Axel Rudi Pell is kind of like the balladeer of the German power metal / hard rock scene. It seems kind of ridiculous to say given that the entire genre is one big fat indulgence in cliches, but Pell takes that indulgence to the next level with… well, pretty much everything he does. Which is just how I like it, naturally. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Pell’s got a particular interest in the slower, creamier side of the cheese spectrum. That’s not really my speed as far as power metal goes, but I can still get down with some of his tracks.

Watch the above performance clip of “Fool Fool” and I dare you not to simultaneously laugh and headbang. Come on; it’s great shit, and if this song had Dio singing on it you’d all be lapping it up. Axel Rudi Pell’s latest The Crest is out now.

-VN

If Italy is the mecca of modern Epic Metal then Germany is the epicenter of OG power metal… which I guess by today’s standards is more like power hard rock. Edguy and all of Tobias Sammet’s projects would be enough on their own to give Germany the power metal crown, but it really all goes back to Accept, doesn’t it? I’m sure some Accept die-hards would fight me on it, but I’m just gonna say it: Accept spawned the German power metal scene. Now you’ve got Helloween, the aforementioned Edguy, and good old Gamma Ray (and others, of course), who are back with their new self-actualizing album To the Metal. Here’s the video for the title clip, which miraculously has over 60,000 views. God bless Germany and their power metal fanaticism.

-VN

I’m not sure how Primal Fear have slipped under my radar all these years given my undying love of Iron Maiden and my recent exploration/fascination of/with Euro Power/Epic Metal cheese, but all it took was one note of last night’s headline set at NYC’s Gramercy Theater… and I was sold, hook line and sinker. Dork metal to the max; dorks of every kind, everywhere, more Iced Earth shirts than I’ve ever seen in one place ever other than an Iced Earth show, and somewhat shockingly a slew of hot older babes turned out to catch this German band’s U.S. tour kickoff (with Havok). So ridiculous, so epic, so Maiden-y, so Priest-y, so…. awesome. I loved it. Words cannot express.

Click to read more…

The artists formerly known as Rhapsody Rhapsody of Fire are like the Wisconsin of power metal; there’s finer, more distinguished cheese out there (maybe a nice, sharp gorgonzola for these Italians?), but sometimes you’re just in the mood for a fat old slab of regular, yellow cheddar. Nothing’s more cheddar than frontman Fabio Lione’s hand motions; this video is worth watching for those alone. If something ever happened to James Labrie, this guy would make a suitable replacement in Dream Theater; he’s even great at disappearing when the guitarist and keyboard player are busy fellating their instruments.

All joshing aside, I actually do like Rhapsody of Fire. This is great shit right here; MetalGF once called it “Broadway Metal.”  Here’s the video for “Sea of Fate,” from the recently released album The Frozen Tears of Angel.

-VN

The Finns in Kiuas are quickly becoming my new favorites in the burgeoning Epic Metal micro-genre. If clenching your fist and raising it to the sky in a display of power and triumph is something you enjoy doing while listening to metal, I highly recommend Kiuas’ new record Lustdriven which came out a couple of weeks ago. It’s epic. It’s big. It’s powerful. It’s just the right amount of cheesy, which is a hard balance to strike.

Kiuas just released a video for the track “Of Lust, Love and Human Nature.” As the title portends, it’s dark, gothy and full of cliche, just the way we like it. It’s also got a naked chick in a bathtub with plenty of side-boob and a couple of brief shots of nipple at the end. What else could you ask for in an Epic Metal video?

-VN

Italy is to Epic Metal as Gothenburg is to melodeath… something about the place just invites bands to be ridiculous, cheesy, and really good at being both ridiculous and cheesy. So since I’m on something of an Epic Metal kick lately — and Kamelot didn’t quite scratch that itch + the new Raintime seems likes it’s gonna blow fatty chunks — I’m really digging DGM, an epic metal band sent in by MS reader Max Dohmeyer who are, naturally, from Italy.

If we wanna get really technical and ridiculous about micro-genres here I guess you could classify DGM as progressive epic metal. If you’ve made it this far into the article you know damn well what that means so I’m not going to bother explaining. You’re either gonna dig it or ya ain’t… no in-betweens.

DGM have a new record called FrAme (oy, enough with the cApiTaLiZatiOn gimmick… what is this, 1995?) that’s in stores now, though your local Best Buy isn’t very likely to have it. Check out the new video for “Hereafter” from that album below, then check out a few more tracks on their MySpace page (where you can purchase the album as well).

