Power Metal 1990s Albums

Hatebreeder fuses cutting guitar riffs, rapid drumming and flamboyantly active keyboards into Children of Bodom’s distinctive attack.

Shadowland is Dark Moor’s debut, combining classical keyboards, fast guitar and story-minded melody.

Theater of Salvation combines the drive of fast metal with dramatic development, keyboard color and large choral hooks.

Stairway to Fairyland is Freedom Call’s bright, fantasy-tinged power-metal debut, built from soaring melody, brisk rhythm and sparkling keyboards.

Power Plant gathers fast twin guitars, clear high vocals and expansive choruses into a quintessential Gamma Ray power-metal record.

Metal Jukebox is a covers album on which the Deris-era HELLOWEEN reworks songs from hard rock, progressive rock and pop that shaped the band.

Unification builds steel-plated power metal from mechanical riffing, heavy rhythm and heroic vocal melody.

The Fourth Legacy gathers heavy riffs, flowing keyboards and narrative-minded melody into a grand Kamelot power-metal statement.

Nevermore's third album, issued by Century Media in 1999. It is a concept record following one man's slide out of his mind.

The Sacred Talisman combines fast rhythm, bright guitar melody and clear, soaring choruses in Nocturnal Rites’ power-metal mode.

Jaws of Death brings together thick guitar chug, forceful drums and piercing high vocals in Primal Fear’s heavy traditional-metal attack.

Ecliptica announces Sonata Arctica with rapid rhythm, sparkling keyboards and high, urgent vocals.

Fireworks threads Brazilian rhythmic character, progressive movement and delicate melody through Angra’s power-metal drive.

Blind Guardian's sixth album, issued by Virgin in 1998. It is a concept record built on Tolkien's The Silmarillion.

Vain Glory Opera gathers fast riffs, soaring high vocals and chorus lines made for collective singing.

Better Than Raw lets Helloween balance fast riffs, bright melodies and a sense of play.

Siege Perilous is an early Kamelot album that adds classical color and story-minded drama to melodic-metal power.

Return to Heaven Denied combines fast guitar, vivid keyboards and soaring vocals in Labyrinth’s dramatic power-metal style.

Oceanborn combines shining keyboards, fast guitar and operatic vocals in Nightwish’s symphonic-metal language.

Primal Fear’s debut presents traditional heavy metal with soaring vocals and heavy guitar riffs as its main weapons.

Symphony of Enchanted Lands combines grand keyboards, fast guitar and heroic melody in Rhapsody of Fire’s symphonic power-metal world.

Destiny uses fast guitar, shining keyboards and soaring vocals to create grand-scale power metal.

Twilight in Olympus joins classical harmony, intricate rhythm and powerful vocals in Symphony X’s progressive-metal world.

Something Wild is Children of Bodom’s debut collision of fast guitar and keyboard, rough vocal and classical melody.

Kingdom of Madness is Edguy’s debut, built from fast riffs, high-reaching vocals and heroic choruses.

Somewhere Out in Space brings fast riffs, thick choruses and futuristic storytelling into a large Gamma Ray concept.

Iron Savior’s debut combines heavy guitar, heroic choruses and science-fiction storytelling.

Dominion combines heavy guitar and dramatic melody with restrained classical color.

Angels Fall First is Nightwish’s debut, combining acoustic color, rushing metal and Tarja Turunen’s classical vocal presence.

Tales of Mystery and Imagination is Nocturnal Rites’ debut, layering fast riffs, lyrical keyboards and open vocals.

Legendary Tales is Rhapsody of Fire’s debut fusion of classical keyboard, fast guitar and fantasy storytelling.

Visions combines fast guitar, flowing keyboard and Timo Kotipelto’s high vocal range with unusual clarity.

The Divine Wings of Tragedy unites sharp riffing, classical-flavored keyboards and complex development in Symphony X’s major leap forward.

Holy Land layers power-metal speed with classical grandeur, Brazilian rhythm, choral color and acoustic detail.

The Time of the Oath brings Helloween’s power metal back into full view through racing riffs, bright extended melody and weighty choruses.

No Limits presents Italian power metal directly through fast twin guitars, bright keyboards and open, soaring vocals.

Nevermore's second album, from 1996. It takes its title from Timothy Leary's book of the same name and runs sixty-two minutes, closing with the sixteen-minute "The Learning".

Episode brings Stratovarius’s fast twin leads, grand keyboards and steady rhythm section into one broad flow.

Blind Guardian's fifth album, released in April 1995 and produced by Flemming Rasmussen: the last on which Hansi Kürsch also played bass.

Land of the Free puts Kai Hansen’s own lead vocal at the front and restores Gamma Ray’s sense of speed-metal uplift with real force.

Eternity finds Kamelot’s debut-era sound in the meeting point of heavy guitar and neoclassical melody.

Nevermore's debut, from February 1995. It is the first record of the band Warrel Dane and Jim Sheppard started after Sanctuary broke up, and two different drummers play half of it each.

In a Time of Blood and Fire is Nocturnal Rites’ debut, joining sharp riffs, speed and a distinctly Scandinavian melancholy.

Fourth Dimension introduces Timo Kotipelto and gives Stratovarius’ fast rhythms, flowing keyboards and high-reaching vocal a clear new shape.

The Damnation Game gains the powerful vocal of Russell Allen and brings Symphony X’s neoclassical guitar, heavy riffs and progressive construction into sharper focus.

Master of the Rings, HELLOWEEN's sixth album, brings in Andi Deris and Uli Kusch and returns the band to the drive of straight-ahead power metal.

Dreamspace is the third STRATOVARIUS album, with Timo Tolkki on vocals as well as guitar, joining neoclassical playing to an introspective, uneasy mood.

Symphony X, the self-titled debut by SYMPHONY X, crosses classical construction and neoclassical guitar with technical playing.

Angels Cry captures ANGRA at a point where the later image is not yet fully fixed.

Insanity and Genius finds GAMMA RAY in a phase that frames Gamma Ray’s fast German-metal drive and singable melody with a firmer riff attack.

Chameleon, HELLOWEEN's fifth album, steps far beyond the band's familiar speed-metal frame to try keyboards, acoustic color and pop melody.

Blind Guardian's fourth album, released in June 1992 as their first for Virgin; its sleeve of time-travelling bards gave the band its nickname, the Bards.

Twilight Time is an important early Stratovarius album, combining fast-moving riffs, flowing keyboard and Timo Tolkki’s guitar and vocal.

Sigh No More carries forward Gamma Ray’s early lift while adding darker riffing and a stronger sense of tension.

Pink Bubbles Go Ape finds Helloween moving into a lighter, more colorful song style after Kai Hansen’s departure, while retaining speed and lift.

Blind Guardian's third album, released in 1990. Kai Hansen guests on it, and it is the first record on which the band's layered choral vocals and sense of drama carry the whole album.

Heading for Tomorrow finds GAMMA RAY in a phase that combines racing riffs, layered chorus and narrative melody to paint power metal on a large emotional scale.