Editorials

How The Pumpkin Stole Power Metal!

I was a power metal fan before Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part I.

“What?!”, you say indignantly. “That’s impossible! There was no power metal before Helloween!” You even cite from Wikipedia, The Free Encylopedia:

Power metal was created in the mid-1980s by the German band Helloween, who were primarily influenced by bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Power metal borrows from those styles, but with added elements of speed and melody. The lyrics are often based on fantasy and science-fiction topics. Power metal vocals are generally clean and delivered by a trained vocalist; singing power metal involves more than a few high notes. Typical power metal bands consist of a vocalist, two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer. Many bands also play with a keyboardist and a few, such as the Italian band Rhapsody, have been known to record with more symphonic elements.”

But, I counter, Wikipedia is an open content publication that can be edited by anyone. That piece could have been written by a kid who wasn’t even born when power metal was being forged in the late 70s and early 80s.

And I then cite from Rainbow Flame’s Metal Domain, which regards Rainbow’s Rising as the first appearance of power metal, with Blackmore and Dio as forefathers of the genre. Bands like Manowar, Pretty Maids, Omen, and Savatage then brought the genre to new heights in the 1980s preceding the release of Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part I. As the Rainbow Flame sees it, bands like Helloween weren’t even considered power metal at this time:

There were also many other bands that were partially ignored or classifed as speed metal or something else entirely at this time that are now 'power metal' bands, such as Rage, Running Wild, and who could forget Helloween? …It was not until recently that these guidelines were made more mainstream and that these bands were given the title of power metal.

And beside, I am living proof that power metal existed before 1987. Hell, I etched “Power Metal F#&@in’ Rules!” into many a junior high or high school notebook before 1987. I was a Power Metal Fan. I breathed it. I lived it. Not the Happy Metal that you people now listen to. No, this was dark, heavy, intense music, and it was played in slow and mid-range tempos. Manowar, Battle Hymns (1982). Savatage, Sirens (1983). Loudness, Disillusion (1984). Grim Reaper, Fear No Evil (1985). DIO, Holy Diver (1983). Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force, Marching Out (1985). Alcatrazz, No Parole from Rock‘n’Roll (1984). Virgin Steele, Noble Savage (1985). Armored Saint, Delirious Nomad (1985). Sword, Metallized (1986). The list goes on and on…

So don’t anyone be tellin’ me that power metal began with Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part I. Nah, if you want an accurate history of the “schools” of power metal, HardRadio.com tells it like it is:

Another trend that suddenly gained impressive influence during the late Eighties would be power metal. A style that took the speed and heaviness of speed metal and combined it with epic song overtones characteristic of classic metal, power metal would be primordially divided into two types, the first of them being the standard, or "American," style of power metal, played by bands like Metal Church, Savatage, Jag Panzer, and Manowar; and which despite its epic proportions inherited mainly from thrash metal and retained much of its harshness. Meanwhile, melodic, or "European" power metal was a style that concentrated mainly on the combination of speed and classic elements, with the occasional inclusion of progressive tendencies; an approach exploited by bands like Running Wild and the unique Rage. Power metal would not, however, reach worldwide exposure until Helloween's Keeper of the Seven Keys albums reached combined sales of over one million records. Fronted by the astounding voice of Michael Kiske, Helloween became the epitome of power metal, producing some of the genre's most memorable harmonies and melodies at speeds only imagined by Iron Maiden. This in turn caused a sudden sensation around power metal, allowing for the eventual creation of new bands like Blind Guardian and Iced Earth, and impelling older bands, such as the proto-power metal Riot, to adapt to the style.

The “sensation” HardRadio.com describes was so overwhelming that it almost completely wiped out the “American” school of power metal. Manowar suddenly became obsessed with production and lost their raw edge on Fighting the World. Savatage struck with one of their best, Hall of the Mountain King, in 1987, but their next album would show the first flashes of their Broadway style. Loudness got rid of Minoru Niihara and was a shadow of their former selves with Mike Vescera on vocals. And all of a sudden, the market for this music was being completely crowded out by the European Happy Metal wave.

I stayed a Power Metal Fan and my faith was rewarded by two new bands, Sanctuary and Crimson Glory, who not only honored the American school, but took it to the next stage in its evolution. Refuge Denied and Transcendence were like no other albums I had ever heard. But even these giants could not stand against the tide. Crimson Glory flopped on Strange and Beautiful in 1991 while Sanctuary disbanded in large part due to the success of Grunge on the Seattle and national scene.

This is when European Power Metal really ascended to the throne. For years, dark power metal was dormant. By the time Nevermore and Iced Earth revived the art form in the mid-1990s (HardRadio.com states that “Nevermore [took] American power metal to levels of heaviness previously unthought of, honoring the tradition that some of its members had once established with Sanctuary”), most people were completely associating the term “power metal” with European bands like Helloween, Rhapsody and Stratovarius.

It’s reached the point that today I even have 19 and 20 year-old kids telling me that Into the Mirror Black was a thrash(!) metal album. How can you have a thrash metal album without a single thrash beat and no fast tempos? Hello, you can’t. What is happening here? They’re good kids, they love true metal, but they view the “power metal” tag with such shame (because of the European image and excesses), that they’re doing a disservice to my generation.

And it’s hard to blame them, because they’ve grown up in an era with no dark power metal bands. Nevermore and Iced Earth are not enough. An occasional Geezer, Lion’s Share or Engine doesn’t help much. Bands like Vanden Plas and Symphony X are nice, but they’re definitely in bed with the other side.

And speaking of that other side, how can these European kids interpret Happy Metal as being powerful? Some guy who is happy and jumping around and hugging people and dancing (“We all live in Future World! A world that’s full of loveeee!!!”) isn’t powerful. You put that guy in a mosh pit and he’s coming out in a body bag. They’re kidding themselves. We’re kidding ourselves. Who handed them the mantle? I want a word with that person!

Well, I’ve given up on waiting for a true revival of the American school, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit around listening to people defile the good name of power metal. First of all, let’s get the history right and stop citing Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part I as the birth of the genre. And for those of you who were fans of the genre before 1987, let’s show some pride. That’s right, stand up, state who you are, gag when you hear the words “Trans-Siberian Orchestra,” and slam your goddamn head into a wall when I spin Demons & Wizards. Finally, let’s stop being liberal and inaccurate with terms like “power” and “progressive” metal. If a band does not match the literal definition of those terms, they should not be placed in the genre!

And the Pumpkin, with his pumpkin-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so? It came without hair spray! It came without glitz! It came without arpeggios, elves or speed licks!" And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Pumpkin thought of something he hadn't before! "Maybe Power Metal," he thought, "doesn't come from the Ruhr. Maybe Power Metal...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

By: Ladd Everitt

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