Power metal???

ElPredicador

Yeah... Whatever
Jul 27, 2002
383
1
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Santiago, Chile
Does anyone know where did power metal get it's name from??
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I'm sure not from their music
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, since power metal is quite light...
 
Heh, I think they had a whole album called Power Metal. But then again people's opinions differ quite a bit as to what power metal exactly is.

Honestly, I wouldn't consider Pantera's album the prime example of power metal. I'd say it's more like some Helloween, Hammerfall, Stratovarius, Deram Evil and the like. Then ya get into the agrument of power metal vs hobit metal.. :D
 
peoples opinions seem to differ alot to what all genre's of metal encompass.. the amount of bitching ive seen over whats technically what according to some people.. its all quite mind numbing.
 
Maybe it's because the whole fantasy thing that surrounds power metal ''raise your powerful metal fist'' :eek: if you know what I mean.
 
Ultimate_Symphony said:
Maybe it's because the whole fantasy thing that surrounds power metal ''raise your powerful metal fist'' !:eek: if you know what I mean.

That's part of the argument, heh. Personally (and I'd like to emphasize that this is my personal opinion), I don't think power metal is categorized by lyrics. I think it's more musical - the whole double-kicking thunder and general melody is more power metal than lyrics about dragons, hobits, swords and the brave kings of steel :)
 
Long before HammerFall and all of the bands that are called power metal now, we called bands like Rage, Grave Digger, Running Wild, and stuff like that power metal. I was actually surprised to hear bands like HammerFall called power metal. I've never considered Helloween to be power metal either. They were always "German Melodic Speed Metal." I still can't really accept the label "power metal" for a lot of bands. It seems like the sound needs to have a bit more thump and crunch for that.
 
I have no clue but people have told me there was once a man named Kai Hansen who invented a new genre named power metal and he became the mind behind Helloween back in the 80's. Don't know if it is so but what power-metal bands were before Helloween?
 
Andi Deris [Helloween frontman] about the mixing of RDCE:
"You have to imagine that this type of music is so packed with frequencies that it is nearly impossible to mix because it is so overloaded and you have to single out all of the instruments so you can hear them all, but this has always been the plan of
Helloween's sound and if you ask Weiki what he actually intends to do during these 17 or 18 years ago when he started the band, I remember that Kai and Weiki.....yes I do know Kai as well, and Ingo, they all wanted to have like.....oh what do you call it....uhm megasport music....faster, louder, higher, and everything which works....put it in there and make it raw and pure power. The Dark Ride was not pure power it was the nu-metal type of thing, you could play it on the radio and on the television and I would say that the real Helloween album's nobody would touch on a regular station or a television station because people would say that its too hard or that its too much and I think the new album is definitely going into this direction. When you put it on you say "Oh my god! Thats incredible!". Uhm megasport, hahahahahaha."

So I guess that's where the name comes from...
 
I think it was called so by old folks who listened to doo-woop. Folks decided to call it power metal instead of the other thing they called it.
"Loud goddamn heathen music!"
 
Ive heard someone say powermetal gets its name from the fact that the music is very anthemic and majestic that it "empowers" the listener. It is also very powerful sounding music in its own right. Theres a lot of energy, speed, and bombasticness (is that even a word? lol) in it.

I wouldnt consider Maiden powermetal, but they were definately one of the forefathers of it. Id say the big influences you hear in power metal are Maiden, Priest, old Scorpions (Uli Roth era), Manowar, Rainbow, Deep Purple, Dio, Black Sabbath, Ozzy...that kinda stuff. Then bands like Helloween, Running Wild, and Rage came along and they really started the whole sound that we think of when we hear the name powermetal. They dont all sound the same either, you can have more straighfoward barebones ones like Hammerfall, more commercial ones like Stratovarius, more neoclassically influenced ones like Angra, or bands that are sort of a mix between power and prog like Symphony X.