the album in a few tracks that were already musically composed by Roy, and others that had to be worked up from scratch.

It’s always wild to behold that intro to “King in Crimson”, with its nearly sludge metal crushing riffs, distorted bluesy leads and Bruce’s deep, expansively unfolding dramatic vocals delivering a truly inspired picture of gothic, occult terror. That combination of sounds instantly sets the tone throughout and crafts a sonic identity for the album that works as the nexus point for all the deviations explored on the rest of the songs. Such as on the ensuing title track, a song that veers between spacious, atmospheric psychedelia during the verses to a pulverizing, grinding riff sequence ushering in the epic refrain. This is such a gloriously majestic song, both musically and lyrically, and I sometimes think its the epic on the album when it actually clocks in at an economical four minutes flat. The actual epic on the album is “The Book of Thel”, a monstrous behemoth of a song built on a devastating riff progression and perhaps the rhythm section’s most thunderous display of window shaking fury on the album. It’s a deceptively long song that feels like it just sprints by in a flash, but maybe that’s due to the sheer awesomeness of the effective tension building minute long intro sequence or the climactic mid-song instrumental bridge. That passage, queued in by Casillas’ rumbly bass notes that unfurl into a devastatingly powerful riff, is one of those moments where you can’t help but start headbanging along (it gets me every time). Along with “Jerusalem”, these three tracks serve as the album’s tent poles so to speak, emotional pillars that support the different emotions and musical approaches that flow throughout the album’s entirety.

A lot of attention has gone to “The Killing Floor” as it was the first single and video released from the album, and it’s easy to see why it was selected as such. Built on swirling psychedelic textures and a thick, heavy groove, it was easily the best rhythmically strutting tune Bruce had ever concocted. The chorus of a group vocal shouting “Satan!” was certainly ear-catching and might have been considered slightly campy had it not been prefaced by downright chilling lyrics: “I’ve never been held by the hand of god / Who’s rocking the cradle, if he is not?”. The music video is worthy of mention here, a bit of 90’s weirdo music video camp that saw Bruce as a waiter in Satan’s restaurant (the latter of which was played by a hairdresser from Camden according to Bruce). One of the hidden gems of the album is “Machine Men”, tucked away near the end of the track listing but certainly worthy of possibly being considered a single just by virtue of how fully realized it’s refrain turned out. The first of the two slower paced yet doomily heavy tunes on the album, “Gates of Urizen” has strong Dio-era Sabbath vibes happening in its soulful songwriting, Bruce’s vocals interweaving with haunting guitar leads that seem to reverberate in space. The other is the album closer “The Alchemist”, a patient, thoughtful paean to conclude the album that ends with a beautiful vocalization before bowing out with a slowed down reprise of the chorus from the title track (“And so we lay / We lay in the same grave / Our chemical wedding day”), creating a kind of full circle moment for the album as a whole.

Essential Cuts: This album stands in my mind as such a complete, holistic (first time I’ve ever used that word on this blog I’m damn sure) listening experience that its hard to isolate individual tracks as “essential”, so take these as more of my personal favorites. First to mind is “The Tower”, which might be my favorite uptempo Bruce song of all time, this song being a propulsive, rhythmic masterpiece. Casillas bass lines here are so locked into this amazing groove, with Ingraham filling the spaces in between with a bouncy pattern, that you’re already engaged well before Roy and Adrian come swooping in. Bruce’s vocal melody design in this refrain is masterful, a heavenward spiraling ascending run that is layered to sound lush and full. The lead guitar melody that serves as the post chorus outro is simply iconic, one of the more memorable guitar riffs of the entire Bruce discography, to say nothing about how devastating that thoughtfully articulated solo is towards the back half. I’m also going to cite “Jerusalem” here, because this song is at once plaintive in its hymn like simplicity (borrowing Blake’s lyrics help), and yet joyfully exuberant and majestically powerful. The choice of scaled back instrumentation throughout the first half of the song has always struck me as a particularly inspired decision, lots of chiming acoustic guitars and letting Bruce’s voice breathe and echo and fill the space. The twin harmony guitars joining together for that emotional guitar solo in the second half is just one of those glory claw to the sky inducing moments, sounding so righteous and profound by itself.

(Look forward to part three where we’ll conclude with Tyranny of Souls, and of course The Mandrake Project)

The Metal Pigeon’s Best of 2023 // Part Two: The Albums

Here it is, part two of the Best of 2023 feature, with my top ten albums of the year, as always kept to a short list of ten, despite my having a mess of assorted runners up and one hard cut that could theoretically be called number eleven. For any newcomers to the blog, I don’t bother with numbering past the top ten, because with a few exceptions of certain lists I’m really interested in, I’ve always found it hard to parse out how numbering things for personal taste based lists matters much after that. This year I’ll gladly recommend checking out the recently dropped 2023 recap episode by our friends at The Metal Exchange Podcast, whose lengthily numbered lists (one of the aforementioned exceptions) are interesting because they cover quite a bit of stuff that I had either only listened to a few times or not heard at all, and their tastes closely align with mine. For my part, this list was maybe one of the more agonized over with the exception of the top slot, whom I’ve suspected was going to sit atop there for months and months now. The year started off slow, but surged as the months went on and we all had to play catch up, and the size of nominee pool this year was way more crowded than it had been these past couple years. It was great to see that within power metal we see signs of maybe things starting to turn around, with some really promising new artists represented on the list below, after it seemed like the subgenre had started to lose it’s way over the past few years. It’s also striking to see that six of the top ten albums on my list are from artists that were either new or certainly new to me, one of those small details that spells great things for the health of metal overall (or perhaps just my relationship to it, either way). If you want to hear about those other album nominees that didn’t make it, as well as my cohost Cary’s best of picks, check out our upcoming 2023 recap episode of the MSRcast podcast. And finally, the list:


1. Sacred Outcry – Towers of Gold:

I was thinking about this recently, the hypothetical idea that my favorite band of all time, Iron Maiden, could have released a near perfect throwback sounding album in 2023 reminiscent of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, and honestly, I’m still not sure it would be able to dislodge Towers of Gold from atop this list. That is just how genre defining this album is, a modern day power metal classic. One that in future discussions of essential power metal records, I’ll casually list alongside Keeper I&II, Nightfall in Middle Earth, Land of the Free, and frickin’ Ecliptica, just the whole damn list of records you love and know by heart and I don’t have the time and space to list right now! This is the most convincingly well done old school pure power metal record I’ve heard in ages, a complete start to finish compelling listening experience rife with intensity, grand drama, theatricality, and a level of emotion woven into the fabric of the songwriting that reminds me of when I first heard those classic Khan era Kamelot albums. Much of the attention of course is falling on what is seemingly a career renaissance defining performance for legendary vocalist Daniel Heiman, and rightfully so (more on him in a second), but to me the real star here is George Apalodimas’ songwriting and overall conceptual vision. The mythic storyline that serves as the musical and lyrical focal point throughout, of a band of adventurers who hungrily lust after the towers of gold they hear described by an old man at their inn is broad and vague enough to be filled in with grand impressionist brushstrokes, not detailed plot that can often bog down the songwriting in an effort to get across tiny details. Yet credit to Apalodimas here, because the premise of the lyrical narrative is still cleverly written in a first person style to create depth and immersion the way the best concept albums are (think Mindcrime), and not delivered like a children’s book of fables. It took me a few listens just taking everything in before some of the lyrics really began to pique my attention, but this was really the singular album in metal this year where I found my attention drifting to what Heiman was singing as opposed to just how he was singing it, a credit to the care and attention paid to the lyricism at work.

Of course let’s take a moment to talk about Mr. Heiman here, because he is a legendary power metal vocalist who not only commands interest in anything he does, but deserves his flowers here for turning in what maybe is one of the best performances in his career, alongside those Lost Horizon classics we all love. Consider his energizing, soaring tenor on galloping uptempo anthemic tunes such as “The Flame Rekindled” where he navigates highly rhythmic vocal lines and knows exactly where to pepper in those patented screams from the utter depths of his soul (what else can you call those?). I love some of the vocal decisions being made here, like an almost deliberately slower, stately approach to the vocal melody on “The Voyage” as the music surges ahead underneath, creating a billowing effect like you’re visualizing the wind hitting the sails of a ship at sea. The wild swings of his voice on “Into the Storm” are so rich and nuanced, really lending weight and gravitas to the storytelling, and of course the reason for a standing ovation here is his work on the best songs listee “Symphony of the Night”, where his he manages to somehow fit in distant screams into a performance that is achingly emotive while hushed and restrained, a masterclass in itself. This song is also a great example of the musical synergy coursing through this entire album, the guitar work by Steve Lado is wonderfully melodic, and expressively lyrical. Apalodimas’ own excellent bass work is actually a crucial element to many of these pieces, his playing reminds me of Eddie Jackson of Queensryche, a throbbing pulse that feeds so much of the sound being crafted here. And kudos to the technical drumming of Defkalion Dimos, who is a fill machine all throughout this album, and knows how to match the drama of the music when the intensity ramps up with a battering attack, but also creative patterns that are contrary to what you’d expect. Even though these guys are all new musicians to the project, with this as their first recording together, it all has the feel of a band that’s been playing together for a decade plus, and credit for that has to go to Apalodimas. I hope he can keep this lineup together, although I trust that he can deliver something great next time as well even if he’s unable to retain their services. I’m sure by now he knows that he’s achieved something spectacular with Towers of Gold, but just in case, here’s one more voice to join the already loud chorus of people proclaiming so.

(Also appears on: The Metal Pigeon’s Best Songs of 2023)

2.  Skyblazer – Infinity’s Wings:

This album really took a journey to wind up at this placement on this list. At first I was keeping it off entirely because it just seemed like such a homer pick for someone like myself who is a massive fan of Power Quest, which is (among a few others such as Crystallion and Freedom Call) the chief influence driving Johannes Skyblazer in this project. Then I sheepishly slid it in at number ten down there because I couldn’t deny the sheer amount of times I listened to it. Yet as the weeks went on and I kept refining and re-ordering the list as I listened to all the candidates and jostled things around, I realized that it would be entirely disingenuous of me to not have this much much higher. And I can’t really say why it took so long to reach that conclusion — maybe its because Infinity’s Wings is the least heaviest record on this largely extreme metal dominated list, or maybe it’s because of its unintentionally home studio sounding, semi-amateurish production (which I think is a charming strength of the album, but I know that might be a minority opinion). What I know for absolute certain however, is that my introduction to Skyblazer this year was downright poetic in that Power Quest unceremoniously announced their retirement with a simple press release in February, so this album felt like a passing of the torch for this particular style of power metal. Johannes nails what makes this keyboard driven, energetic, bright-toned, euphoric power metal sound so appealing, and he writes suitably anthemic songs to match, loaded with memorable hooks, soaring melodies, and sharp chord progressions. Unlike his heroes, who had the benefit of full band lineups and recording studios, Skyblazer is essentially a one man project, with Johannes handling all the songwriting, recording, and lead vocals on his own (with some assists from a few guests). Admitting in interviews that his audio production can’t compete with the bigger bands, he’s expressed hope that his attention to the songwriting would compensate, and I think he has achieved that in spades. The result is a unique sound, even apart from his influences although their spirit flows eagerly through this album. In a year where I loudly complained about the state of popular power metal as disheartening, dumb garbage, Infinity’s Wings was among a handful of defiantly earnest, heart on sleeve, shimmering jewels that showed me and others that there are still artists out there who remember why this style of music meant so much to many of us in the past, and can continue to going forward.

