For Control Denied, get any of the Pharaoh albums, particularly the last three... same singer, and the musical, techy complexity is even more robust.

I'll give them another try, I was turned off initially from them bc I heard a riff that was a bit too European-esque for my taste, but I do enjoy their cover of Tormentor and I assume they have more USPM-esque stuff somewhere.

Silver Talon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5qkZp2ZCrY

Sorcerer (Arg)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4KFtMc ... ZXJlciA%3D

I always found their guitars pretty US style - certainly not overtly European PM style. I dunno.

Yeah I wish Pharaoh were more Euro-style

Mania "Changing Times" and "Wizard of the Lost Kingdom" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uflOWtOI21Q

The first Chroming Rose album https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT76q5BUfTg

Seventh Avenue "Tales of Tales" (From 1996 though but still worth a look) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6ul2UgpHfQ

Silver Talon sounds a bit more like Nevermore than Sanctuary imo.

Anyone here familiar with Holy Mother? They're not really good and Toxic Rain seems to be their best; even if it's extremely inconsistent.

'The River' has to be one of the BEST speed metal tunes of all time though!

Man time flies. They're in production. The singer went in for an initial session for vocal tracking the other day. Since he also does the artwork, I know he's been working on that too. The ball seems to be rolling and picking up a little more momentum. They kinda operate on their own time, but I think maybe anticipate a 2024 release if all goes according to plan. That way it'll be 1 song for every year since the first album, haha.

Hello all! I’ve got some great recs from this thread over the years and looking for a new round. I’m not looking for any one particular sound, just look at my following list of bands and let me know what I’m missing! Thanks!

Bands
Ghost Ship Octavius
Pharaoh
Gatekeeper
Vulvagun
Nevermore/Sanctuary
Witherfall
Tad Morose
Crescent Shield
Slauter Xstroyes
Manilla Road
Destiny’s End
Helstar
Jag Panzer/Titan Force/Satan’s Host
Virgin Steele
Arch/Matheos and Arch era Fates Warning
Psychotic Waltz
Archetype (Dawning)
Tanagra
Terminus
Timelord
Ancient Empire
Apollo Ra
Blind Guardian
Borrowed Time
Cloven Hoof
Control Denied
Dark Quarterer
Dream Troll
Enforcer
Eternity’s End
Falconer
Gamma Ray/Helloween/Iron Savior
Grave Digger
Rage
Guardians of Time
Running Wild
Heavens Gate
Heir Apparent
Hell
Judicator
Kiuas
The Lord Weird Slough Feg
Manticora
New Eden
Mystic Force
Nocturnal Rites
Onward
Orden Ogan
Othyrworld
Persuader
Prodigy
Principium
Project Arcadia
Queensryche
Ravenous EH
Riot
Running Wild
Sacred Outcry
Sanhedrin
Satan
Scanner
Screamer
Stormwarrior
Symphony X
Twisted Tower Dire
Unto Others
Visigoth
While Heaven Wept
Wuthering Heights

As the resident US power metal guy, there's plenty of great stuff that you're missing there in that department, your list seems to focus more on European stuff but then you've got names like Sanctuary, Crescent Shield, Heir Apparent, Prodigy, etc. on there. The best USPM bands/albums that you didn't list there, in my opinion, would include:

Omen's first three albums
Crimson Glory's first two albums
Matthias Steele's Haunting Tales of a Warrior's Past
Enchanter's Defenders of the Realm compilation
Cauldron Born's discography
Griffin's first album
Sacred Oath's first album

Probably forgetting some, but you can also check out my USPM guide if you're interested, the first section has all of the "essentials" (IMHO of course).

EDIT: Since you mentioned some prog as well, I'll go ahead and recommend Brothers Grimm's Helms Deep album, should be right up your alley based on some of the stuff you listed.

Thank you for the reply! I’m pretty sure you’ve given me a lot of the recs I’ve enjoyed over the years too. I cut some bands out of my list so it wasn’t so long, and several of the ones you mentioned were the ones cut, but I had forgot about the Matthias Steele and Enchanter. The Griffin is new to me, and yes I love prog so I will check that out!

In the middle of a Manilla Road kick right now kicked off by watching the KIT 2017 set. That will probably last for a bit, before I start in on the new stuff!

Anyone here a fan of Apollo Ra? The 1989 demo sounds cool; like a stripped down Crimson Glory or something.

