I figured I would go with a subgenre of rock that most people would be largely unfamiliar with…so prepare to have your mind blown away by the awesomeness of POWER METAL.
Power metal music is a relatively young subgenre, being able to trace its roots to bands in the 80s such as Motorhead and Dio, and more immediately to the speed metal of the 90s. These are some of the characteristics of power metal:
Loud, fast, and relatively simple drums: The drums provide a lot of volume and give all elements of metal the reputation for being “noise”.
Electric guitar: The front instrument of power metal is nearly always the electric guitar.
Clear singing: Unlike some other metal variants such as death metal, there is a clear vocal melody, usually sung by males in the upper registers.
Very high tempo: A vast majority of power metal music is very very fast, and the frenetic pace goes through the entire song.
Fantastic lyrics: The lyrics for power metal songs usually focus on themes of fantasy or of war, and finely toe the line between ridiculous and AWESOME.
I provided a relatively familiar example of power metal in the video below; anyone who has beaten Guitar Hero has probably heard (and been frustrated) by this song, and if you haven’t then sit back and enjoy 5 (abridged) minutes of awesome.
Listening Guide
0:11 -- After a short intro, the song begins in earnest with the introduction of the lead guitar and the drums in earnest
0:58 -- Here, the pre-chorus and refrain begin. The high vocals lead, and the lyrics of this section bring to mind the themes of fantasy and war.
2:27 -- In the background for the next 15 seconds or so, note the drummer playing a fairly constant and fast rhyhtm.
3:24 -- The extremely fast guitar solo. Here, the speed of the electric guitars is showcased in a responsorial format. In layman's terms, it'll melt your face off.
4:29 --The refrain makes its final appearance, once again bringing back the soaring vocals and dominant drum.
4:53 -- Rock.
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