3.  Serenity – Nemesis AD:

Sometimes, the injection of new blood in a lineup can act as an immediate catalyst for creative growth in a band, as opposed to forcing growing pains that need to be endured. With the exception of one truly inspired album (2016’s Codex Atlanticus) in the immediate wake of longtime guitarist Thomas Buchberger’s departure in 2014, Serenity had been adrift creatively in the past few years — and it seemed like Georg Neuhauser might have felt that somewhat as well, launching new side projects with Warkings and Fallen Sanctuary. The latter of these projects saw him pair up with Temperance songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Marco Pastorini, and yielded a pretty enjoyable, hard rock meets AOR meets power metal record. Credit to Neuhauser then for realizing that Pastorini would give Serenity some needed juice, because Nemesis AD is their best album since War of Ages, hearkening back to the magic they had with the Buchberger lineup. I already discussed how 2023’s best songs list topper “Reflections (of AD)” made me giddy with euphoria, but I didn’t get to mention how “Ritter, Tod und Teufel (Knightfall)” brimmed with the kind of Sonata Arctica meets Kamelot prog-power bliss that echoed shades of their classic Death & Legacy album. Nor did I get to mention how glory-claw inducingly epic the Roy Khan duet “The Fall of Man” turned out (that Kamelot influence coming full circle), nor how utterly charming the sweepingly melodramatic and achingly sweet Broadway-inspired power ballad “Crowned by an Angel” was, a tune Tobias Sammet would have loved to have penned. Pastorini’s influence is felt all throughout this album, the songs are sharper, the melodies sweeter, and there’s an overall sense that this band feels creatively renewed once again.

(Also appears on: The Metal Pigeon’s Best Songs of 2023)

4.  Sorcerer – Reign of the Reaper:

Expansive, cinematic, spiritual, and downright Epic with a capital E, Sorcerer delivered the finest album of what has been a stellar string of solid to excellent releases since their full band resurrection in 2015. They are to my mind, ascending the heights of trad laden doom metal in terms of artistic output to justifiably be compared to the greats of the subgenre in Candlemass. Despite it’s late October release date, this album casts such a large shadow over this list, that it was one of the first candidates I wrote down when compiling the list, and an easy one to highlight for one of the these ten spots. So much went right on this album, and it was due to the band playing around with their epic doom metal formula a bit. Where they leaned very doomy on 2020’s Lamenting of the Innocent which I feel led in large part to that album’s tendency to drag — they reversed course for Reign of the Reaper, introducing more classic heavy metal songwriting into the mix and restricting the doomier parts of their sound to aspects such as guitar tone, dense riffing, and keyboard derived cinematic atmospheres. As a result, the songwriting got sharper, more reminiscent of the clinic they put on in 2017’s The Crowning of the Fire King, songs oriented around not only memorable hooks, but recurrent melodic motifs articulated by Kristian Niemann’s impeccable signature lead guitarwork (seriously he’s cemented himself as one of my all-time favorite guitarists). This lean towards more traditional metal also opened up things for vocalist Anders Engberg to craft some of his most soulful and expressive vocal performances to date, reminding me in many spots (especially those soft sung intros) of the great Ronnie James Dio. You’ve probably noticed that “Morning Star” landed high on the Best Songs of 2023, but the truth is that this entire album was filled with truly incredible songs with little amazing moments all their own and it’d take way too long to go through them all. Just trust me and put this on and let it spin if you haven’t already, it’s one of the most satisfying listens of the year.

(Also appears on: The Metal Pigeon’s Best Songs of 2023)

5.  Gatekeeper – From Western Shores:

Undoubtedly one of the strongest front to finish metal albums of the year, Gatekeeper pushed aside any notion of the sophomore slump with their stellar second album From Western Shores. I remember not feeling the buzz that came with their debut many years back, despite giving it a shot largely due to it’s Cruz Del Sur label pedigree, but this album really delivered on what I saw then as budding potential. Part of the success here is just how well new vocalist Tyler Anderson fits the band’s upgraded sound here, his Eric Adams meets Chris Black dichotomous approach meshing perfectly with the more polished production that the Gatekeeper guys have employed this time around. On that subject, the band’s musical DNA of stripped down epic USPM is still preserved here entirely, but the guitars are fuller, lusher, particularly leads and harmonies, and the rhythm section seems tighter than on the debut, giving all these songs a heft and weight that winds up being the central element to this album’s success. With that bedrock in place, guitarists Jeff Black and new guy Adam Bergen are left with free reign to run amok with a flurry of inspired melodies, tight harmonies, and impeccably satisfying solos. Anderson can veer from wild, David DeFeis style yowling moments to these very straight faced Manilla Road meets Dawnbringer style vocals where his tone approaches something akin to a style that would fit in on a stoner metal album, and he covers the spectrum in between, in his best moments here reminding me of 80’s Jon Oliva. This is masterfully done epic power metal with purposefully rougher edges, a heavy bottom end and bared teeth in riffs and attitude, all on a damn near perfect album.

6.  Cloak – Black Flame Eternal:

The yearly surprise out-of-leftfield album to make the list is becoming a Metal Pigeon tradition by this point, and this year the honor goes to Atlanta, Georgia’s Cloak, who delivered the most convincing and addictive extreme metal album of the year. Their sound is a blend of intense, grimy black metal with lush gothic metal melodic overtones in a fusion that is as inspired as anything we’ve seen in this space since Tribulation. This is their third album, and despite being on Season of Mist who have a pretty broad promotional reach, this band apparently sailed under the radars of both myself and others I know because we didn’t even play them on the MSRcast until this album came out. But better late than never of course, and although this album leapt out to me as ultra hooky and addictive the moment I listened to it, I didn’t realize how much I loved it until I started doing play count analytics and realized it was one of my most listened to albums in 2023, only second to Sacred Outcry in sheer numbers. I think the reason I came back to it repeatedly is that beyond the catchy riffs and clever blending of rockin’ heavy metal riffs into the whole gothic black metal mix, there is a tremendous amount of depth going on here. Take the two marching, rumbling epics that bookend the album, where the band confidently uses gradual tempo changes and spacious silence to build to impactful climaxes. And “With Fury and Allegiance” is built on such a excellent riff progression, simultaneously furious, melodic, and cinematic in it’s breadth (this song narrowly missed the best songs list). That explosive thrust that occurs at 3:36 (“Come silent night…”) was one of my favorite singular metal moments of the year, earning a fist pump every time I heard it no matter how ridiculous I must have looked.

7.  Keep of Kalessin – Katharsis:

Talk about an album that shook the jaded metalhead right out of me when I first listened to it back in what, April? It was just one album among a long list of them I was playing while talking a walk in a park on one of our nicer spring days. I suppose I’ll forever associate the album with my memory of that day, because I remember it was really the first album of the whole year that really thrilled me in that basic, fundamental way of just being a metal fan. This album was not only aggressively heavy in blasts, and full of all the meaty riffs and excellent scream/harshes that have characterized the band’s sound all these many years — but it just swept over me with it’s grandiosity and sense of adventure. I hear this combination most vividly in songs such as “Hellride” with its skyrocketing upward surge when the chorus hits, that rare kind of moment that I love when sustained intensity is compounded with a blast of even more intensity. The band’s sense of melodicism seemed to spill over the edges everywhere here, as on the Enthrone Darkness Triumphant invoking “War of the Wyrm”, where the inclusion of a semi-spoken word section actually enhanced the dramatic sweep of the song, rather than sucking all the momentum out like most bands tend to do when trying it. That melodicism characterized the Best Songs of 2023 listee “Journey’s End”, a bittersweet, emotive ballad that served as a perfect mid-album meditation and mood changer. And I was struck by how much power metal influence seemed to creep into the whole affair here, particularly on the epic “Throne of Execration”, where I felt major Blind Guardian/Andre Olbrich vibes happening on the harmonized lead guitars that poured a gorgeous melody out over the top towards the outro of the song. This was genuinely a multi-faceted album that hit all my metal sweet spots in various moments, molded together by creative and inspired songwriting and the feel of listening to something expansive, far reaching, and ambitious.

(Also appears on: The Metal Pigeon’s Best Songs of 2023)

8.  Moonlight Sorcery – Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle:

It’s not very often that you can aptly describe a black metal album as sounding magical, and dare I go further, sparklingly magical(!), but Finland’s Moonlight Sorcery achieves exactly that in a combination of symphonic power metal inspired ultra melodicism via keyboard synths and neoclassical guitar leads strewn across Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle. And maybe its the fact that I’ve been reading up on moon druids for DnD recently (nerd!), but this amalgam of sounds really does live up to the band’s name, sounding for all the world like the soundtrack to a swords and sorcery fantasy adventure-RPG videogame at times (blackened vocals aside). I was recommended this album by several people gushing about it all at once around October, and it’s rare that something manages to grab so many people’s attentions all at once these days when we’re usually all on different pages regarding everything. Guitarist and main songwriter Matti Meri-Huhti (credited as “Loitsumestari Taikakallo” here) seems to be the architect of this fusion, and I’d be a little shocked if he wasn’t a major Yngwie Malmsteen fan at some point in his life because his leads remind me of the Swedish master, tastefully articulated and thoughtfully patterned. Hearing this kind of lead playing set against the backdrop of pretty faithful, yet polished up second wave Norwegian black metal is such a refreshing and novel contrast. There have been examples where other artists have tried something close to this, but nothing that ever went all in on that sharp of a contrast the way Moonlight Sorcery have accomplished here. The culminating apex here for me is “Into the Silvery Shadows of the Night”, a hauntingly beautiful stately dirge with a mystical sounding lead melody ushering us during the outro. This is without a doubt one of the most memorable black metal albums of the last five, possibly ten years, definitely an easy one to return to.

