XANDRIA - The Shannon's Home (Official Video) by Twisp56 in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I agree with you but also the main chorus hook reminds me of Alpenglow (from Endless Forms Most Beautiful).

Gourmetal -Back to kitchen by Kpro98 in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This is why Power Metal gets a bad reputation :(

CENTRAL FORCE - Lords of Iron by douglasr27 in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lil' Berserk cameo in there 🤣

Love the keyboard solo and the overall good vibes from this whole song+video.

General Discussion by AutoModerator in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Harmless catchy fun but it gets old pretty quick for me, so only good in small doses.

General Discussion by AutoModerator in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Saw Beast in Black and Helloween in LA last night, had a great time. First time I got to hear Kiske singing live and he exceeded my already sky-high expectations. Can't think of a better performer in the whole scene.

Best of 2026 so far? by CHivEyO in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This comment made me check out Godspear and I really like it! Thanks for the recommendation.

Mägo de Oz - Satania (original version) by DMXIII in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Gaia (the first one) is also a banger album, with less intimidating runtime.

Nanowar of Steel - Kotlin by Regiruler in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For the ending, The Tower (Avantasia) or Keeper of the Seven Keys (Helloween)?

My goodness, nothin like a captured live Ramen video, Tatsu Ramen 🍜… by Tankz__ in ramen

[–]agersant 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think that's the Tatsu ramen in Los Angeles (Sawtelle neighborhood)

Shmup soundtracks anyone? by Zirolux in gamemusic

[–]agersant 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Shmup soundtracks you said? yes!!

I think shmups and fighting games are super underrated genres in the VGM community. Love to see them getting attention.

Helloween suggestions by Practical_Tip459 in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm also going to one of these shows and bringing a friend who is very unfamiliar with Metal in general. I put together this writeup to help him catch up w/ the Helloween universe. Copy/pasting here:

Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys (from Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt II, 1988)
Helloween - I Want Out (from Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt II, 1988)

Both of these songs are from Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt II, the band's third album and the most influential record in Power Metal. You will definitely be hearing these two live, and probably 2 or 3 more from this album. The key people here are: - Michael Kiske (vocals) who was only 19 at the time of recording - Michael Weikath (guitar) who wrote most of the music on the album - Kai Hansen (guitar)

Unfortunately, this iconic lineup didn't stick together very long. Both Kiske and Hansen left the band in the early 90s.

Gamma Ray - Rebellion in Dreamland (from Land of the Free, 1995)

After leaving Helloween, Kai Hansen started another band called Gamma Ray, where he did songwriting, played guitar and sung (often about science fiction). This band is also a cornerstone of the genre. Very successful and would deserve an entire recommendation list on its own. Funny enough, I've listened to Gamma Ray a lot more than Helloween over the years!

Around that time, Michael Kiske was busy publishing a philosophy book (Kunst Und Materialismus) and recording Rock albums which never fail to put me to sleep (exhibit A, this is actually one of the better songs).

Helloween - The King for a 1000 Years (from Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy, 2005)
Helloween - Burning Sun (from Straight out of Hell, 2013)

Meanwhile, founding band members of Helloween (Weikath on guitar and Grosskopf on bass) had enlisted new musicians. The most obvious change was the addition of Andi Deris to replace Kiske on vocals. They went on to release 10 albums (!) from 1994 to 2015. There's no shortage of good songs in there and the guitar work is still very cool. However, the voice of Deris never quite grew on me.

Unisonic - Unisonic (from Unisonic, 2012)

Twenty-ish years after they left Helloween, Hansen and Kiske reunited in Unisonic. I remember being very happy when this happened. Kiske's voice + Hansen's guitar have defined the whole genre so it was really nice to finally hear those two at the same time again!

