I'd say it's more of a movement based on a crossroad of other genres rather than a particular style. For example, Jag Panzer's debut is more like a less punky thrash, Queensryche is more proggy trad heavy metal, and Riot V and later Jag Panzer can almost certainly be associated with Europower.
didn't even know "USPM" was a thing, and of those I listened to I still can't see why would it be
>Fates is prog
>Crimson is prog
>Helstar is thrash with a neoclassical influenced player and a shit singer
it's mostly the fantasy imagery
Yeah.
It's a wider genre than given credit. Listen to Running Wild sometime.
Yeah I'd say it is, though it can get a little tricky at times because certain genres do overlap like speed and prog, even a little bit in thrash, but there's no rule saying you can't be power and also those things.
In both US and Euro power metal, the thing that's supposed to make it "power metal" is that it's basically traditional heavy metal taken to a different level, faster and more intense, but the sounds associated with both parts of the world are a bit different.
A good comparison to me that shows the differences in approach is Liege Lord vs. Helloween, both kind of sound like Iron Maiden on juice, but the approach is different, US more rough and raw and Euro more clean and shiny.
What can get a little confusing at times though when there are some bands called power who really aren't much different from trad heavy metal in the first place, that's where it becomes a little harder to define and almost becomes more about "vibe"
>It's a wider genre than given credit. Listen to Running Wild sometime
This is also true, power metal like most sub genres has a bit more variety than many people know about who think it all only sounds like the most popular bands of the style.
yeah
there are issues regarding solely using the uspm/eupm binary classification for power metal, but i can see some similarities
really the main problem is that certain bands labeled as "power metal" shouldn't be; this is even the case with some euro bands today
there's also a problem when speed is considered to be a required factor in power metal; a lot of bands and their songs, both old and new, aren't really fast
there is also the issue that eupm is the more popular forefront representative, and as such this style is considered to be "pure" power metal
uspm on the other hand is almost always associated with trad, thrash, speed, or prog metal
fair enough I guess, but when I group bands I tend to do so sonically, basically
their singer mogs his peers so hard it's not even funny
>Is USPM power metal?
>didn't even know "USPM" was a thing
Power metal was coined in America in the early 1980s to describe America's counterculture to the much more radio-friendly NWOBHM, and a shit ton of American bands from this period called themselves "power metal" to denote that their music was generally heavier, less chorus-driven, and more over the top, powerful sound than British heavy metal bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, and lyrics generally didn't give a fuck
Keep in mind this was before things like black and death metal were a thing, and back when thrash metal was an extremely niche underground thing that barely even had a name, so for a lot of peoples' references, USPM was the heaviest metal out there.
A lot of these early USPM bands were relabeled by the early internet into subgenres like "epic heavy metal" and "melodic speed metal" and early progressive metal even though a lot of these bands insisted that they were still power metal. There's been kind of a push in the last decade to re-rebrand all of these classic bands as "USPM" again, as well as a wave of newer "USPM" bands that retain the early 80s American sound (rather than European) while still referring to themselves as power metal
You know how refreshing it is to see an accurate explanation after wading through LULZ for a weekend? Well done anon.
This one is very good, they have a new one in the works finally.
They've got to be the only band who ever stole a Metalucifer riff. Album's pretty good though.
Kiske mogs every USPM vocalist
Idk, Matt Barlow is pretty good
Also Americans even divided USPM into two categories "blue collar power metal" and "white collar power metal" (Yeah, these are brief subgenre names that only existed for a few years but still),
"Blue collar power metal" referring to the more unga bunga METAL m/ like Manowar and Jag Panzer while "White collar power metal" referring to progressive stuff like Fates Warning and Crimson Glory.
in that case, uspm could arguably be considered its own genre
not like the genre based on a core style, but rather like an umbrella terminology similar to "extreme metal"
It kind of is, USPM served an entirely different purpose than EUPM.
Americans saw British people playing "heavy metal" and started to play something heavier so they called it "power metal", the philosophy behind early USPM was that it was a more "extreme" evolution of heavy metal.
While European power metal bands were influenced by NWOBHM and even some USPM, European power metal wasn't really trying to be heavy at all and displayed a much bigger influence from prog rock and even popular styles like glam rock/stadium rock.
there does seemingly have some overlap when it comes to early german bands
if blind guardian was from the us, they'd probably be grouped with uspm
but later power metal was far more influenced by other nonmetal genres such as classical, theater, prog, and pop.
The 80s German scene worshiped the American scene but ironically it was also German bands in the 80s that heavily deviated from the American sound into what became Euro power metal.
There's a lot of random 80s German power metal that's indistinguishable from Burger power.
>even popular styles like glam rock/stadium rock.
Now we're really getting into the weeds of 80s genre autism. US power metal definitely had a side that was leaking into glam metal territory a bit I would say more so than Euro, though that also opens up the discussion of glam metal and heavy metal, and how much of that is basically just trad metal with a poppier element in the first place
Leatherwolf and Fifth Angel come to mind as fairly known names in "US power metal" who had some songs not too dissimilar from hair metal bands, just lacking some of the tropes associated with that style
And again, listen to this Leatherwolf song and ask what makes it power metal vs. just heavy metal? Nothing really, it kind of has an "epic" feeling, and that feeling is what some people attribute to power metal as much as any technical aspect you can discuss musically
Iced Earth is certainly a power metal band from the US, but also their sound isn't necessarily used as an example of typical "USPM", they kinda had their own thing going on, no other band really sounds just like Iced Earth in any genre
Is ICed Earth USPM?
still the greatest uspm song of all time
One of the greatest heavy metal songs period
It's probably the quintessential song if you want to explain USPM to someone
riot (american band) invented power metal in the 70s
and then went onto release one of the most important power metal albums of the 80s
>riot (american band) invented power metal in the 70s
Bill Tsamis used to insist that the first power metal band was Blackmore's Rainbow.
Yes it is. Anyone who denies it is a gay homosexual.
tell me what this:
has more in common with this:
than this:
Well, Jag Panzer coined power metal for one.
I don't get your post...what does Stratovarius sounding more like Iron Maiden or Jag Panzer have to do with anything at all?
do you consider jag panzer or iron maiden power metal?
depends which uspm you consider power metal
Jag Panzer I consider to be on the more aggressive side of USPM. Iron Maiden is not power metal, nor from the US, they were from the new wave of British heavy metal.
i find jp's debut album to be a bit too extreme even regarding uspm, though later jp is pretty power metal
as for iron maiden, i think some songs are pretty power metal
flash of the blade and clairvoyant are some examples
>i find jp's debut album to be a bit too extreme even regarding uspm
I mean it's very weird but eh, it's not like it's more anything else, definitely not thrash
it does sound a bit thrashy to me
not that much, more like heavy/thrash
either way, it's not really power metal either
It is generally more aggressive you could say than the style is known for
Jag Panzer is USPM and pretty much laid the groundwork for the scene that followed.
Iron Maiden is NWOBHM, which was hugely influential on both the USPM scene and EUPM scene, but even moreso USPM scene.
Iron Maiden serves as a prototype for power metal who sometimes dived into early power metal territory in some segments of their songs.
How do we feel about modern USPM?
>forms in the 70s
>releases their best album in 2011
>ends up being one of the best in the genre
sounds like Saber Tiger but American
Recent USPM with harsh vocals