9.  Immortal – War Against All:

In the spirit of not overthinking this one, this second post Abbath Immortal album just flat out rocked me ever since it’s release this summer, somehow managing to outdo the triumphant 2018 comeback Northern Chaos Gods. And you know, Demonaz has always had the right to lay claim to being at least fifty percent of the formula that made Immortal so successful, but what’s shocking is just how he’s managed to shake off the notion that Abbath was largely the musical driving force in the band. This new album sees Demonaz continuing the look back towards the band’s early, more blistering paced releases, while dropping a nod towards the mid-paced era they’d start to explore towards the turn of the millennium. That he manages to accomplish this while keeping the production crisp and pristine (yet not polished) is a testament to how well he understands what made those great Immortal records so undeniably appealing to audiences beyond black metal. Songs such as “War Against All”, “Blashyrkh My Throne”, and “Wargod” are catchy as all get out, and have that thrashy edge that I often wish more black metal bands would employ. I also appreciate that he hasn’t tried to stray from the tried and true fantastical Immortal style, going all in on the band’s mythos and fantasy steeped tales, as on “No Sun” with it’s tale of the mountain of evil (where there rises no sun, duh). I’ve seen people take some sideswipes at Demonaz for continuing the Blashyrkh mythos throughout the lyrics, and I want to shout at them to clear the hall — the imagery informs the sound and vice versa, its grim and frostbitten and that’s why we loved this band and all their classic albums. That Demonaz convincingly continues that spirit on War Against All is something to appreciate and cherish, not jadedly dismiss.

10.  Majesties – Vast Reaches Unclaimed:

Considering all the hype and subsequent disappointment of the recent In Flames “return to form” nonsense that occurred earlier in the year, my lack of enthusiasm for the recent Insomnium album, and also counting the semi-bummer that was The Halo Effect’s debut album last year, I had felt myself jaded about the prospect of anything genuinely interesting hitting me from the melodic death metal space this year. Enter in this under the radar release from Majesties, a Minneapolis based side project from the two dudes from Antiverse, guitarists Carl Skildum and Matthew Kirkwold (who plays bass here), joining together with vocalist/guitarist Tanner Anderson from the vaunted Obsequiae (I loved The Palms of Sorrowed Kings, sadly discovering it well after it’s 2019 release). Um, these guys must be kindred spirits to me in craving old school sounding Gothenburg melodeath with no core or modern melodic death influences whatsoever, because Vast Reaches Unclaimed is pure musical comfort food. Sounding like a cross between Lunar Strain era In Flames, Skydancer era Dark Tranquility, and a lost Gates of Ishtar album, this is a revisitation of a sound that few can imitate and whose progenitors have long abandoned. These guys just get it, the harmonized leads, the density of the crunchy riffing, Anderson’s perfectly mixed vocals (lower than the guitars, somewhat distant and appropriately hoarse as a sharp contrast to all the vibrant melody happening). A true longform, full album listening experience, I’ve returned to this album again and again almost as a nostalgia soaked soundtrack to go about my day to. It’s genuinely difficult to pick a favorite song here or stand out riff because it just keeps on coming, like an ever flowing stream (heyo!). This might be the first thing I’ve heard since… well, first hearing classic melodeath back in the day, that really took me back to the feeling I experienced when first stumbling onto those classic records and that awesome sound I love so much.

The Metal Pigeon’s Best of 2023 // Part One: The Songs

Once again we’re at the end of another year of metal (and… existence of course), and as in the past, I’m presenting my picks for the best individual songs of the year. In reviewing what I’ve selected, I think it’s a first for any of my best songs lists in that this time there are no death or black metal picks. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy anything from those genres, as you’ll see in the albums list to come soon, but I think 2023 was a big year for clean vocals amongst the metal subgenres that predominantly feature them. The songs that really stuck with me were characterized by amazing vocal performances by artists known and unknown to me. There are songs listed below that are on albums that likely won’t be on the upcoming best albums list, but I’d still urge everyone to check out regardless because there were no bad albums among all of them. I had to make some tough cuts for this list, but I’m happy with the final result. Enough chit-chat for now, here are the best songs of 2023:


1.   Serenity – “Reflections (of AD)” (from the album Nemesis AD)

My general rule is that the song that sits atop this list should be a no brainer, as in being the first tune that comes to mind when I start assembling candidates for consideration. And Serenity’s unquestionable masterpiece in “Reflections (of AD)” attained that status during my first ever play through of it, where I interrupted my complete listen of the Nemesis AD album in order to hear it again and again because it was such a divine sounding piece of music. Though Serenity has delivered heaps of quality songs in the past, particularly on those first five albums, I had major doubts that they’d ever meet those heights again, let alone somehow transcend them. But with new blood in the band in the way of guitarist/vocalist/songwriting Marco Pastorini (the Temperance guy!), vocalist Georg Neuhauser finally seems to have someone that he gels with creatively on a songwriting level. Neuhauser always had a penchant for the theatrical, his songwriting on Codex Atlanticus steering the band towards those waters, but here with Pastorini, they work together to shape a soaring, bombastic epic that is not only loaded with melodramatic pathos, but genuine feelings of spirituality and purpose. The result is a song that crept into the hardened hearts of many power metal fans I know who felt Serenity’s best work was far behind them, and for those of us who still had a sliver of belief, was like receiving a benediction for our faith.

2.   Sacred Outcry – “Symphony of the Night” (from the album Towers of Gold)

This sublimely regal orchestral power ballad with the deceptive lullaby intro was emblematic of the utter perfection that was Sacred Outcry’s sophomore effort, Towers of Gold. Built around Daniel Heiman’s incredible, imagination defying vocals, band founder George Apalodimas crafted a song that sounded effortlessly elegant and so intrinsically powerful that I don’t think its out of bounds to call this some of Heiman’s best work to date in his career. I was transfixed by this album upon first listening to it and “Symphony of the Night”, with its placement smack in the middle of the album struck me as simultaneously a deep breath of calm, and also the album’s crackling, emotional core. The guitar tone on that acoustic pattern during the intro is so damn perfect, so expertly mood setting, as if its lighting the campfire that we’re all sitting around by sheer auditory magic. There are a plethora of songs from Towers of Gold that could have appeared on this best songs list (“The Voyage” almost did), but this one makes the cut because I believe it was the singular song that cast a spell on me during that first listen, and really made me feel like I was experiencing something special.

3.   Sorcerer – “Morning Star” (from the album Reign of the Reaper)

The storming, monumental album opener from Sorcerer’s latest and definitely greatest album to date, “Morning Star” is a swaggering tone setter of a song that punches as hard as a classic Dio era Sabbath cut. It’s surprisingly brisk tempo defies their categorization as a Candlemass influenced doom metal band, though the tonality of the classic Sorcerer sound is still very much present. This was easily my favorite song on what was a spectacular album. It’s verses are built on confidently muscular riffs, with ever articulate and fluid leads by one of my longtime favorite guitarists in metal Mr. Kristian Nieman. For all the crushing ferocity of the band’s performances though, vocalist Anders Engberg really steals the show here. I love his pacing and delivery throughout, with calculated pauses thrown into the delivery of specific lines that really bring to mind the soulful (yeah soulful!) way Ronnie James Dio would also parse out his phrasing. Like Dio, Engberg here seems to be reaching deep inside to pull up all the emotion he can muster from his gut, and sometimes its just too much to get out at once and he needs a beat to get the required energy. That kind of intensity is helped along by the songwriting decisions too, like the fact that Engberg starts singing the chorus outro line (“My name is Lucifer!”) a good second before the outro riff kicks in, as if he just can’t be restrained and those damn guitars better catch up quick. A stone cold masterpiece that might be the band’s best song to date.

4.   Riverside – “Friend or Foe?” (from the album ID.Entity)

I haven’t checked any other end of the year lists out yet, but when I do, I’ll be rather shocked if Riverside doesn’t wind it’s way onto many of the prog lists. It was leaps and bounds more interesting to me than Porcupine Tree’s comeback album, mostly because the Riverside guys seemed to focus mainly on crafting hooky, memorable songs with strong melodic motifs throughout, and then dressing those up with prog arrangements. This may seem like a rather basic thing to say, but sometimes progressive bands just overthink things and can’t get out of their own way, or neglect to use recurring motifs or you know, choruses that work because of the old “it gets boring” excuse. So yeah, when I listen to a gem like “Friend or Foe?”, the opening cut from Riverside’s ID.Entity, that excuse sounds flimsier than ever before. Here is a multi-faceted, stylistically varied and mood shifting piece that has a truly memorable melodic refrain driving the song forward. Vocalist Mariusz Duda has a haunting, melancholic twist to his smoothly melodic vocals, and keyboardist Michał Łapaj’s elegant progression during the pre-chorus is so simple yet such a vital, gorgeous fixture in this song. This album came out way back in January, but I couldn’t quit the craving to hear this song again at any point through the year.

5.   Metallica – “72 Seasons” (from the album 72 Seasons)

I genuinely had a joyous reaction when I first listened to this opening salvo from Metallica’s 72 Seasons, their first album in seven years and longest gap between releases to date. While the entire album suffered from a lack of editing that was made abundantly clear by the second half of it’s hour and seventeen minute runtime, Metallica did turn in a handful of some of their most inspired songwriting since the mid-90s on Load (an underrated album in that department). This title track is head and shoulders the album’s most enduring moment, a muscular, confident thrash metal meets hard rock blend that is utterly convincing in its ferocity. Hetfield sounds fired up, that old signature bark of yore heard once again in his vocal delivery, Lars delivers a crisp, energetic performance where his penchant for minimalism actually works in the song’s favor. Even Kirk turns in an excellent solo midway through, an otherwise bright spot from him on an album where he really needed someone to hide his wah pedal and force him to try something different. It felt good to root for Metallica again, both in principle and in practice, with fist in the air as I was driving around with this song on repeat shout barking the lyrics alongside James.

6.   Keep of Kalessin – “Journey’s End” (from the album Katharsis)

A break in the assault that was Keep of Kalessin’s excellent album Katharsis, “Journey’s End” is the kind of thoughtful, emotive epic that reminds me of why I love metal more than any other genre. This is a gorgeous, understated, rustic ballad that brings to mind colors of autumn and reddened cloud streaked skies. It’s stirring in the way some of the best power metal ballads are, except that Kalessin certainly aren’t power metal, plying their trade in blackened melodic death metal. Notably, this is Kalessin’s first album since 2013’s fairly strong Epistemology, where guitarist Arnt Grønbech took over handling lead vocals. I’d argue that for as surprisingly good as he was then, he’s even better eight years on, and this song is a vivid example of just how expressive he can be as a gruff-toned clean vocalist (in addition to just how awesome he is on extreme vox). I got smoky campfire Hansi Kursch-ian vibes from his passion filled approach, particularly towards the end of the song where the chorus swells in grandeur, and his lead guitar tone and phrasing on the accompanying solo blend together both aching melancholy and empowering triumph.

