The Magazine

The long reads. Genre histories told chapter by chapter, band biographies, the essential albums, the label stories and the portraits, written by the KaosMetal editors.

Narrowed to Power Metal. The whole magazine →

The four members of Blind Guardian standing in a row in front of a rusted metal wall for an official press portrait

The Power Metal Bands and Groups You Need to Know

Julien Vasseur · Apr 9, 2026

The singer of Queensryche in sunglasses at the microphone and a guitarist beside him on a festival main stage in daylight

Is Queensrÿche Power Metal?

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Apr 8, 2026

A Blind Guardian guitarist with his head thrown back, playing a red Ibanez on the Rock Hard Festival stage in Gelsenkirchen in 2022, a Blind Guardian wristband on his picking arm

How Power Metal Kept Eighties Lead Guitar Alive

Julien Vasseur · Apr 6, 2026

Warrel Dane of Sanctuary singing into a handheld microphone on a blue-lit festival stage at Wacken Open Air, 2012

Refuge Denied: The Sanctuary Record Dave Mustaine Produced

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Apr 5, 2026

An Orden Ogan guitarist singing at the microphone on the Rock Hard Festival stage in 2016, the band's painted banners and a drum riser lettered Orden Ogan behind him

Nuclear Blast and the Labels Behind the Power Metal Boom

Julien Vasseur · Apr 3, 2026

Rata Blanca's singer and guitarist playing at the front of the stage under red and white lights, a wall of amplifiers behind them

Power Metal Around the World: The Regional Scenes

Julien Vasseur · Apr 2, 2026

Yngwie Malmsteen mid solo with his scalloped Stratocaster, one finger raised to the crowd, his name lit on the screen behind him

Hall of the Mountain King: When Savatage Borrowed from Grieg

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Apr 1, 2026

Michael Schenker on stage with his black and white Flying V, one hand raised to the crowd, a wall of amplifiers behind him

Accept, Scorpions and the German Roots of Power Metal

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Mar 31, 2026

HammerFall singer Joacim Cans points into the crowd from the front of the stage at Summer Breeze in 2019, the band's shield emblem on the drum kit behind him

Glory to the Brave and the 1997 Revival

Julien Vasseur · Mar 30, 2026

The five members of Crimson Glory against a corrugated metal wall, wearing the silver mouth masks the band has used since its first records

Transcendence and the High Point of US Power Metal

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Mar 29, 2026

The five members of Judas Priest standing on the empty floor of a stadium in front of the stage, tour banners carrying the Painkiller sleeve art behind them

Painkiller and the Power Metal Question

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Mar 28, 2026

Blind Guardian on a festival stage, the singer at the microphone with a guitarist and keyboard player behind him, a crowd surfer carried over the heads in the foreground

Power Metal in the Grunge Years

Julien Vasseur · Mar 27, 2026

The five members of Primal Fear sitting together on a black sofa in a red lit studio room Chapter 4

From the Grunge Years to the Charts: Power Metal Since 1990

Julien Vasseur · Mar 26, 2026

The five members of Jag Panzer in black leather, lit against a dark backdrop for a black and white studio portrait

Ample Destruction and the Sound of Early US Power Metal

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Mar 25, 2026

Dave Murray playing guitar and Steve Harris playing bass side by side at the front of a festival stage

Is Iron Maiden Power Metal?

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Mar 24, 2026

The five members of Kamelot standing together in a candlelit gothic interior for an official band portrait

US Power Metal vs European Power Metal

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Mar 23, 2026

Ronnie James Dio in a black and white photograph, sitting on the front wing of a limousine at night with a lit tree behind him

Is Dio Power Metal?

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Mar 22, 2026

Phil Anselmo singing barefoot at the microphone while the guitarist leans into a solo in the foreground, the band name burning on the screen behind them

Pantera's Power Metal and What the Phrase Meant in 1988

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Mar 21, 2026

A festival crowd with arms and horns raised in the foreground, the lit stage beyond them and fireworks bursting overhead

Why Power Metal Belongs to Europe

Julien Vasseur · Mar 20, 2026

The five members of Fates Warning posed on a rooftop at dusk, one crouched at the front, air handling units behind them Chapter 3

American Steel: US Power Metal, the Heavier Branch

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Mar 19, 2026

Peavy Wagner of Rage close to the camera on stage, pointing at the crowd, his bass strap over his shoulder

From Speed Metal to Power Metal: The Bridge

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Mar 18, 2026

The three members of Rage standing in a derelict greenhouse, Peavy Wagner in the middle with both hands raised towards the camera

Teutonic Power Metal: The Sound of the German School

Julien Vasseur · Mar 17, 2026

The four members of Diamond Head standing together outdoors against a cloudy sky in a black and white portrait

How the NWOBHM Fed Power Metal

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Mar 16, 2026

The four members of Iron Savior in a studio portrait, Piet Sielck at the front pointing at the camera

The Hamburg Scene: Where European Power Metal Was Built

Julien Vasseur · Mar 15, 2026