I’m always searching for u.s. power metal….i favor it more than the European style….

Can somebody recommend their favorite u.s. power metal band that they like?

I know all basic ones but metal archives has longer list of bands. I wish delve deeper into it…

Best U.S. power metal band I've ever heard was recommended by someone on this very forum. Noble Beast is hands down my favorite band in this genre and it's a shame they were a one album and done band and the circumstances surrounding it all. Oh well.

Most of my favorite albums are by well-known USPM bands from its apex period in the mid to late 80s like Jag Panzer, Omen, Helstar and Attacker, so I'll recommend that you check out Liege Lord, particularly their 3rd album Master Control.

I’m still exploring USPM, but the Metal Church debut is pretty good too.If you’re still okay with the band, you’re probably aware of Iced Earth’s Dark Saga.

These are some killer lesser knowns that I really enjoy.

Mystic Force - Eternal Quest
Recon - Behind Enemy Lines
Power - Justice of Fire
Screamer - Target Earth
Jack Star's Burning Starr - No Turning Back
Saint - The Revelation

Saint and Mystic Force have good discographies. The other bands either have 1 album I like or only made 1 album.

I'll second Liege Lord. All their albums are great, but Master Control is the masterpiece.
Crimson Glory's S/T is great too.
Stormbringer - Stealer of Souls is a deep cut of sorts, you might like it.

Crimson Glory, Griffin, Jag Panzer, and Helstar.

I've written a guide for the express purpose of introducing people to unfamiliar USPM bands! There's a link in my signature below. Feel free to ask me if you have questions about any bands. That reminds me, it's probably time to update it a bit as it has been a couple of years now since I originally put it together.

Indeed. I strongly recommend this album, as well as his recent albums. Stellar, ballsy USPM from the Virgin Steele founder.

I just discovered Mystic Force, and that album is absolutely incredible.

Canadian band, but Noor are one of my favorite discoveries in the last year or so:

https://rideintoglory.com/category/all- ... spm-guide/

This is all you need to get this journey started!

I will always use any opportunity I get to shout out the band Axehammer and their semi-unreleased album from 1987 called Lord of the Realm. One of the absolute best in the subgenre.

Some of my favourites:

Metal Church - s/t
Manilla Road - Open the Gates
Riot - Thundersteel
Savage Grace - Master of Disguise
Warlord - Deliver Us

It depends exactly what you're definition of USPM is, but Flotsam and Jetsam's first few albums are masterpieces. Their more recent stuff from the last decade or so is also excellent.

My definition of U.S. Power Metal is basically whatever it says on Wikipedia

List of bands

Manowar
Virgin Steele
Iced Earth
Jag Panzer
Manilla Road
Vicious Rumors
Riot V

Manowar's got 6 great albums from the 80s, so.....

Wow, that Noble Beast album is phenomenal, thanks for the rec!

Also, I second that Noor recommendation. Tasty, tasty riffs.

In some quarters, Nevermore has been classified as power metal. It's a little too dark for PM, IMO.

I remember when there was "metal" metal (Sabbath, Dio, Maiden, Priest) and newfangled "thrash" metal and those were your two major delineations.

I still get USPM confused with speed metal and, on occasion, "epic doom." To me, USPM should consist of something like Omen, Manilla Road, Cirith Ungol, and the like. But I understand that the "speed" factor is what makes all the difference...I think...

I think that only really applied to their self-titled debut because it sounded closer to a Sanctuary album than a Nevermore album, basically a darker and slightly more groovy sequel to Into The Mirror Black. Pretty much everything from The Politics Of Ecstasy onward was more progressive metal with a dark, groove metal template. But Sanctuary's stuff prior to their reformation and that half-assed de facto Nevermore album (minus what made Nevermore truly distinct, i.e. Jeff Loomis' playing) The Year The Sun Died is definitely USPM.

Playing the Lizzy Borden debut. This shit is like if you took Queensryche-calibre vocals and put some old Savatage riffs to them and it's just as awesome as that sounds - bands back then had the spark that just carried things with little more than that. Great, catchy, propulsive fucking songs.

But is it really "power metal?" My favorite Borden album, "Visual Lies", always struck me as being cast in the mold of a slightly heavier Twisted Sister or more melodic WASP. At the time, I considered them to be playing just plain "metal" with no prefixes, as opposed to Metal Blade peers like Nasty Savage or Witchkiller who were closer to "speed metal" or "thrash."

Power metal up until Helloween or so was as nebulous as any other genre. USPM just basically means any heavy metal from after Iron Maiden and Priest really codified the genre... I can't think of any 80s heavy metal from the US that wouldn't be USPM in some way. That's just the internet's categorization. Lizzy Borden have a lot of rock and roll going on but they're over the top enough to count.

It's one of those borderline examples, I think the primary sticking point is Lizzy's vocals and, the specific brand of theatricality that comes along with it. It gets a bit tricky because albums from this era like Iron Maiden's Powerslave, Dio's The Last In Line and King Diamond's Fatal Portrait have some similar theatrical elements and a similar sense of bombast/flamboyance in the vocal department. It's easier to put a grittier sounding band like Armored Saint or Twisted Sister into a strictly heavy metal box because of the greater hard rock element at play, and despite Blackie Lawless' overt theatrical presentation and occasional penchant for concept albums, the same basic distinction applies when looking at WASP's musical content and song structures.

With most early USPM the distinction is pretty subtle, but I think there should be a sub-genre line that separates albums like Queensryche's The Warning and Fates Warning's The Spectre Within from albums like Defenders Of The Faith and Stay Hungry.

I suppose it really is a case of "checks several boxes in either column." Certainly, I was aware that Saint Vitus were practically as far removed from Slayer as the Beatles from Black Sabbath. I've gotten better at categorizing genres as the years have progressed, but early "nebulous" examples still perplex me.

Thanks to Hells_Unicorn and Empyreal for the helpful hints.