7.   Theocracy – “Mosaic” (from the album Mosaic)

Theocracy’s latest effort, Mosaic, was a bounce back after the uneven Ghost Ship seven(!) years ago, and that’s notable because this is their longest gap between releases and their first without longtime lead guitarist Van Allen Wood who left in 2020. It’s a testament to songwriter/vocalist Matt Smith’s talents then that he can rebound with ease and deliver some of the band’s best material despite these challenges that might trip up other bands, and the title track here is a killer example of that trait. Leaning more classic American power metal than the proggy tinges awash on the last album, things kick off with the dramatic entry of a galloping riff after a gentle vocal led intro. That the articulate leads and speedy riffs capture my interest just as much as Smith’s titanic, call and response chorus vocal sequence is credit to new guitarist Taylor Washington and old hand Jonathan Hinds. The aforementioned chorus is the kind of monumental, towering stuff that characterized so much of their first three albums and thus a nod towards early millennium power metal classics such as Edguy’s Mandrake. That layered harmony vocal on the lyric “We are mosaic!” results in a soaring, spirit lifting moment that is emblematic of what makes Theocracy such an incredible and still underrated talent in power metal.

8.   Spiritbox – “Jaded” (from the The Fear of Fear EP)

I didn’t know who Spiritbox were before this year’s release of “Jaded” as a music video, whereupon the YouTube algorithm arranged for me to stumble upon it during a moment of not paying attention to autoplay’s shenanigans. It was playing in another tab while I worked on something else, and by the time vocalist Courtney LaPlante sang the opening lines of the chorus, I was clicking over to see who in the hell this was that was impressing me so much. Fusing the futuristic, synth-ian sounds of electro-pop such as Chvrches (replete with LaPlante’s clean vocal tone a close cousin to Lauren Mayberry) with a fusion of progressive metal and metalcore guitars. LaPlante also performs the screaming vocals on this track, impressively so, which made me curious enough to dig into her bio a bit only to realize oh yeah, I had heard her sing before in Iwrestledabearonce. The transition into this still relatively new but rocketing in popularity project in Spiritbox is clearly one of the biggest leaps to success we’ve seen a metal vocalist make since Floor Jansen joined Nightwish. But back to the song, which is just undeniable, even if you don’t enjoy metalcore in general, its footprint is so light here that it enhances the beautiful, dark velvety vocal melody driving things forward. I just realized upon writing this that “Jaded” was nominated for the Best Metal Performance Grammy to be chosen in 2024, but don’t let that air of music industry approval sway you from not listening to this song, I’m telling you its worth all the apparent hype.

9.   Therion – “Ruler of Tamag” (from the album Leviathan III)

Therion snuck in late here in December with the finale of their Leviathan trilogy, and Christofer Johnsson has long touted it as the more “experimental” of the three albums, and man he wasn’t kidding around about that. So “Ruler of Tamag” stands out from the complexity of the entirety of Leviathan III by being an achingly beautiful, understated and yet grandiose ballad sung largely by the wonderful Taida Nazraic who sang most of my favorite songs on the other two Leviathan albums. I just love the casually strummed acoustic intro here, its what I can only best describe as old-world sounding, which is a broad adjective I know but hopefully you get what I mean. Nazraic once again steals the show with her nightingale’s vocals, just another excellent vocal performance from the most overlooked vocalist in symphonic metal today (thank you Therion for giving her a wide platform). The beefy 80s riff that follows with deep toned choirs over the top really reminds me of 2000’s eternal classic Secret of the Runes, and gods, the expansive, cinematic strings that reveal themselves at the 3:00 minute mark are so glorious. This whole piece reminds me of the starry eyed exploring the band did during the Sirius B/Lemuria twin albums, with grandeur and adventure the most apt descriptors for the approach they were going for in the songwriting. This is yet another example of why Therion is one my favorite bands of all time.

10.   Beyond the Black – “Free Me” (from the album Beyond the Black)

I’m not too plugged in on what opinions are surrounding Beyond the Black, a German based symphonic metal band closer to Within Temptation in style and tone than say… well, Therion, but I can imagine there’s as many cynics out there towards them as there are supporters. The band is popular in Germany (four top ten albums there) and throughout Europe, having the sway to co-headline a Euro jaunt with Amaranthe despite being in existence for half the time. It is essentially a vehicle for vocalist Jennifer Haben, who I first became familiar with for her truly great guest performance on Kamelot’s “In Twilight Hours”, although its worth noting that Serenity guitarist Christian Hermsdörfer also pulls double duty with his role in this band. Look the band is as a whole very accomplished, but these songs are built around Haben’s considerable talent as a vocalist and she has definitely aimed for Beyond the Black’s music to cater to her strengths as a vocalist. So there’s no helium register stuff ala “Mother Earth” here, Haben instead utilizing her power to conjure up deeper tones and a smoother version of hard rock styled belting that is satisfying in an easy to listen to kinda way. This song was the standout on their strong 2023 self-titled album for me, it’s ascending dramatic chorus got lodged in my brain early in the year and I’d get the urge to replay it every so often.

Arc of Space: The Remarkable Solo Career of Bruce Dickinson (Part One)

To say that Bruce Dickinson’s solo career is the greatest of any vocalist in metal history is a bold claim, because you’re going right up against titans like Dio and Ozzy. The latter is a stretch, he’s made more mediocre to bad albums than good to great ones. Dio’s solo work however was consistent throughout his career, and legendary, iconic even, in its greatest moments. I will be making a case for Dickinson however, not so much based on his vast array of masterful songs and often fully realized albums — of which he has many, but on the incredible diversity found within his solo discography, his willingness to explore and expand into new sounds, and his lack of fear in experimenting in public. His discography ranges from bouncy, cheery hard rock to emotionally charged balladry; to proggy alternative-metal explorations; and onto dark, menacing metal records that shook with such vitality and earth-shaking heaviness that they made Iron Maiden’s 90s era albums seem tame in comparison.

I was late to the party in regards to Dickinson’s solo career, having only begun my own explorations of it after he had reunited with Maiden on 2000’s Brave New World. It was just one of those inexplicable actions of being a teenager, but at the time I held an innate prejudice towards solo material of any artist in any genre — my belief being that if the music wasn’t good enough for whatever band an artist was associated with, then it was probably not worth hearing. It was all justified in my mind, you see Holy Diver wasn’t a Dio solo album, it was the debut album of Dio, the band. What can you do about a mindset that attributes so much to one Vivian Campbell?! In retrospect I can see that it might’ve been a side-effect of that teenage need to identify oneself according to groups or brands — it was “(insert band name here) or GTFO”. As further testament to just how seriously I internalized this logic, I refused to listen to Dave Mustaine’s MD 45 until years and years later.

The catalyst for breaking free from such a close-minded view was my stumbling onto a Dickinson gem called “Tears of a Dragon”. It was a discussion on the Megadeth.com forums that prompted me to find this song, when a random post by some forgotten user name insisted that the song had Dickinson’s greatest vocal performance ever, above any Maiden songs. I searched around for it, found its music video streaming in Real Player (yes that existed, it wasn’t a dream), waited for it to buffer, and for the next few minutes I was mesmerized. I don’t need to convince anyone here do I? “Tears of a Dragon” was a watershed for Dickinson as a songwriter. It was a brooding, melancholic, wistful ballad that served as his confessional about his rapidly accumulating feelings about the possibility of leaving Iron Maiden. Its emotional resonance relied entirely on Dickinson’s lyrics and his approach to them. Never before had the Air Raid Siren sounded so pensive, hesitant, and vulnerable — nor sung words that lacked any semblance of blood and thunder bravado.

From there I plunged in head long, buying up his catalog in rapid succession, beginning with his just then released 2001 Best Of collection. It was both an imperfect and perfect starting place in that with the benefit of hindsight I can see how much its tracklisting was woefully inadequate, however it did work as a microcosm in illuminating just how wildly varied and diverse his catalog was. I listened to that collection to death, particularly its bonus disc of assorted rarities which enthralled me to no end due to its even more bewildering array of musicality. After a few months I had all of his solo albums, and devoured them, listening and re-listening and listening again. I scoured the internet for old interviews of Dickinson’s from every album release era, and wound up with a pretty decent collection of them, their collective contents threading together an undertold story.

What that story illuminated about Dickinson’s solo career is the sheer risk he wagered in reaching for it in an era of turbulent pop-cultural change; the emotional turmoil that ensued for him privately, and the tenuous nature of events that led him to soldier on instead of quitting music as a career altogether — the possibility of which was closer than anyone suspected. But lets start at the beginning, with the first two albums in his solo discography that were wildly different from one another, and exemplified the wild creative extremes he’d come to explore in many directions over the course of the 90s and beyond.


Tattooed Millionaire (1990, Columbia Records)

Dickinson’s solo career began in an inconspicuously innocent manner, as he himself describes in the liner notes to his solo Best Of collection as “a very enjoyable accident”. An invitation by his publishing company (Zomba Music) to contribute a song to a film soundtrack (1989’s cinematic masterpiece A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child) led to Dickinson getting in touch with an old friend, an out of work guitarist named Janick Gers formerly of Ian Gillan’s solo band. The ensuing song was “Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter”, a clunky yet endearing tongue-in-cheek howler that impressed Steve Harris enough that it was yanked off the shelves so Maiden could co-opt it for their 1990 No Prayer for the Dying album.

Long before the song received its unlikely UK number one hit status in early 1991 however, it had generated enough behind the scenes interest from Zomba and Sony/Columbia records to lead to another invitation for Dickinson, this time to record an entire album. Zomba had then just recently acquired a recording studio, Battery Studios (oddly enough, it was the newly christened half of the legendary Morgan Studios, where just about every major UK rock album in the 70s was recorded), and they needed someone to come in and give their new toy a spin. Dickinson received the studio time essentially on their dime, all while assuring them he had enough songs already in the can to complete a full length album. He didn’t.

Holed up in the front room of Gers airport-adjacent Hounslow home, Dickinson and his new guitarist wrote the entire album in two weeks. It was a complete departure from the sophisticated complexity of Maiden’s preceding Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album in both tone and structure. Tattooed Millionaire was a wild, loose, no frills rock n’ roll album that owed more to AC/DC than anything resembling Maiden’s progressive influences. Dickinson would comment, “We took all our favorite rock and roll cliches, bundled them all together, and recorded it”, a fitting summation of the album, but it was still filled with inspired performances. Featuring the aforementioned Gers as the lone guitarist, along with Andy Carr on bass, and Jagged Edge’s Fabio Del Rio on drums, Dickinson’s band was in essence a three piece in purely instrumental terms. Gers would record both rhythm and overdubbed lead parts on the album, but as heard on the Dive Dive Live! concert video this lineup was downright aggressive, raw, and dare I suggest punky when playing live.

That rawness began on some of the deep cuts on this album, on songs such as “Dive Dive Dive!” with its almost Guns N’ Roses-ish snakey riffs and Dickinson’s half raspy / half snarled vocal delivery, as well as on “Son of a Gun” and “Gypsy Road” where he dips down into roots-y Aerosmith territory. On those and other songs where this strange British take on Americanized guitar rock really works, they come across as a batch of a fun, light-hearted, feel-good rock n’ roll songs sung by a vocalist who’s far too skilled for them. That’s not a critique on Dickinson’s vocals, but I’ve always felt that Tattooed Millionaire was an unusual sounding album because of that disparity. A song as zany as “Zulu Lulu”, or “Lickin’ the Gun” for example sounds like it would work better if performed by ZZ Top or Steven Tyler, more than the man who so epically sang “Hallowed Be Thy Name”. Dickinson himself would point out in the liner notes of the album’s re-release, “Some of the tracks hold up extraordinarily well… Some of them maybe not so much… In general, I think the stuff that has some really good melodies is the stuff that holds up”.

