Top 10 Founders of Power Metal

Rainbow created power metal. Gates Of Babylon was the first power metal song ever.

Eyes Of The World was the first symphonic power metal song. It doesn't feature a symphonic orchestra but has a symphonic vibe from start to finish.

A Light In The Black and Kill The King were among the first speed metal songs. Currently, speed metal is a subgenre of power metal because speed metal is a smaller subgenre than power metal. However, chronologically, speed metal emerged before power metal. Power metal is a mix of speed metal and traditional metal (slower than speed metal and faster than traditional metal).

Regarding speed metal, Ritchie Blackmore just continued what he started with Deep Purple (songs like Highway Star, etc.).

There are many early influences on power metal, but Helloween clearly pioneered the fast-paced, catchy, and uplifting sound that defines the genre today. "Walls of Jericho" (1985) was the first power metal album and should be considered alongside the "Keepers" albums, even though it did not receive as much publicity.

To me, Manowar never achieved this type of sound until the "Fighting the World" album, which came out in 1987, featuring the song "Black Wind, Fire and Steel." Everything before that fell into the "heavy metal" category.

However, it should be noted that the first actual power metal song was "Warrior" by the band Riot, from the album "Rock City" (1977).

Manowar should be #2 after Rainbow.

1. Manowar released four power metal albums before Walls of Jericho. They were influenced by Dio, as Joey DeMaio (bassist) and Dio were close friends.

2. Formed in 1980, the band is known for lyrics based on fantasy (particularly swords and sorcery) and mythology (particularly Norse mythology).

3. They wrote many metal anthems glorifying metal music, which is another feature of power metal (most power metal bands sing about metal music). Manowar must be credited for starting this power metal tradition.

4. They practically invented Battle Metal (a subgenre of power metal) because Manowar's music has a martial air to it. Their name says it loud - Man O' War. Turisas made it more popular.

I'll start with this: they are a very proficient band with several masterpieces but are terribly underrated.

As far as I know, they were the first to introduce progressive elements into power metal in the mid to late '80s. Savatage fans often debate whether they are a prog metal or power metal band. They are both, but most of their work falls under Prog Power Metal, which combines the two subgenres. I think Prog Power Metal is great.

Formed in 1978, they started as a power and speed metal band but later added prog and symphonic elements. While their later songs are better known, their early work is relevant here. Enjoy the insane vocals and solos in these tracks:
1983 - Scream Murder, Sirens (power/speed metal). 1984 - Visions, The Whip, The Dungeons Are Calling (power/speed metal). 1985 - Washed Out (speed metal). 1989 - Gutter Ballet (prog power metal).

Their most popular song is Hall Of The Mountain King (1987). It's great, but they had better songs in the '90s and 2000s. At a later stage, Blind Guardian also incorporated some prog elements, and I enjoy those songs as well.

Running Wild's instrumentals influenced power metal with their first two albums. However, the release of "Under Jolly Roger" in 1987 solidified their transition into a power metal band.

Yngwie's instrumentals are neo-classical metal, but his non-instrumental songs are either power metal or speed metal. My favorite song is Rising Force - it's a masterpiece.

Other power metal songs from early Yngwie (1984-1986) include As Above, So Below, Liar, Disciples of Hell, Anguish and Fear, Fury, and Magic Mirror.

Yngwie Malmsteen made a significant impact on many future power metal guitarists with his accurate and fast neo-classical style, most notably Timo Tolkki of Stratovarius and Olaf Lenk of At Vance. Additionally, Yngwie's bandmate Jens Johansson modernized the keyboard sound of Deep Purple's Jon Lord, which was further incorporated into the power metal genre.

The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (mostly Maiden and Priest) certainly influenced the New European power metal of the '80s:

First, power metal became faster - it's just that Maiden and Priest made traditional metal faster and closer to speed metal, a trend started by Deep Purple.

Second, most of the new European power metal singers embraced high-pitched vocals, inspired by Halford and Dickinson (Kiske, Kotipelto, Scheepers, etc.).

Dio and Eric Adams of Manowar, as representatives of early power metal, were not tenor wailers. High-pitched singing became a typical feature of power metal but isn't obligatory. Hansi Kürsch isn't a high-pitched singer, but Blind Guardian is considered by many to be the best power metal band ever. So, Blind Guardian's vocals are closer to those of the first power metal bands - Rainbow, Manowar, and Dio.

Gamma Ray is a power metal band from Hamburg, northern Germany, founded and fronted by Kai Hansen after his departure from the German power metal band Helloween. Hansen is the current lead vocalist, guitarist, and chief songwriter of Gamma Ray. The band is known as one of the most prominent in the German heavy metal scene.

It's a shame that Queen II is so often overlooked as a clear beginning of Power Metal. Many people reject Queen, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest as being Power Metal only because they are older and don't have the exact same sound as '90s and 2000s Power Metal bands. This is completely illogical. They all carried the same characteristics of the genre and just did it much earlier. Of course, it's going to sound different. It was a different time with different recording technology and formats. That doesn't make it not Power Metal.

It's like saying "Black Sabbath" isn't Doom Metal because it was much earlier than later Doom Metal bands. That doesn't disprove the claim because even bands of the same genre at the same time can sound different. So why wouldn't a band from 20-30 years prior be considered in the same genre?

Manilla Road is an excellent yet heavily underrated band. They produced some truly classic epic heavy power metal albums. Just great.

Phenomenal band. I just discovered them recently.

HammerFall is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. The band was formed in 1993 by ex-Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak.

Accept was influential in the creation of power metal but remains a traditional heavy metal band.