Your way in
US power metal 1983
The American version, rawer and closer to thrash than its melodic European cousin.
- Heaviness
- 7
- Speed
- 7
- Melody
- 8
- Where from
- USA
- Tempo
- 150-200 bpm
- Song length
- 4-7 min
- Written about
- Battle and fantasy, Defiance, Steel and swords, Working-class American life, occasionally
- Vocals
- Sung
Why this one
| You said | US power metal | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singing When someone is singing, what should come out? | clean | 100% | ×3 |
| As heavy as it gets How much weight do you want behind it? | 7 out of 10 | 70% | ×2 |
| Quick and driving What pace? | 7 out of 10 | 100% | ×2 |
| The seventies and eighties Does it matter when it was made? | 1983 | 100% | ×1 |
| Normal How long should a song be? | up to 7 min | 79% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 91% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 5 answers you gave, weighted vocals 3, heaviness 2, pace 2, era 1, length 1 out of 9. US power metal leads the next by 1 point. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.
Five records, in this order
- 1Start one step outside
Judas Priest, Sad Wings of Destiny 1976
Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny. Before the leather, and already perfect.
- 2The one to put on first
Jag Panzer, Ample Destruction 1984
Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction. The best US power metal album, no argument.
- 3Then
- 4Then
- 5Then
The first is the entry point for Traditional heavy metal, one step outside, so the second record has something to be heard against. After it come US power metal's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.
If that is not it
-
Horror punk 87%
Punk with B-movie horror imagery, baritone vocals and mutant doo-wop choruses.
On the other branch of the tree entirely, and 6 steps from US power metal.
The way into Horror punk -
Progressive power metal 87%
Power metal choruses laid over prog structures and meters.
4 steps from US power metal, meeting it only at Heavy metal.
The way into Progressive power metal
Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.
What your answers ruled out
- Singing put 54 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Black metal, Death metal, Post-hardcore. Worth 3 of 9.
- As heavy as it gets put 13 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Rock and roll, Folk rock, Country rock. Worth 2 of 9.
- The seventies and eighties put 4 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Kawaii metal, New nu metal, Progressive metalcore. Worth 1 of 9.
- Normal put 13 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Progressive rock, Krautrock, Acid rock. Worth 1 of 9.
Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.