Essential Cuts: There’s little to link this rather inauspicious debut with the drastic musical experimentation he’d come upon in his next two solo records, but the seeds for those future outings can be detected in Dickinson’s success at writing a pair of breezy, excellent hard rock singles in the title track and the poignantly autobiographical “Born In ’58”. As a song, “Tattooed Millionaire” is directed at the era’s Los Angeles rock stars and their entourage/groupie fueled lifestyles (there are rumors that its about Nikki Sixx specifically, but I’ll let you Google those). Its perhaps the album’s smartest moment, a bit of satire that perhaps Jonathan Swift himself would approve of, as Gers and Dickinson crafted a pop-metal gem in the musical vein of those very bands the song’s ire is directed towards. So well crafted is the song that even its verses are in perfectly catchy lock-step, “He got a wife / She ain’t no brain child / ex-mud queen of Miami”. When Dickinson cuts loose on the high register, layered vocal chorus, he tonally shifts the song from angry judgment to that of liberating, blissful contentment.

Where “Tattooed Millionaire” is full of brash indictment, “Born in 58” is more concerned with contemplation — in many ways this is Dickinson’s first attempt at writing something personal, well, ever. Using his grandfather as a framing reference, Dickinson’s lyrics here deal with a pointed criticism of modern society and its lack of values. It can almost be viewed as a companion piece to “Tattooed Millionaire” in its dissatisfaction with something external, but here Dickinson seems to be speaking from some internal sense of loss, “On and on, we slept till dawn / When we awoke, we hardly spoke”. Whatever the song’s true meaning, its been a criminally underrated tune, and Dickinson’s vocal performance here demands some extra attention, particularly in how effortlessly he nails the verse segue into the chorus, “And men were still around / who fought for freedom / stood their ground and died!”. That explosive vocal is my favorite part of the song, one of those classic Dickinson moments that would never exist were the song in the hands of a lesser singer.

Though I’m not featuring the song or its fantastic music video among the clips below, I would be remiss not to talk a bit about the excellent David Bowie cover of “All The Young Dudes” on the album. Actually, its a Mott the Hoople song, but Bowie wrote it, you know how these things worked in the seventies… artists were songwriters or performers or both. Dickinson had performed the song cold at a charity show at Wembley Arena, and surprised by his own success with it on stage decided that the band would tackle it for the record. Frankly its a brilliant, inspired cover, and risking blasphemy I’ll say its the definitive version of the song, even nearly twenty years removed from its written era. The key lies not just in Dickinson’s flexible yet strong vocal delivery, but in Gers far more melodic and rounded treatment of the guitar motifs throughout the song. The original has guitar figures that sound incomplete and unfinished in comparison, Gers just seems to own this song and he’s really the star of it, delivering his best individual performance on the album.

Balls to Picasso (1994, Mercury Records)

The pivotal album of Dickinson’s career not only as a solo artist, but as a member of Iron Maiden, Balls to Picasso has a long and tortured history in terms of development and what it meant in the greater scheme of things for the man himself. Where to begin discussing such things? Well, the album’s gestation itself seems a good place to start, and for that we go backwards from its 1994 release date all the way to pre-June 1992, while Dickinson was still a member of Iron Maiden and on the verge of going on the road for the Fear of the Dark World Tour. Seemingly picking up where he left off, the first iteration of the album in its rudimentary state was not much different from the feel and style of Tattooed Millionaire, reinforced by bringing aboard that album’s producer in Chris Tsangarides and this time the entirety of Jagged Edge as backing musicians (by this point they were known as Skin). Dickinson immediately felt that he was just going through the motions and not really challenging himself, an important tidbit to point out because that’s also precisely what he was beginning to feel within Maiden.

Those initial sessions were immediately broken up, and upon the advice of Maiden’s manager, the infamous Rod Smallwood, Dickinson got in touch with famed producer Keith Olsen of so many platinum/multiplatinum albums in the 70s and 80s (most notably, Olsen produced the now classic self-titled 1975 Fleetwood Mac album that introduced Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks into the lineup). The first thought was that Olsen would be able to work the same reconstructive magic he used for Whitesnake’s pair of late 80s albums that were waylaid by personnel changes and delays. The tapes were brought to Los Angeles, but it soon became obvious that simply re-edting material wasn’t a viable strategy in this case. It was decided that the tapes would be shelved and a new album created entirely from scratch, and Dickinson saw this as the perfect moment and opportunity to try something daring. He explains in the Best Of liner notes that he would begin by “taking a radical new direction, away from big-hair-metal and 80s cliches towards something dark, scary, joyful, intense, except I wasn’t quite sure how to do it”, and he adds, “This was a terrifying moment.”

It was January of 1993 by this time, and for six weeks Dickinson toiled, working on material that select chunks of would later surface as future b-sides that showcased a very “Peter Gabriel-y vibe” (Dickinson’s own description). The album was finished but Dickinson wasn’t satisfied, feeling that “deep down I know it wasn’t right and bits of it were downright embarrassing, but nevertheless it had the seeds of something good, and they were contained in a track called “Tears of a Dragon””. Those Los Angeles Olsen sessions also introduced Dickinson to a band called Tribe of Gypsies that was recording their album down the hall in the same studio. He stepped into their recording room one night to hear what they were doing and was blown away by their Latin infused take on hard rock. It was also the beginning of his long friendship and working partnership with Tribes guitarist Roy Z, the man whose presence launched the third iteration of what would become Balls to Picasso.

What Dickinson saw in the Tribe of Gypsies’ musical approach was an emphasis on a gritty rhythm section, playful percussion, with a melodic core that was simultaneously authentic and emotional (and he’s right, seriously, everyone owes it to themselves to check out the band’s excellent debut album). In the 1994 Kerrang! interview for the album’s release, Dickinson affirmed, “I wanted to use percussion and different rhythms in a way that’s never been done before… What’s been lacking in this form of music for so many years is groove. Things just became regimented into what’s now become the Maiden gallop or the AC/DC plod.” So he asked for the Tribes’ help and they agreed to be borrowed and together Roy Z and Dickinson discovered a writing partnership that resulting in an immediate outpouring of new songs. These new songs replaced everything written for the previous two failed album attempts, except for the aforementioned “Tears of a Dragon”, which Roy Z loved and managed to improve upon with a heartfelt, note perfect guitar solo.

The resulting third-times-a-charm Balls to Picasso is still a mixed bag to this day — to be praised for its uninhibited sense of ambition and its massive leap from the “AC/DC plod” rock n’ roll of Tattooed Millionaire, but with the acknowledgement that some of its ten cuts simply fell flat. Personally I suspect the lackluster production (courtesy of Olsen’s engineer Shay Baby) is at fault, because a song like “Laughing in the Hiding Bush” sounds absolutely massive when heard on the 1998 Scream For Me Brazil live album, but oddly muted and wet-ragged here. Fans and Dickinson himself agree in retrospect that the album should’ve been produced by Roy Z himself, given what he’d bring to the table in the future as a producer. That being said there are some moments where I think the songwriting itself is at fault, such as on back to back album openers “Cyclops” and “Hell No”, songs that seemed to either be in need of editing or some extra tempo based punch in their verse sections.

As a result, the album is ascending in quality, starting off sluggishly only to get increasingly better and better as it goes along, culminating in the glorious “Tears…” finale. But “1000 points of Light” has a sharp chorus that sounds somewhat similar to early 90s Queensryche (if only the verses weren’t so ho-hum), and I’m big on the steady burning “Fire”, with its almost funky hook line in the chorus. One of the most underrated cuts is “Sacred Cowboys”, which boasts a pulse pounding chorus with lyrics that could’ve been the basis for a rather interesting music video. And then of course there’s “Shoot All the Clowns”, a song that Dickinson was arm-twisted into writing at the behest of Mercury Records, who were interested in releasing the album. Bruce tells the story best (check out his Anthology DVD for his funny recounting of the tale) but suffice it to say his “guidance” on the song was a cassette copy of Aerosmith’s Rocks shoved under his door with a sticky note on it saying “something like this would be good”. Its actually a rather hooky, groove-laden song with nice musical moments but marred by godawful lyrics. I agree with Dickinson’s take that its music video was actually better than the song.

Its worth emphasizing that without a solo record deal in place in 1992, Dickinson birthed this difficult album at great personal expense, in fact he paid for all of the recording sessions plus travel expenses himself, including the massive costs of flying out the Tribe of Gypsies to England to complete the album proper. It made his early 1993 decision to announce his departure from Maiden all the more risky, because although he still had the financial benefit of fulfilling his upcoming last tour with Maiden (the fraught Real Live Tour) he was effectively an unsigned artist with a much lighter bank account hoping that a good, pro-active label would pick it up. Dickinson and half of Mercury Records roster was dropped a mere three months after the album’s release, enough time for them to pay for a pair of music videos and some basic promotion, but the album was not a commercial success. It wasn’t even a complete artistic success in its own right, but it certainly was a victory for Dickinson in proving to fans and media that he could do something different apart from Maiden.

Essential Cuts: The most vivid examples of what that something different could be are found in the album’s two best songs; the Latin-flavored ballad “Change of Heart”, and the epic “Tears of a Dragon”. The former is an overlooked gem on this album, and one of the moments where Roy Z’s Tribe of Gypsies flavor really shines through with his dazzling touches of acoustic guitar flourish and flamenco-styled runs. The lyrics lament the end of a relationship, a relatively sedate topic, but they’re written from the perspective of a narrator that seems both able and unable to accept what’s happened. From sitting “alone at a window”, depressed to no end of course, he affirms that he’ll “be there, catching your tears / Before they fall, to the ground” — all while acknowledging that she’s had enough of their relationship: “You, you’re walking away / You couldn’t stay / You had a change of heart”. Dickinson’s vocal in the chorus is simply magnificent, particularly when backed up by harmonized vocals in specific moments. But the star of the song is Roy Z with his utterly gorgeous Latin-rock styled guitar solo, the kind of thing I wish he did more of on this album.

Then of course there’s “Tears of a Dragon”, and what else needs to be said about this song? Its not just one of Dickinson’s finest moments as a vocalist overall, but it would rate serious consideration for being one of the greatest metal ballads of all time. I’ve always appreciated just how personal Dickinson went here, essentially laying out his emotions for all to see like the “blood on the tracks” Bob Dylan once spoke of. Its a song about Dickinson’s dawning realization that he needed to leave Iron Maiden, but while that’s specific to him — it’s universality makes it a song about facing your fears and in fact surrendering to the fear. Regarding the song’s spiritual essence, Dickinson was fond of a Henry Miller quote that declared, “All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act without benefit of experience.” It was this encapsulating quote that stayed in his mind as he wrote this song and as he made the decision to leave Iron Maiden, feeling that it was the only way for him to grow as an artist and as a person.

