Julien Vasseur
France

Julien Vasseur

Power, progressive, symphonic and folk editor. Conservatory-trained, left for a Blind Guardian show and never went back. The flamboyant one.

Power Metal Progressive Metal Symphonic Metal Folk Metal

Julien studied composition at a French conservatoire until a Blind Guardian concert made the decision for him. He has spent the years since writing about the parts of metal that care about arrangement: power metal, progressive metal, symphonic and folk, dressed for the occasion in velvet and rings.

He reads scores, he counts bars, and he will tell you exactly which key change a chorus depends on. His articles are long, technical when they need to be, and dry in their humour. He has strong views on choirs.

Reviews by Julien Vasseur

10 reviews · average score 8.4 out of 10

Hansen — Born with a Hammer 8.0

Hansen

Born with a Hammer

2026 · Power Metal

Ten years away, and the range is real even where the sequencing is not.

Julien Vasseur Sep 19, 2026

Green Carnation — A Dark Poem, Part III: The Messiah Complex 8.5

Green Carnation

A Dark Poem, Part III: The Messiah Complex

2026 · Progressive Metal

A final cadence worth the year of waiting, if you waited.

Julien Vasseur Sep 12, 2026

Kamelot — Dark Asylum 7.0

Kamelot

Dark Asylum

2026 · Power Metal

The orchestra wins every argument, and the guitars stopped having them.

Julien Vasseur Sep 5, 2026

Xandria — Eclipse 7.5

Xandria

Eclipse

2026 · Symphonic Metal

Beautifully engineered clockwork and a superb singer, circling a sky already mapped

Julien Vasseur Aug 26, 2026

Helloween — Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I 9.0

Helloween

Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I

1987 · Power Metal

The first true map of power metal, and only half the continent

Julien Vasseur Aug 23, 2026

Opeth — Blackwater Park 9.3

Opeth

Blackwater Park

2001 · Death Metal

Still water over a drowned forest, and every tooth still sharp.

Julien Vasseur Aug 19, 2026

Blind Guardian — Nightfall in Middle-Earth 8.8

Blind Guardian

Nightfall in Middle-Earth

1998 · Heavy Metal

Eleven songs of genuine grandeur, and eleven fragments that are not songs.

Julien Vasseur May 23, 2026

Evergrey — Theories of Emptiness 8.0

Evergrey

Theories of Emptiness

2024 · Power Metal

Swedish progressive metal titans Evergrey are set to release their fourteenth studio album, Theories of Emptiness, on Ju...

Julien Vasseur Jun 8, 2024

Kalmah — Kalmah 8.5

Kalmah

Kalmah

2023 · Power Metal

Despite its low profile on mainstream end-of-year lists, Kalmah's self-titled album is a remarkable addition to their di...

Julien Vasseur Sep 14, 2023

Therion — Leviathan 9.0

Therion

Leviathan

2021 · Death Metal

Listening to Therion’s early releases, which were a mix of death and doom metal with symphonic elements, I was curious a...

Julien Vasseur May 6, 2022

Articles by Julien Vasseur

HammerFall singer Joacim Cans performing live in front of the band's shield emblem backdrop Explainers

The Power Metal Band Logos, from Gothic Script to Chrome

Oct 1, 2026

Herman Li and Sam Totman of DragonForce playing guitars live at the Forum, London, November 2019 Genre Histories

Guitar Hero and Power Metal: The Song That Crossed the Atlantic

Sep 28, 2026

Sabaton, the five members standing in a city alley, 2025 Explainers

What Genre Is Sabaton?

Sep 25, 2026

A guitarist of Luca Turilli's Rhapsody looking down at a pale electric guitar in blue stage light, one hand at the bridge and the other on the fretboard, fret markers running up the neck Explainers

Power Metal Guitarists, Sweep Picking and the Shred Tradition

Jun 3, 2026

A festival crowd seen from behind, fists and horns raised, the lit stage and pyrotechnics beyond them Explainers

The Power Metal Underground and Its Fans

May 28, 2026

Gamma Ray guitarists Kai Hansen and Henjo Richter playing side by side under red and amber stage light Explainers

The Visual Language of Power Metal: Covers, Logos and Symbols

May 21, 2026

Grave Digger singer Chris Boltendahl with his fist raised and the microphone at his mouth, the guitarist beside him under red stage light Explainers

What Power Metal Sings About: Dragons, Battles, Faith and the Stars

May 14, 2026

Rhapsody of Fire guitarist Roby De Micheli playing live, lunging forward with a green guitar, the band's backdrop banner behind him and the drummer and keyboard player in the background Explainers

How Power Metal Is Recorded: The Studios, the Producers and the Sound

May 7, 2026

A band playing on the Faster stage at Wacken Open Air at dusk on 3 August 2018, with the festival field packed with people from the front barrier to the back, stage lights and a flaming horned hand blazing above the roof. Explainers

Is Power Metal Dead?

May 3, 2026

The five members of Angra standing together in leather jackets for a studio group portrait, the singer crouched at the front with one hand held out Explainers

How Power Metal Is Built: Harmony, Speed, Instruments and the Voice

Apr 30, 2026

A Battle Beast singer with eyes shut and mouth wide open, caught mid-phrase with a microphone in one hand and the other hand stretched out, in blue stage light Essential Albums

The New Power Metal Bands

Apr 26, 2026

The five members of Symphony X standing shoulder to shoulder in a black and white studio portrait, all in dark clothing Explainers

The Power Metal Subgenres and Its Family Tree

Apr 23, 2026

Vadim Pruzhanov of DragonForce playing a keytar on the Nova Rock stage in 2013, both hands on the keys Explainers

Synths, Eurodance and the Modern Power Metal Keyboard

Apr 20, 2026

Three members of Vicious Rumors playing on an open air stage, the band lettering on the backdrop behind them Explainers

Why America Turned Its Back on Power Metal

Apr 19, 2026

The five members of Unleash the Archers standing in a row on a gravel path under a wooden trestle bridge in a forest Essential Albums

The Essential Power Metal Albums

Apr 16, 2026

Sabaton on the stage of Tauron Arena in Kraków in 2025, the band small in front of a castle set under rigs of lights, the crowd's heads and raised phones filling the foreground Explainers

The Arena Sound: Shorter Songs and Bigger Hooks

Apr 14, 2026

The drummer of Fifth Angel with a stick raised behind a kit whose two bass drums carry the band name, a painted knight and fire on the backdrop Essential Albums

The Forgotten First Wave of US Power Metal

Apr 13, 2026

Sabaton on the Wacken Open Air stage at night, flame jets firing along a sandbagged stage set under a painted backdrop of skulls, with the crowd's raised hands filling the foreground Genre Histories

Power Metal at Number One: The Chart Records of the 2010s

Apr 10, 2026

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

The Power Metal Bands and Groups You Need to Know

Apr 9, 2026

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

Is Queensrÿche Power Metal?

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 Genre Histories

How Power Metal Kept Eighties Lead Guitar Alive

Apr 6, 2026

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

Refuge Denied: The Sanctuary Record Dave Mustaine Produced

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 Label Histories

Nuclear Blast and the Labels Behind the Power Metal Boom

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 Explainers

Power Metal Around the World: The Regional Scenes

Apr 2, 2026