Some day I’m going to visit Italy and do nothing but eat olives and sopresata, drink red wine and listen to tons of epic fucking metal.

-VN

Speaking of judging a book by its cover, check out THEM apples. I mean… wow…. right? Feel free to make any judgments you want about Kivimetsan Druidi; they’re probably all correct.

Still with me?

Ok, then. Our sisters from another mistress over at Reign in Blonde posted the above cover this morning with a one word album review: “SRSLY.” Fair enough… I’m pretty sure Kivimetsan Druidi are dead fucking serious. Swept up by Century Media in The Great Pagan/Folk Metal Signing Fad of 2008 — and subsequently passed over by metal fans in The Great Whoops-This-Trend-Isn’t-As-Popular-As-Labels-Thought purge of 2009 — Kivimetsan’s twist on Pagan/Folk is that they’re a bit thrashier at times than many of their peers and they have a female singer. ‘Cause ya know, every Pagan/Folk outfit’s gotta have some twist. Not that these guys aren’t decent; they’re perfectly aight, but the metal world needs this band about as much as Lacuna Coil needs their male vocalist.

Anyhoo, Kivimetsan Druidi have a new album coming out on April 23rd, the genre-fitting title of which is Betrayal, Justice, Revenge. Check that out if the above cover intrigues you.

-VN

Kamelot are one of those bands that I’ve heard about for-ever and never, ever actually listened to. Why, you ask? I dunno. Probably because they’re called “Kamelot.” That’s one of those band names that tells you everything you need to know before you ever hear a single note. Seriously. I don’t mean to judge a book by it’s cover, but like Doc Coyle said: if you went to see a band called “Fuck You in the Eye Socket” and they sounded like DragonForce, you’d feel pretty misled, right? And we all know what genre any band called “Kamelot,” or whose name is in any way a misspelling of something from a famous legend about knights and shit, is going to to play. But in case you’re a total dolt and are thinking “Grindcore?” right now, keep in mind that their albums always have titles like Epica and Dominion and Eternity for Men, and covers that look like this:

So, yeah. Power metal. And not good power metal, like Mercenary or Communic; power metal so cheesy you could mix it with your macaroni.

Click to read more…

Thank you, Pick-Axe Bobby!

Warning: there are some brief boob shots… so NSFW.

-VN

As I delve head-first into my recent exploration of the modern power epic metal scene what I’m learning is this: there’s a LOT of perfectly competent but ultimately mediocre bands in this genre but few very good ones. Thanks to Suckalo Max Dohmeyer I’ve found a new favorite in Kiuas, “an awesome thrashy, power-esque, melodic metal band from Finland” as he describes it. This is definitely the best power-ish band I’ve heard since Mercenary, who appear likely to jump the shark.

A day after Max’s email we got an official press release about their new album Lustdriven (coming March 31st), so presumably something good’s percolating around Kiuas. What’s interesting is that this band really isn’t all that cheesy; they’re just good. It’s like the best parts of In Flames, Children of Bodom, Mercenary and Firewind — from their respective best albums — all rolled into one with some other kind of thrashy element that I can’t put a finger on. They’re all great musicians, natch. Kiuas have a new song called “The Visionary” posted today, but I don’t like it as much as I do the older new song “Aftermath.”

Furthermore, I’m done using the word “power” to describe this kind of music because it’s truly so different from Rhapsody, DragonForce or even Manowar or Iron Maiden. From this point forward this kind of metal shall be called Epic Metal. Copyright Vince Neilstein 2010.

-VN

Once-upon-a-long-time-ago a band called Rhapsody were partially responsible for getting me back into metal after a hiatus that lasted through the early part of the nu-metal fad. It was the heyday of Napster, and my college roommate and I were downloading non-stop on our totally awesome T3 connection. Inevitably we landed on ’80s metal cheese, and my roommate countered by offering a modern band with many of the same influences, the Italian power metal outfit then known simply as Rhapsody. This was the song. Mind = blown.

That band has since changed their name to Rhapsody of Fire and released a bunch of albums, none of which I’ve really paid attention to. But Suckalo Robin Haigh sent us an email over the weekend to alert us that Rhapsody have a new song called “Sea of Fate” up for streaming and free download on their official website, with the album The Frozen Tears of Angels coming on April 30th (the horribly awesome cover you see at right belongs to that album).