I’ll admit that its a song that hits my emotional center when I’m receptive to it, which is also why I’m very judicious about when and where I listen to it. Its one of those songs that’s so powerful that I actually avoid listening to it when I’m in a frivolous, music hungry mood — it’s meant for more than that. The odd drunken, emotional sing-a-long with friends has happened a few times with this as our rousing soundtrack, but even in that hazy state, I’m still left punctured by its dagger sharp subtext. I think there are things in all of our lives that we’re afraid of, and most of it usually concerns the fear of taking a risk or plunging into that darkness headlong. In that regard “Tears of a Dragon” can often be uncomfortable to listen to, a reminder of what hasn’t been done yet — but we need these reminders. I’ll be remiss if I don’t mention just how well its music video has held up over the years, some of those panoramic hill-side shots are still stunning. They could lose the goofy, bald fat man and his mid-nineties computer generated pixie dust scenes, but everything else really works in an almost dreamy, nightmarish vision kind of way. If you haven’t already, also check out the two other versions of the song found on the re-issued edition of the album with a second disc of bonus tracks, they’re special in their own right.

The Metal Pigeon Essential Ten: Power Metal

Over ten years ago now, when I first started this blog, I had a boatload of ideas that I wanted to eventually get to after I had accumulated a decent amount of articles on the site, and found my writing voice so to speak. One of those ideas was to talk about my ults (to borrow a K-Pop term) — you know, my favorite records in this genre, that genre, of all time, you get the point. So to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this site, I’m finally (finally!) launching this in the form of The Metal Pigeon Essential Ten. The idea is simple. I’m presenting my picks for the ten essential albums that I feel best exemplify everything that I love about a certain subgenre. In other words, its by no means an attempt at an objective-ish list, but more a personal reflection of my own experience as a fan of this music. Of course we’re starting with power metal, because over the years I’ve written about my love for it likely more than anything else on this blog, and whittling what I love about this subgenre down to ten albums was not easy. But I like the number ten for lists, its easy to focus on for a reader, and for myself it forces me to make hard cuts and think about what I really have to include. These ten picks are sorted in alphabetical order by artist… hey look it was hard enough getting my list down to ten, don’t make me rank them. The prospect of finally getting around to this has been surprisingly rejuvenating, and a great excuse to go back and listen to albums that I haven’t heard in awhile but have meant a lot to me since I first did.


Avantasia – The Metal Opera:

I think the first thing that someone might think when doing a quick scroll down through this list is “Where’s Helloween?”. Fair question. But I only have ten spots, and if I’m being honest with myself, as far as my personal experience with power metal goes, Helloween and Gamma Ray took a backseat to my rabid fanaticism for all things Tobias Sammet, particularly during that late 90s/early 00’s era. Released smack in the midst of the golden age of power metal™ (97-03 to be precise) in July 2001, the first Avantasia album was a monumental event in the power metal world. I had heard the single almost a year before in 2000 on WRUW’s Metal Meltdown (a Cleveland area college radio show hosted by Dr. Metal whose show introduced me to a ton of power metal) when Tobias himself called in for an interview. He talked about the guest vocalists, people from bands that I was largely unfamiliar with, but he did winkingly confirm one significant guest he called “Ernie”, who Dr. Metal later clarified as Michael Kiske. My personal hype leading up to this album was massive, I made it a mission to grab as many albums as I could from the guest vocalist’s respective bands, in the process becoming fans of Angra, Stratovarius, Virgin Steele, Impellitteri, At Vance, and Within Temptation. That was a process that carried over into The Metal Opera Pt. II released a year later, but it was the debut that lit the match on what was already a flammable pyre of growing obsession over all things European power metal.

While the sequel was fantastic in its own right, the debut had the kind of crackling magic that all these years later refuses to diminish. From the melancholic majesty of “Farewell” to the glory-fist inspiring “Sign Of The Cross” to the now iconic “Reach Out For The Light” with Kiske’s glorious voice. What Tobias did on The Metal Opera was essentially build on what Kiske and Helloween had pioneered on the Keeper albums, only made bigger and wilder, with a cast of strikingly different vocalists that gave this straight ahead epic power metal a grandeur that made it sound larger than life. In writing this, I’ve realized that no amount of words can give voice to just how massive an impact this record was for me, it nearly rivaled having discovered Blind Guardian. For sure Keeper I/II belong on the list of the most influential and/or greatest power metal albums of all time, I totally agree with that both as a metal fan and a self appointed historian. But for as much as I love those records now, at the time I viewed them as heavy metal records ala Maiden… power metal really wasn’t a widespread term until 97 or so, and I always associated it with newer bands coming out of Europe. An artist like Tobias who wore his influences on his sleeves made it apparent just how far into the future Helloween’s influence has reached. But Avantasia’s The Metal Opera was a special moment in time for me, and I can’t look back on power metal history without it being a blinding beacon shining back at me.

Blind Guardian – Nightfall In Middle Earth:

The never ending debate among not only Blind Guardian fans, but power metal fans in general is Imaginations or Nightfall? Because though Blind Guardian does have other great records, those two albums in particular have come to define the what is quintessentially great about the band. I’ve always felt that there is no wrong answer between the two, because there have been moments where I’ve considered Imaginations and thought that note for note it could be a stronger listening experience. But the reason why I’m placing Nightfall on this list over it is because of just how much it intersects at two of my major interests, namely Tolkien and epic power metal. This isn’t breaking news to anyone by now, but I’m sure that was the reason a lot of people got into Blind Guardian. But back in the day when I discovered the band shortly after Nightfall’s release, it was a major revelation to younger me, a shocking intersection that seemed only hinted at with stuff like Metallica’s nods to Lovecraft and Maiden with… all their various literary references. With Nightfall, Blind Guardian created a soundtrack to Middle Earth that I never knew could possibly exist, painting rich, theatrical aural drama for important vignettes from The Silmarillion. At the time concept albums were still a relative rarity, but the bards didn’t try to shoehorn in an entire plot into their songs. They used the existing literature as a diving board from which to write from specific character perspectives, tackle particular moments from complex scenes and flesh them out with narration, context, and internal monologues. The intricacy of the musical arrangements mirrored the pulse of the narrative — militant grandeur on “Time Stands Still”, anguish and loss on “Nightfall”, forlorn melancholy on “The Eldar”. Particularly impressive for source material that read more like a biblical history rather than a typical fantasy adventure, Nightfall’s songs were intensely emotional, full of haunting imagery in its lyrics and utterly convincing passion from Hansi Kursch’s vocals.

On a side note, this album got me to finally tackle The Silmarillion, which I had previously disregarded as too difficult to read. All these years later, and it’s one of my most read books (if not the most read), with me doing yearly readings right around this time of year for quite a few years in a row. I love everything about it now, as a flawed but still rather perfect piece of literature, and it took Nightfall to get me to appreciate that. I also still consider the album to be one of the finest storytelling moments in power metal, nearly equaled only by Kamelot’s Epica, together both albums illuminating a dearth of competition that is oftentimes disappointing to consider. It has also, after what has to be in the thousands of listens after all these years, still retained the same vibrancy and freshness that it did when I first heard it. Honestly I can’t even say that about a few old classic Maiden albums, and they’re my favorite band. Andre Olbrich’s leads in “Mirror Mirror” still get my adrenaline pumping even if I’m sitting in my desk chair, Hansi’s screamed “Fear my curse!” on “Noldor” still raises the hair on my arms, and the chorus of “Into The Storm” is still the most spirited, spitting defiance singalong moment, even if I’m by myself in the car. So again, you might think Imaginations deserves to be here, and I couldn’t fault you for it, but Nightfall is iconic to me, that cover art, the depth of what the band accomplished here — it’s a power metal essential, even if you tend to skip the interludes.

Edguy – Mandrake:

It’s a testament to Tobias Sammet’s impact on my power metal fandom that he’s landed on this essentials list twice, and you could say 2001 was a great year for him on an artistic level. Just over two months after he dropped The Metal Opera, Tobias delivered Edguy’s fifth and finest album in Mandrake, the point where the band’s sound was still cut from the classic Helloween inspired power metal cloth of 1999’s Theater Of Salvation, but tempered with an arena ready production complete with fuller, deeper guitar tones and a thicker bottom end. These sonic adjustments were paired with his most going for the jugular approach to songwriting yet, delivering bangers like “Golden Dawn” and the bruisingly heavy “Nailed To The Wheel”. An epic opener like “Tears Of A Mandrake” and the ultra-catchy “All The Clowns” blossomed into iconic power metal classics. Even an adventurous set piece like “The Pharaoh” saw Tobias growing into a confident, accomplished craftsman, capable of holding our attention for ten minute chunks, layering compelling sequences one after another, foreshadowing some of the great epics he’d deliver throughout his career afterwards. He also brought Edguy right up to the edge of a more AOR steeped approach, with “Painting On The Wall” being a seminal moment in their career — still power metal in spirit but dressed up in Magnum and Europe outerwear. And on an album so leaden with somber toned material (despite the major key choruses, this was a much darker album than Theater was or even The Hellfire Club after it) Tobias snuck in a satisfying bit of Helloween inspired cheek in “Save Us Now”, the type of thing that in lesser hands would stick out terribly. Even the ballad here, long a bane of many a power metal fan, “Wash Away The Poison” saw him still writing with that traditional power metal frame of mind, preferring lyrics about self-realization and discovery over the romantic overtures that would come later.

In summation, Mandrake was the first fully realized culmination of Tobias Sammet as one of the genre’s foremost songwriters. In a career full of great songs before and after, it was track for track his strongest overall effort, and it was also in so many ways the swansong of his power metal era too. The hard rock influences came to the forefront one album later and never really left, even in latter day Avantasia where classic power metal only rears it’s head in fits and spurts. I know for my part, that’s a big reason why I tend to view 2003 as a closing of the classic power metal era, because when you have one of the heavy hitters in a songwriting sense drifting away from that classic style, it’s a signal that something has ended, or at the very least, changed irreparably. Recently on albums like Ghostlights and Moonglow, Sammet has shown glimpses and flashes of the return of some classic power metal trappings of the Mandrake era, but hardly anything full on or overtly Helloween attuned like Mandrake was. Of course that doesn’t mean that they’re inherently inferior, I think we’ve all grown accustomed to the change that’s occurred to Tobias’ songwriting approach over the years. It’s entirely possible that he felt Mandrake was as far as he could go in the classic power metal mode and still write compelling music. I think it’s also why I regard this album with a tinge of sadness, because despite it’s magic, it was the end of something special instead of the beginning.