Some real fuckin' cool power metal from the UK with two scorching tracks. Loads of riffs, super clean vox and fun Final Fantasy imagery:



Bandcamp:
https://empyreanblade.bandcamp.com/album/empyrean-blade

That is really really good. Is there anything else out there the last few years that has that speed/power sound like this? The German speed metal sound I suppose you would call it. I know Stormwarrior's Norsemen from 2019 satisfied that itch as they went back to their roots on that one but that style has been severely lacking the last few years.

I love this and want more!

I'm a big fan! Daniel John Miller is a really good vocalist. Having such powerful vibrato at such high ranges is incredibly impressive.

I think they sound a lot like early Steel Attack , though they are a bit rougher.

Even when I was a huge Dragonforce fan back in the day, I didn't much care for Ultra Beatdown, but it's been 15 years so I figured I'd try it again. There are definitely some bangers on there. Heartbreak Armageddon, despite having a very silly name, is definitely one of their best songs. The more restrained lead guitar is REALLY damn good, and they brought back the little jazzy break that I adore.

It's musical candy, but it's some of their most memorable stuff really. Their best stuff is always when they play harder and louder.

It's absolutely their most creative album. When you think of a Dragonforce chorus, this is the album where they deviate from that the most. It doesn't always work, like on the first 2 tracks where the vocal lines just don't flow well, but overall they nailed it.

I *really* need ZP Theart to be in another power metal band.

Been a while since I played much of them. Sonic Firestorm was my second album ever and it's a legit well written piece. "Soldiers of the Wasteland," "My Spirit will Go On," "Above the Winter Moonlight," and these great vocal harmonies and warm production - classic. Ultra Beatdown I like somewhat in spite of myself, but yes it does have a lot of crazy, cool parts and some really fun choruses.

Theart would be cool to hear in a more restrained, proggy band maybe. He has a killer voice. I never really checked Tank out at all. I ought to do that.

That Tank album with ZP is really not good, but it's more bizarre than anything. Just not a good match *at all*.

Shame to hear. I oughta try the band in general soon though.

Heavy Load never hit for me when I was young, but a buddy convinced me to give them another try.

I'm honestly floored. That main riff in The Guitar is my Sword should be mentioned in the same breath as Am I Evil, The Trooper or Thundersteel. Just fucking colossal.

I guess I'll take this opportunity to get this off my chest....

WHAT IN THE FLYING FUCK HAPPENED TO THE REST OF THE HEAVY LOAD REISSUES NO REMORSE RECORDS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING? THE WHOLE WORLD'S OVER COVID, MAN.

You've got the power! You can do whatever you want!

Figure I'll post it here since this thread is much more active than the prog metal one...discovered this insane prog metal masterpiece from 1995, Dreadnaught's Off Course. https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/D ... rse/572715

This is highly recommended for fans of stuff like Psychotic Waltz, Slauter Xstroyes, Brothers Grimm, etc. The way this band plays with rhythm is incredible, and the vocalist rules too...honestly with some of the keys and the vocalist's voiceovers on some track I get some Matthias Steele vibes too. Just some really out there, but very very well executed stuff. Here's a couple of the strongest tracks for those curious:







It definitely has a stronger keyboard presence than a lot of those old-school prog bands which could be a turnoff for some but for me it's rarely overpowering and usually integrated well into the songwriting. I hope some others enjoy this as I've never heard this band mentioned before! Cheers.

This second Bergfried EP is really damn good. It's drastically different than the first, and has a lot of what I might call "90s alternative rock" to it, but after a couple of listens it kept creeping back into my rotation.

Hey guys,neoclassical metal thread is here?

Hi everyone. I don't know much about the heavy metal revival of recent years. I only discovered the latest albums by Pharaoh and Portrait, which I loved. Could you recommend the best releases by "recent" bands in the last ten years?
(yes, I know, it's very broad... I'm really looking for the best of the best)
Thanks in advance!

Try Enforcer.I really liked their heavy/speed work.Skull Fist too.

A handful of my favorites:
Wytch Hazel - III (II and IV are also excellent)
Sacred Outcry - Towers of Gold (The debut rules too)
Blood Star - First Sighting
Luzifer - Iron Shackles
Tanith - Voyage
Glacier - The Passing of Time

You should also get caught up with Satan! Their entire post-reunion catalogue rules so far, though Earth Infernal might be my favorite.