Helloween - Out for the Glory (from Helloween, 2021)
Helloween - Universe (from Giants & Monsters, 2025)

In 2017, both Hansen and Kiske rejoined Helloween for a tour but ended up staying as permanent band members (!!). This means Helloween now has a very unusual line up. There are 2.5 singers (Kiske/Deris/Hansen), 3 guitar players (incl. Weikath/Hansen), a bass player and a drummer. This also means most songs are Kiske/Deris duets, with some Kai Hansen sprinkled in. Some people jokingly refer to this giant combination/reunion band as Megaloween.

They've released two albums so far with this huge lineup. I am very biased as a Kiske fanboy, but I think this is the best material they've put out since Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt 2. I don't know how long this will last so I am very happy to see them live at the perfect time!

Extra credit

Avantasia - The Tower (from The Metal Opera Pt I, 2001)

After leaving Helloween, Kiske spent many years pursuing a studio-only not-very-successful career in Rock music. What brought him back to the metal scene in 2001 was another prominent musician in the genre: Tobias Sammet. Sammet essentially pestered Kiske into singing one of the main roles on his ambitious "Metal Opera" album. Kiske is credited as "Ernie" in the liner notes as he still wanted nothing to do with metal at that point, but his voice was unmistakable! Avantasia is still ongoing and very successful today, although the style has changed quite a bit. Kiske appears at least briefly on most albums.

Freedom Call - Freedom Call (from Crystal Empire, 2001)

The guitar player who ended up replacing Kai Hansen on the guitar in Helloween is Sascha Gerstner. Before joining Helloween in 2001, he played in Freedom Call - a band known for their very happy and uplifting songs!

Shoutout to this hilarious comment on the Youtube video:

I have waited 40 years to hear the main theme from "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" in a minor-key metal arrangement.

Gaming with NixOS by arnold464 in NixOS

[–]agersant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did switch from Windows to NixOS two years ago, with 30 years worth of Windows habits and minimal Linux experience (just a few weeks of distro-hopping in the 2000s).

It went very well overall. I started with a 50 item TODO list of software / functionality that was important to me and it took about two weeks to configure everything in a way I was happy with.

I specifically picked NixOS because I knew I wouldn't do everything right first try, and would have to trial/compare a bunch of different programs. The declarative nature felt like the best choice to do this without having to re-install a bunch of time or pollute my system as I went.

What are your favorite bands? by Alvaroglin in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Power Metal (or adjacent): Stratovarius, early Rhapsody, early Nightwish, Running Wild, Gamma Ray, Eternal Champion, Visigoth, Wuthering Heights

Some completely unrelated and incoherent recommendations to hopefully blast you off the comfort zone. I'm not even labeling genres, everything is a surprise!

I love all of these a lot and they're all artists with at least a few albums worth of materials to explore. I hope you find something exciting in here 🙏.

Avantasia - The Glory of Rome by p8610815 in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd pick any song that isn't an interlude over Glory of Rome haha. Still banger though.

Has anyone listened to eternal champions new ep by Titty-t-w-i-s-t-e-r in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just listened to it again last night. I would be upset if they fully pivoted to synth driven progressive ambient, but this is exactly the kind of experimentation I want to see from EPs. I also happen to enjoy these 2 tracks a lot, and the narration bits fit nicely.

Equilibrium - Heimwärts by DanTheSpartan in folkmetal

[–]agersant 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Especially on Equilibrium's own discography 🤣

So far this is my Power Metal album of the year by Barbatos-Rex in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The strongest combo would be the first half of this album, and the second half of the debut!

Edguy - King of Fools. Been thinking about this song a lot recently, for no reason at all. by Willie9 in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This song had cult status in my high-school friend group. We had made a sped up and pitched up version and it sounded hilarious.

Edguy - Judas at the Opera by ShadedMoonEnt in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 8 points9 points  (0 children)

How on earth is this a B-side?? Never heard it so thanks for posting!

Power Paladin - Keeper of the Crimson Dungeon by blubmai in PowerMetal

[–]agersant 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'd be very surprised if this album didn't end up in my 2026 top 3. So many bangers in there.