Dragonforce – Sonic Firestorm:

Many if asked which was the most impactful Dragonforce album to date would cite either the band’s debut Valley Of The Damned or the truckload selling Inhuman Rampage with it’s improbable Billboard Hot 100 hit “Through The Fire And The Flames”. I hate dating myself here, but I very much remember listening to the band when they were known as Dragonheart with their demo on the ancient version of mp3.com. It created a stir not only for the awesome songs and dizzying guitarwork, but for the ease of which word of mouth spread thanks to it’s digital format. It was really the first time I remember seeing a band blow up thanks to their music being online, and they parlayed that into an actual record deal and released a debut that was pretty strong. The thing we forget about that album though is that the band hadn’t yet introduced the sonic elements that would rock the world three years later on Inhuman Rampage and er… Guitar Hero. Those elements would be introduced on their sophomore album, the utterly inspired, damn near perfect yet tragically overlooked Sonic Firestorm. Hypersonic riffing, wildly complex extended guitar solo passages, and aggressive black metal-esque blast beats spearheading an absolute battery of percussion courtesy of former Bal-Sagoth drummer Dave Mackintosh. Where Valley was sonically hampered by a slightly muddy production, Sonic Firestorm sounded crisp and clean, a textural facet of the recording that helped its various elements have a visceral impact. Upon release the band was describing this album as “extreme power metal”, and despite that being a bit of cheeky marketing, it was also kinda true, Sonic Firestorm saw them pushing the boundaries of what power metal was expected to sound like.

Of course, the songs were what really mattered, and Sam Totman delivered some of his most inspired songwriting ever with key assists from fellow guitarist Herman Li and keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov. They burst out the gates with “My Spirit Will Go On”, one of the greatest opening cannon shots in power metal history, a song that perfectly married epic ambition and length to an unforgettable hook and iconic lead guitar melody. It’s the first in a salvo of absolute bangers, followed by the aptly named “Fury Of The Storm”, one of vocalist ZP Theart’s best individual moments — he had a knack of sounding indefatigable even on lengthy vocal sequences at higher registers. My personal favorite might still be “Fields Of Despair” however, where the melancholic undertones of the key change during the chorus give the song an emotional weight that lives up to the song title. People were captivated by the band’s razzle dazzle (rightfully so), but I often found that their songwriting had moments of poignancy and complexity, tempered of course by the fact that the lyrics were essentially syllabically oriented vocal filler (not a criticism mind you, think of it as grim vocals are to black metal — texture!) This was seven breathtakingly paced tracks with the right mix of aggression and melodic nuance with satisfyingly hooky riffs and melodies, and one pretty piano based ballad that sounded divine on afternoon drives with the sun setting through your windshield. Dragonforce would make strong records long after this, deliver some incredible tunes here and there, but they never sounded as hyper focused as they did here.

Falconer – Falconer:

Rising from the ashes of folk-metal pioneers Mithotyn, Sweden’s Falconer released their self-titled debut in 2001 just as folk-metal had found its footing, and smack in the midst of the golden era of power metal™, and their rootsy, gritty, often medieval music inspired sound fused the two subgenres together to create something new. One could argue that they were building on the foundations created by England’s Skyclad, but there was a distinct Scandinavian-esque quality to Stefen Weinerhall’s songwriting, both in Mithotyn and in Falconer. His focus was on incredibly rich melodies as a counterpoint to a startling dose of heavy riffage and aggressive, at times extreme metal inspired percussion. The melodies found their way through fluid lead patterns and glorious soloing of course, but also through the unorthodox vocalist the band had stumbled onto in Mathias Blad. He had no metal nor rock background, being a stage actor by trade in Sweden who had spent time studying in England, and his approach on record reinforced that. Blad certainly sang for Falconer with passion, but he didn’t project his voice in the way a metal singer would, with an increase of power or volume — his voice was naturally delivered, without exaggeration or projecting a “metal” attitude, as if he was simply on a theater stage somewhere. On Falconer, he was a revelation, carrying the narrative weight of Stefan’s lyrics and songwriting through sheer talent alone, his baritone deep and sonorous, and his phrasing crystal clear and fluid. I remember the exact moment I heard him for the first time on WRUW’s Metal Meltdown, stunned that a singer fronting a power metal band could sound so different from what was expected, yet fit so perfectly within the context of the band’s music.

The compositions on this album were magical, the kind of stuff that seemed to seep in from another world far removed from our mundane reality. To this day I can’t tell you what exactly Mathias is singing about in “Mindtraveller”, but I damn well feel that song in my gut, it’s been an all-time classic for me (and many others I’m sure), and among friends of mine, the term mindtraveller has become both an adjective and a noun. The looser, more brightly uptempo songs were loaded with ear candy; the layered “woooaaahhs” in “Royal Galley”; that fat bass line laid down by Weinerhall that anchors “Lord Of The Blacksmiths” into an unexpected but awesomely funky groove (only surpassed by the rings of a hammer striking hot iron!); and the subtle backing vocals by Ulrika Olausson on the ethereally beautiful “Wings Of Serenity” drip melancholy all over the song’s bridge sequence. I was always deeply impressed with just how vicious and batteringly heavy Falconer could sound. The sheer assault that occurs upon the opening instrumental bars of “Upon The Grave Of Guilt” could pass for the intro to a blackened folk metal tune before Mathias’ sweeps in. They’d surpass that level of heaviness on later songs such as “Pale Light Of A Silver Moon” off Among Beggars And Thieves, and entire albums like Armod, but they didn’t have to work their way up there or slowly introduce these elements to their sound over time. Album one, song one, and we were shown that Falconer would make a career of being beautifully mystical, often elegantly pretty, and also downright mean and punishing. The band would deliver other incredible records… one could make a case for Chapters From A Vale Forlorn being on this list, but the debut was so unexpected and made such a deep impression on me. They released their swansong last year, a capstone on a magnificent career, and went their separate ways — sadly still underrated and overlooked.

Hammerfall – Glory To The Brave:

Of course this was going to be here, not only for the obvious reasons that it was the album that kickstarted power metal as a recognized genre in earnest back in 1997 (remember friends, power metal as a term wasn’t really utilized as we know it today back when the Keeper records were released), but also for the simple reason that this album flat out rocks. Unlike Dragonforce six years later, who’d merge power metal’s Helloween engineered template with elements of speed and extreme metal, Hammerfall’s birth was a firmly resolute nod to the traditional heavy metal of the past, albeit trading in the screaming, rougher vocals of legends like Halford and Dickinson for the cleaner tone and delivery of Joacim Cans. It’s success across continental Europe opened doors for so many other bands to get signed and recognized, but unto itself, Glory To The Brave was a bracing, spectacular celebration of everything that made heavy metal great. I’ve always felt strongly that one of the keys to what made Hammerfall’s first two albums incredible was the relatively hidden influence of one Jesper Stromblad, who contributes here as a songwriter. He was at the peak of his riff writing powers during this era, having knocked out In Flames’ The Jester Race a year before, Whoracle in this same year, and Colony two years later. His influence is heard in the sheer melodeath-ian density of the riffs heard across this album, despite him not playing on the album. Guitarist Oskar Dronjak had been bandmates with Stromblad in Ceremonial Oath, and you get the feeling that both of their extreme metal roots crept into the approach towards Hammerfall — in the writing process those riffs were molded to be compact and intense, and it showed through in Dronjak’s and then In Flames guitarist Glenn Ljungström’s performances on the album. They’d shake this melodeath influence three years later on Renegade, shifting to a more permanent Priest/Helloween mix, and thus would never recapture the magic found on Glory To The Brave or its sequel Legacy Of Kings.

Then there’s just the full on triumph and glory claw inducing splendor of these songs; “The Dragon Lies Bleeding” is built on one of the most insistent and urgent power metal riffs of all time, with Cans delivering an emphatic and powerful vocal performance; and the album is bookended by its polar opposite, the beautiful power ballad title track with its echoing leads, and confidently articulate acoustic guitars reminiscent of the Scorpions’ finest ballads. It’s a toss up as to whether “Hammerfall” or “Stone Cold” is the most rockin’ cut here, the latter built on a Priest-ian attack and possessing an understated menace in it’s steady march whereas the former is a Helloween inspired banger that shows off the band’s melodicism in sharply vibrant ways. I loved the band’s audaciousness too, the pride of being a metal band playing metal tunes that was exemplified in “The Metal Age”, whose admittedly silly lyrics were still the kind of Manowar-ism that I felt an affinity towards. Even a song ostensibly about the Crusades such as “Steel Meets Steel” could be parlayed into a metal anthem, and there was something comforting about being a fan of such deeply uncool music yet hearing the band themselves proclaim it’s power as something righteous and worthy to be proud of. Such sentiments seem gauche in 2021, but they kinda mattered in the late 90s/early 00s. That kind of fervent belief made a dreamy ballad like “I Believe” ache with a resonance that lesser bands couldn’t manage. The capper on this excellent album was the inclusion of their awesome Warlord cover in “Child Of The Damned”, a direct line to one of the subgenre’s USPM grandfathers from the early 80s. It was an unapologetic nod to the past that was only fitting for an album that revived not only a sound, but a feeling.

Kamelot – Epica:

A landmark in power metal for its elevation of storytelling, lyrical diction, and songwriting, Kamelot’s Epica was part one of a two album long exploration of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust, the tragic German play. Vocalist Roy Khan and founding guitarist Thomas Youngblood created their own storyline and characters closely resembling those in the original, and with wiggle room for artistic liberties. There are a lot of fans who will argue in favor of The Black Halo being more deserving of praise in a head to head comparison, and while I do love that album and it’s overall darker atmosphere, Epica has always sounded sharper to me from a songwriting perspective. By this point in Khan’s tenure with the band, he had already meshed with Youngblood as a major songwriting contributor and had put his stamp on two bonafide power metal classics in The Fourth Legacy and Karma. While his lyric writing and vocal performances on those albums were turning heads and keeping his name at the forefront of many power metal fans minds, Epica was his and the band’s most astonishing masterwork. Getting to inhabit a character for an entire album, Khan’s imagination ran wild and he managed to pen most of the lyrics and narrative storyboarding before the music was composed. This meant the songs took on even more of a vocal melody driven direction than before, the music often reactive to Khan’s phrasing and tempo choices, such as on the slow build of “The Edge Of Paradise” where Youngblood’s guitar is solely responsive to Khan’s vocal line. Song structures were often inventive out of narrative necessity, something that Khan made work due to crafting impeccable vocal melodies to keep one’s attention fixed while the Miro engineered symphonic elements (the “Rodenburg Symphony Orchestra”!), Gregorian chants, choir vocals, and guest lead vocals fluttered around or darted in and out. Just like Blind Guardian’s Nightfall, Khan and Youngblood had the benefit of having the source material available in literary form as a reference for both themselves and listeners, and as a result the songwriting was freed of the burden of exposition.

