Lots of great shit in this thread. All the kinds of stuff I like. I didn't think as many guys were into power metal as much as I am, although honestly I haven't liked much of what's new in that area for many years. I always go back to my favorite albums after giving them a rest for a good while so they can really hit me again. Late 90's through the mid 2000's there were just so many killer albums.
Sonata Arctica was one of my absolute favorite bands up until Unia. Even though they started out obviously aping a lot of "window dressing" from Stratovarius, what always set them apart from everyone else IMO was Tony Kakko's approach to melody in songwriting and his atypical voice. He wasn't singing in a light head voice all the time or trying to sound like Rob Halford. The melodies in their songs are so good and catchy and bring a lot of emotion as well, they are able to overcome the sometimes laughable english-as-second-language lyrical content. You come to accept that in a good hearted fashion in general if you listen to a lot of European bands. Hard for me to pick between Silence and Winterheart's Guild as a favorite album.
This song has some of their classic unintentionally funny lyrics but you can't deny the vocal melodies and harmonies:
My other favorite power metal band was probably Kamelot. They've been very hit or miss for a long time post-Ghost Opera. I actually love Tommy Karevik as a vocalist in general but to me there's no real replacing Roy Khan. Again this a band that for me was strongly defined by the approach to melody and the unique voice of the iconic singer. The melodic approach was a colaboration between Roy and Thomas Youngblood, the guitarist and main force behind the band, so some of that remains in the post-Khan period, but I really just don't like a lot of where the band has gone in its current iteration. I can always go back to albums like Karma and Epica though and get blown away by what they did.
The first time I got a hold of this album it hadn't been out too long and I wasn't really that into this kind of music yet. I had been so focused on underground death metal for years and had only just thawed towards more melodic death metal and some black metal and was simultaneously getting back into more traditional heavy metal stuff. The opening track of this album grabbed me hard and I probably hit repeat like 10 times.