This has strange vocals but I'm digging em.

By Fire & Sword - Glory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEbqiTIjc-Y

Tanith and Satan make for a cool yin and yang listen together; I ought to go back and do that again. Both wonderful.

Here are a few quality songs to keep you busy! It's a mix of modern sounding, old school sounding, speed, power, trad and epic heavy metal and anything in between.

Wolf is always a guarantee (Devil Seed, Feeding the Machine, Shadowland) - and if you haven't paid them any attention, their entire discography is gold (especially The Black Flame and Evil Star)

Since you mentioned Portrait (with the heavy King Diamond influence), Them is well worth checking out as well.

Heart of Cygnus plays retro heavy metal with a Rush finish. This song is one of my favorite songs written in the past years.

The triplet of Greek Epic Metal this year (Sacred Outcry, Triumpher, Protean Shield)

Enforcer's From Beyond is a great album, they have plenty of good songs before as well.

Visigoth's two albums are really good. Epic heavy metal, based on the obscure legends but with a clear and powerful production.

Eternal Champion, same thing kinda. More old school with a D&D, Conan finish.

Obscurest of the obscure: Chilean one-man band from the mastermind of Demoniac, singing in Spanish. Vortize.

Tower Hill had a great 3 song demo, very catchy, very enjoyable heavy metal, slight Running Wild influence, waiting for their album to drop.

Sanhedrin - Lights On, very good heavy metal with female vocals, the s/t song - linked here- is GREAT.

Speaking of female vocals, definitely check out Smoulder, Satan's Hallowand finally my goddess, Jutta Weinhold in Velvet Viper.

Black Viper, Speed Metal goodness from Norway. Great album but the demo was even better imo.

Riot City's two albums are a must.

Ranger - Mustache and old school speed metal, the chorus switch is AWESOME!

Armory from Sweden, speed, power, heavy, reminds me of the godly period of Scanner with the anthemic melodies.

Encyrcle- keeping with the speed metal theme. Denmark this time. Sadly they split.

Blazon Stone and the best song Running Wild never wrote.

Sumerlands- they are unique in the sense that they remind me heavily of other bands/songs often but at the same time sounding very unique. Definitely check out both their albums.

Dooooom (epic power doom): Doomocracy. If you like Solitude Aeturnus and Memento Mori, definitely give them a listen. Crypt Sermon is another great doom band of the past years. Memory Garden are veterans in that regard but released an amazing album two years ago.


Veterans:
Satan, as mentioned (insane streak of albums, one of the best reunions of all time)

Cirith Ungol's comeback with the insanely awesome Legions Arise

Diamond Head found a perfect replacement for Sean Harris and delivered this beast

Tad Morose made a great comeback. Especially the first album.

Riot - Take Me Back, they don't write em like this anymore.

Gotta mention Accept's Shadow Soldiers. One of the best songs of the millenium.

Wow, thank you for all these recommendations! I've got some work to do now haha ^^ Of all the things you've given me, I only know Eternal Champion and Visigoth, both of which I enjoyed. I know Enforced by name. The rest will be a pure discovery.
As for the older acts, I saw Riot V a fortnight ago and they put on the best show of the festival, I was blown away. Glacier were there too, and could have claimed the title, but the sound system failed them.

https://owlbearmetal.bandcamp.com

I'll timidly, in the face of this flood of recs, raise my hand for Owlbear and their debut album, which came out in August I think and is fantastic.

Tanith is pretty special. Architects of Time in particular sounds like nothing else.



I'll heartily second this! Owlbear rules.

A few of these bands are not new but I couldn't help myself. Also some of the old bands have had so many member changes that they are practically new bands. Lots of cool stuff already mentioned.

Helstar - Vampiro

Fates Warning - Theories of Flight

Dream Theater - A View From the Top of the World

Alcatrazz - Born Innocent

Stryper - The Final Battle

Angra - Omni

Narnia - From Darkness to Light

Sons of Apollo - MMXX

Eclipse - Bleed & Scream

Narnia - Ghost Town

Vultures Gathering - The Hunt

Alcatrazz - Take No Prisoners

Megaton Sword - Might and Power

Megaton Sword - Blood Hails Steel - Steel Hails Fire

Gatekeeper - From Western Shores

Wings of Steel - Gates of Twilight

Sacred Outcry - Towers of Gold

Wytch Hazel - IV: Sacrament