Power metal, from the outside in. Each step is a genre and the single record this encyclopedia would put on first. Play them in this order and the last one should sound like a next step rather than a wall.
- 1 The way in
Heavy metal 1970
It split off from hard rock and blues rock when Black Sabbath tuned down and wrote riffs on the tritone. Volume, riff and a code of its own - every branch below starts here.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Black Sabbath - the song Black Sabbath. The first thirty seconds are the genre's birth certificate.
Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath (1970) - 2 What you asked about
Power metal 1984
Galloping tempos, choral hooks and lyrics about dragons and battles. Optimistic by definition.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II. The closing track runs thirteen minutes and deserves them.
Helloween, Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II (1988) - 3 Where to go next
Symphonic power metal 1996
Power metal with orchestra, choir and a fantasy libretto. The more, the better.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Rhapsody - Emerald Sword. Knowing kitsch, flawlessly executed.
The pick names a track. This is the record the encyclopedia holds by them.
Rhapsody, Symphony of Enchanted Lands (1998)
Assembled from the tree: every genre Power metal descends from, in order. The last step is the gentlest of Power metal's 2 subgenres - least harsh vocals first, then least heavy.