The new song is honestly kind of meh and I prefer the band’s older stuff, but maybe some of my fellow power metal revelers will like it more than I. This is just way too straight-forward… I like my power metal much cheesier and way more outlandish.

-VN

I actually haven’t watched a single minute of the Winter Olympics because I was in Egypt for the first week or so and I don’t have a TV anyway. But I love the Winter Olympics and greatly prefer them to the Summer ones… sports like ski jumping, ice luge and hockey are way more badass than lame-o running and swimming. During the Winter Olympics’ last go-round in 2006 I watched a whole lot of events including curling, a curious sport favored by our Canadian neighbors that I find fascinating. And I made a discovery: the Swedish women’s curling team is HOT, dude. And then I made another discover which I was reminded of yesterday via Facebook (apparently a TV announcer gave it a shout-out): Hammerfall made this awesome alternate video for “Hearts on Fire” with said smokin’ hot curling broads. Metal vs. Curling… who will win out??

-VN

I’m on something of a modern power metal kick lately. Those sucky new Raintime songs really got me fired up and looking for something good, and thankfully the power metal faithful amongst the masses of the Suckalo Nation have come through big time. So far you’ve suggested Communic, a quality band indeed. And even though Mercenary’s lineup is in transition and Firewind’s Gus G. is currently tied up with Ozzy, word on the street is that both bands will release new albums in 2010… so that’s good news.

Today’s suggestion comes courtesy of Suckalo Harry Brook who was kind enough to send me not one but two songs from different albums by the Norwegian band Pagan’s Mind. This one, “Enigmatic Mission,” was my favorite of the two and leaves me really wanting to get my hands on the album from whence it came, 2005′s Enigmatic: Calling.

For all my love of the sub-genre, I guess it turns out I’m something of a modern power metal n00b. Enlighten me, Suckalos, and keep those suggestions coming!

I guess we’ve got to think of a new name for this sub-genre too, since “power metal” really isn’t fitting. Europowercheese? Epic Metal? Post-Power?

-VN

[Thanks: Harry Brook]

Yesterday’s commentary on the disappointing new Raintime single had two positive effects. 1) Everyone’s favorite negative nancy Ziltoid actually agreed with me on something, not just that the new single is weak but that 2008′s Flies & Lies was a good album [just watch, he'll come back now and say something else], 2) Some modern power metal fans came out of the closet to share new bands with us, amongst them Suckalo Andy Synn to tell us about Communic.

Mr. Synn also made a good point, namely that bands like Mercenary, Firewind, Raintime and Communic aren’t really power metal. As he put it so succinctly, “No frilly shirts, no lyrics about orcs/elves/woods/battles, just big riffs and big vocals.” True enough. But I guess that if radio programmers today are calling MGMT and Vampire Weekend modern “alternative” then we can call the aforementioned bands modern power metal by the same extension.

So, Communic are pretty fucking rad. The songs on Communic’s MySpace page are exactly what I’d want from any of these bands… just big riffs and big vocals. And the cheese factor is definitely there, but that’s why we like it.

-VN

A few weeks ago Cosmo Lee at Invisible Oranges called for power metal fans to defend the (in his opinion) indefensible genre, a call which I readily answered because I love the stuff. Almost on cue, Intronaut’s Sacha Dunable issued his own defense of power metal — I swear I didn’t prompt him — claiming that in its current unpopular state, playing power metal in 2010 is about as punk rock as you can get. I salute you, Sacha.

Raintime, one of my favorite Europowercheese bands, have come out with a new song this week on the MySpace page of their American record label, Bieler Bros. The song, “Fire Ants,” comes from their forthcoming March 16th release Psychromatic. Their last release Flies & Lies was an excellent album so I’m curious what this new record will hold for these fine Italian gentlemen, but based on the new track I’m kind of nervous. Musically the song is solid if unspectacular, but vocally it’s weak as hell. Nevermind the fact that Claudio Coassin has ditched his vocal growls completely… I’m more concerned with the fact that his clean vocals kind of suck. Perhaps this was the case on Flies & Lies and I just didn’t notice because the music and songwriting were so strong. There’s a new pre-pro track on Raintime’s own MySpace page which leaves me feeling pretty much the same way.

Way to not give me any more ammo in my power metal argument, guys. With Mercenary ditching half their band last year and Gus G.’s obligation to Ozzy over Firewind for the immediate future, what have we modern power metal fans got left?

-VN