EU-Power & Symphonic Metal

When the band Powerwolf formed in 2003, the members consciously chose to perform under artistic pseudonyms and cultivate a consistently staged band image, heavily inspired by religious symbolism, dark aesthetics, and a fictional setting. This image quickly became an integral part of their identity and continues to shape their style, stage shows, and lyrics to this day.

Legend has it that Powerwolf was founded by brothers Matthew Greywolf (guitar) and Charles Greywolf (bass and guitar), who met…

Arguably one of the biggest and most well-known Finnish bands of all time, Nightwish was founded in 1996 by Tarja Turunen (vocals), Emppu Vuorinen (guitar & bass), and Tuomas Holopainen (keyboards). They were joined by drummer Jukka Nevalainen and Sami Vänskä, who took over from Emppu on bass, before recording their debut album, "Angels Fall First," in 1997. The album offered a relatively typical keyboard-heavy power metal sound and would hardly have been special if Tarja's voice, the band's…

One of the most controversial metal bands of all time is certainly Sonata Arctica, founded in 1996 in Finland under the name Tricky Beans under mastermind Tony Kakko (vocals and keyboards), Tommy Portimo (drums), Pentti Peura (bass), Jani Liimatainen, and Marko Paasikoski (both guitars). Some like the band's highly melodic style, while others condemn its lack of heaviness. However, it cannot be denied that, despite all the controversy, the Laplanders have developed into one of the most…

Stratovarius formed in Finland in 1984, back then still under the name Black Water. Lineup changes were frequent in the early days, but by the time their debut album, "Fright Night" – by then retitled Stratovarius – was released in 1989, the lineup consisted of Timo Tolkki (vocals and guitar), Jyrki Lentonen (bass), Antti Ikonen (keyboards), and Tuomo Lassila (drums). The album offered power metal, which could be understood as a watered-down version of Black Sabbath, enriched with all sorts…

HammerFall was founded in Sweden in 1993 by Mikael Stanne (vocals), Jesper Strömblad (drums), and the string section consisting of Johan Larsson (bass), Niklas Sundin, and Oscar Dronjak (both guitars). Before the release of their first album in 1996, however, all but Oscar and Jesper had been replaced, so the lineup for "Glory To The Brave" consisted of Joacim Cans (vocals), Fredrik Larsson (bass), and Glenn Ljungström (guitar). The album was a huge success throughout Europe and marked the…

There's probably hardly a metal band that has released as many albums in its career as Rage. 21 albums have been released so far, and there's no end in sight. This, of course, wasn't foreseeable when the band was founded in 1984 under the name Avenger by Peavy Wagner (vocals and bass), Jörg Michael (drums), and the string players Jochen Schroeder and Guinness Grüning. Their debut, "Prayers Of Steel," was released a year later and offered some seriously compelling, high-speed metal. This was…

Dawnspiller from Ingolstadt take their audience on a varied journey through a world where reality and fantasy merge with their original compositions. A mixture of female-voiced progressive and melodic metal with a dash of psychedelic rock. A must for fans of Dream Theater and Symphony X.

With their unique blend of female-voiced progressive and melodic metal, Dawnspiller have found a niche that has earned them a loyal fan base. Their ability to merge reality and fantasy in their original…

Today one of the biggest German metal bands of all time, Helloween was founded in 1984 by Kai Hansen (vocals and guitar), Weiki Weikath (guitar), Markus Grosskopf (bass), and Ingo Schwichtenberg (drums). Their first album, "Walls Of Jericho," was released relatively quickly, was very well-received, and earned the band a certain reputation as a promising act. But when Kai, after the subsequent tour, no longer wanted to take on the double burden of singing and guitar, they made arguably the most…

Blind Guardian emerged from the 1984-founded band Lucifer's Heritage, which consisted of André Olbrich (guitar), Hansi Kürsch (vocals and bass), Hans-Peter Frey (drums), and Christoph Theissen (guitar). When Hans-Peter and Christoph left the band in 1987 and were replaced by The Omen Stauch and Marcus Siepen, the band renamed themselves Blind Guardian. Just a year later, "Battalions Of Fear" was released, which, with its fast, raw playing style, was very convincing and met with generally…

Gamma Ray was founded in 1989 when Kai Hansen (guitar) left Helloween and put together a new band with Ralf Scheepers (vocals), Uwe Wessel (bass) and Matthias Burchard (drums), which was more in line with his ideas. This lineup then released "Heading For Tomorrow," which sounded like the Pumpkinheads at the beginning of their career. Their second album, "Sigh No More," now with Dirk Schlächter as second guitarist and Uli Kusch, who would later also drum for Helloween, replacing Matthias,…