(333 pageviews. Half the number of the beast. Could it be a sign…?)
Power Metal took mythology and music to the next level with screaming vocals, melodic guitar riffs, and lurid lyrics. Early Queensryche exemplified this musical movement, otherwise known as Dungeon Metal. What we now consider guilty pleasures, back then were unadulterated badassery. Even established artists such as Iron Maiden had elements of Power Metal in their music. Whereas Zeppelin and others had used pre-existing storylines to inspire thier songs, Power Metal was more generalized fantasy. It was not specific characters and plots which drove this kind of music, but rather the universal motifs that these stories exemplified. Eternal struggle between righteous and wicked, vengeance and tragedy, hatred and victory… Even the more shallow aspects, such as bodacious babes rescued from grotesque beasts, had a certain degree of otherworldly significance.
However, Power Metal was unapologetically corny. In this way, it was able to reveal the Dionysian nature of Metal that a more refined subgenre may conceal. This veered off in two directions: On one hand, some artists realized how corny they appeared to the public eye, and steered their Metal in a more crowd-pleasing path. On the other hand, some artists saw an opportunity for profitable parody. Just as the modern Dethklok is simultaneously a mockery, a glorification, and an accurate portrayal, so were bands such as Savatage and Manowar. The songs were riddled with enough power screams and guitar shreds to appease the average Metalhead, while the lyrics and music videos were a blatant satire on the genre. Again, it was basically Dethklok for the 80’s.
(Sorry for the abrupt ending, but I had 30 minutes to type this up in the public library. Coming soon: Metal Mythos Part 3!)