On the brilliant “Lost & Damned”, an accordion sways in a Parisian tango during the verses in a sad, sympathetic melody as Khan’s character says goodbye to the love of his life, a surprising choice that works so well it’s one of the album’s finest moments. The ballads were also magnificently constructed, “Wander” sounding warmly like the flower-scented, dewy air its lyrics spoke of, all romance and mystery; while “On The Coldest Winter Night” sounds like snowfall and warm fires, befitting the emotional scene that’s occurring between the two characters Ariel and Helena. I’ve written about Khan’s poetic lyrical diction at length, but its worth reiterating here that his way with words is one of the reasons this album is on this list. Khan was able to inhabit his characters’ inner monologues, craft elegant dialogue and paint his scenes with richly evocative imagery that brought this storyline to life and made you care about the characters. There was a visceral quality to a line such as “meet me by the wishing well / in cover of the moon”, a lyric that paints a scene as clearly as a sentence in a fantasy novel. But it wasn’t all extravagant instrumentation and romantic balladry, Kamelot brought thrilling majesty to the fore in the straight-ahead power metal of “Farewell”, where Khan married melancholy to gritty determination and crafted a chorus made of steel. And “Center Of The Universe” was peak classic era Kamelot at it’s finest, a dynamic masterpiece with alternating tempos and an ascending buildup that exploded in a euphoric, skyward reaching refrain, cut through with a mid-song bridge with Mari Youngblood on vocals that elevated everything to high drama. Khan would of course leave Kamelot a few albums later, and the band would never be the same, but they had a run there with four classic albums in a row with him at the helm and this was undoubtedly the apex.

Power Quest – Neverworld:

What do we love about power metal? There has to be more to it than the surface level stuff like catchy tunes, epic melodies, soaring vocals and bursting guitar solos. Underneath all of that wizardry is an emotional pulse behind a lot of this music, at least it’s always been that way for me. At it’s best, it can be mental armor to help you deal with the shrapnel that life sometimes explodes at you, as I found out first hand in 2020 when the pandemic hit and everything changed and I found myself cobbling together the massive anti-anxiety power metal playlist on Spotify that kinda saved me all those weeks when I was worried about anything and everything. Power Quest has always been one of those bands who I’ve turned to for comfort listening whenever I needed a bit of spirit lifting, and truth is that I could make a personal case for their incredible Master Of Illusion album to grace this list as well. But those in the know understand that the band’s absolutely undeniable masterpiece is 2004’s Neverworld. It’s cohesive sound is perhaps the finest encapsulation of the genre’s ability to radiate warmth and indefatigable optimism, not only as an act of defiance, but as an affirmation of life itself. There are loads of power metal bands that write lyrics that aim to express something in that vein, but few that manage to sound convincingly bright, ethereal, and determined as Steve Williams and company did here. Power metal artists that play with this kind of palette, like PQ’s contemporaries in Freedom Call, tend to get criticized for the lightness of their approach, but I’ve always thought of it as extremity in reverse, pushing the sound of metal in the opposite direction of say black metal while still retaining undeniably metallic sonic elements. Much of that comes from Steve’s heavy keyboard synths, sweet and syrupy and clearly inspired by the classic early 80s tones heard on Van Halen’s 1984 and classic AOR bands of that era. He steeped that influence into the classic power metal mold ala Helloween and found the voice that seemed to just barely elude him on their debut.

I remember listening to this album as I commuted to university, getting up at 6am just to take the long route across the city to dodge traffic, sitting in my car in the empty parking lot while listening to “Temple Of Fire” to wake up and motivate myself to face being there all day until long after dark. I’d take long de-stressing drives after work while blasting the album start to finish, marveling at how it seemed made of all razor sharp edges and some of the most glorious power metal guitar ever courtesy of the ever underrated Andrea Martongelli. And vocalist Alessio Garavello, then just a new found wunderkind from Italy, delivered one of the most fired up, intensely acrobatic vocal performances heard on any power metal album ever, full of personality and as I’ve always described it, perfectly imperfect approaches to cadence and delivery. Beyond the performances however, at it’s core it was the songwriting that made Neverworld special. A song such as “When I’m Gone” was painted with wistful sunset sky melancholia, and it’s gentle, innocent melody legitimately made you ache. The uplifting chorus outro sequences in “Into The Light” were seemingly powered by sunlight, and the stormy, dramatic buildups in the epic “Lost Without You” were made buoyant by layers of brilliant harmony vocals. And my favorite cut, “Edge Of Time”, one of the most perfect power metal songs ever written, with it’s iconic opening keyboard intro and rockin’ Scorpions-esque riff, and as gloriously powerful a chorus as can be imagined. Steve wrote songs on this album that were dewy eyed and hopeful, at once preciously fragile and unyieldingly strong, and full of an almost spiritual, life affirming breath that you’d gulp in like your life depended on it.

Sonata Arctica – Ecliptica:

There’s an argument to be made that it’s a coin flip between this or Glory To The Brave as the greatest power metal debut album of all time, as both are astonishing classics in their own right on a musical level. But I’ll give the edge to Sonata Arctica, because what they managed on Silence went beyond Hammerfall’s spirited resurrection of traditional heavy metal, with the Finns pushing the genre into an emotional territory not yet explored by any power metal band. They took the sonic template created by their fellow countrymen and power metal pioneers in Stratovarius, and through it further explored the inward facing lyrics that Helloween only scratched the surface of. Vocalist and songwriter Tony Kakko favored storytelling through vignettes, often ones that were tragically romantic or explored even darker emotions like isolation or loneliness. Fantasy themes could be interwoven in his songs or discarded entirely for a more realistic setting, Kakko seemed unmoored from power metal’s tropes, often penning lyrics that used unorthodox diction for the genre. I suspect it was no coincidence that he and Tuomas Holopainen were friends and were encouraging each other in their musical pursuits, particularly around this era, and that we’d hear a similar lyrical shift in Nightwish’s music away from fantasy themes to deeply personal topics. In retrospect, given what we now know about the introspective music of Finnish mainstays like Amorphis and Insomnium, it seems obvious to say that it must be a “Finnish thing”. Yet at the time, Stratovarius and Hanoi Rocks was really the only thing the world knew about metal from Finland, and I remember being unable to pinpoint and articulate why Silence and it’s follow-up Ecliptica felt so different from anything else out there (in fact, I think it took discovering Sentenced shortly afterwards for me to begin to realize what made the Finns tick). Power metal had developed as music that was bombastic, defiant, and at times uncomfortably macho, and here was a band who turned that attitude on it’s head — introducing vulnerability, sensitivity, and uncertainty while marrying it to a sound that still soared despite it all.

I think we also now realize in retrospect that guitarist Jani Liimatainen was the perfect foil to Tony’s unorthodox approach to power metal songwriting, particularly in light of his work in Cain’s Offering and more recently Dark Element. His razor sharp riffs and classically inclined melodic sensibilities were the guide rails that kept these songs firmly planted in Timo Tolkki inspired power metal territory. We’ve heard where Tony has taken the band’s sound in a post-Liimatainen era, and while modern day Sonata Arctica still attempts to maintain links to it’s power metal heritage, it’s clear they’ve drifted away from it as a whole. But here on Ecliptica, these roots were strong, and on classics like the face melting “Blank File” and “UnOpened”, Jani’s driving attack kept Tony (who was handling keyboards back then, remember?!) in a more Jens Johansson-esque role as a keyboardist, sticking to tried and true Malmsteen derived classical guitar/keyboard duo formulas. On more mid-tempo paced cuts such as “My Land”, keyboards were creatively used as a rhythmic device with Jani’s guitar coming in as a counterpoint, creating an effect that conjured up wild, barely restrained passion. The most emotional moments on the album however were found in the far more introspective songs; the aching, forlorn “Replica” where Tony spoke about an “empty shell inside of me”; or the uptempo “Kingdom For A Heart” with possibly the most dramatic reaction to heartbreak ever realized in song lyrics. On the bonus version we were treated to one of the band’s finest songs, “Mary-Lou”, an achingly beautiful sad song made sadder on the acoustic version that was released on the Orientation EP a year later. The gem of all gems here is of course “Full Moon”, one of the greatest power metal songs ever written, no explanation needed. I’ll never forget seeing the band live a few years back, when a pair of arms crossed tattooed guys who had been watching the show stoically all night finally broke out in a euphoric sing-along to this song during the encore. You couldn’t write a better endorsement.

Tad Morose – Modus Vivendi:

Often overlooked and sometimes forgotten, Tad Morose’s Modus Vivendi deserves to be regarded as one of the genre’s masterworks. Eschewing shimmering melodies for crushing Nevermore-ian heaviness, Modus Vivendi worked not only for the straight ahead chugging dual guitar attack of Christer Andersson and Daniel Olsson, but for the majestic, towering vocal performance of Urban Breed. He had been with the band for a handful of albums before this one, but this was where he really demonstrated why he should be in any conversation for greatest power metal vocalists. His role as the narrator of a daunting conversation about death on “Afraid To Die” was not only a stunning display of his mastery as a lyricist, but also for his dramatic vocal choices — where to add emphasis, how to phrase each line, the way he’d bend specific words and in doing so give them extra power. His staggering performance on “No Mercy” made it an all-time classic, his vocal on the chorus coming at you like Mike Tyson’s right uppercut, pure intensity and heavy metal fury. His no holds barred approach to the vocals was how it had to be. How else to go blow for blow with the muscled up heavy metal attack loaded into every riff and in the pounding aggression of the rhythm section. Andersson and company were certainly creating power metal, these were richly melodic songs with mostly soaring hooks, but they tempered them with elements of doom metal to darken the overall tone and slow down the pacing. And the band’s penchant for progressive metal was infused throughout their approach to displaying their more technical leaning tendencies in fits and bursts, still allowing the trad metal approach to steer the songwriting around any self-indulgent potholes.

There was also songwriting depth involved here. Nothing revolutionary, but just a sustained implementation of sheer creativity in how these songs were constructed. Take the Egyptian motifs that run throughout “When The Spirit Rules World”, how they seem to be leading the song in a certain direction only for the band to abruptly switch gears for the starkly Queensryche-ian refrain. And then there’s the lumbering thick boy in “Cyberdome”, built on as menacing a groove based riff as you’ll hear in power metal, where the band willingly halts its strut by coming to a near standstill on the utterly spartan pre-chorus. It’s so rare to hear a band execute risky ideas like these and somehow make them seem as part of the masterplan all along. Even on relatively straightforward cuts like “Anubis” and “Take On The World”, the band doesn’t take the easy route, loading its verses with shifting, alternating riff sequences and aggression levels, the rhythm section working overtime to keep you guessing. This album was Urban’s swan song with the band, he’d move onto Bloodbound for a spell and do really great work with them. For the band, it took them a decade to recover and come back with new music, and despite having a fairly good singer in Ronny Hemlin onboard, they haven’t come close to the greatness they stumbled onto here. There’s nothing flashy about Modus Vivendi, but that’s its centralized strength — its perfectly crafted from start to finish, one of the most viscerally satisfying power metal albums you could imagine.

Scroll to top