Power Metal, Pirate Metal, and Viking Metal

Power Metal:

Power Metal by itself is kind of ambiguous. To sum it up, its metal that utilizes high fantasy lyrics and over the top riffs. But even this is still limiting to what Power Metal is exactly. Let us go back to the beginnings with the band Rainbow. Rainbow was formed by Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple fame and the band Elf which had vocalist and lyricist Ronnie James Dio. Blackmore and Dio were the core members of Rainbow until Dio left for creative reasons in 1978. Dio then joined Black Sabbath for a time. He then formed his own band Dio, where he would continue into the realms of fantasy. Rainbow was one of the first bands to explore the high fantasy settings like in the one created by Tolkien. Dio contributed by painting picture of these fantastical things through his lyrics, having the listeners’ imagination paint the picture with songs like “Stargazer”, “Catch the Rainbow”, and “The Gates of Babylon”.

Since then, other artists have increased the influence of the genre, such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Power Metal is unique in that it is mostly, if not all, exclusively European. This music thrives in large audience venues. In Europe, there are many open air festivals that fit the bill. Power Metal has been described as “Happy Metal”. The sound can certainly be described as such. The themes of this genre can be from the fantasy of dragons and elves, to that of Conan the Barbarian.

This led to other sub-genres like Pirate Metal and Viking Metal. These sub-genres added more to the fantasy themes. I believe these two sub-genres are self-explanatory.

Pirate Metal:

Pirate Metal is more about the adventures and debauchery of pirates. It reflects more of a swashbuckler theme like in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, rather than modern pirates portrayed in the movie “Captain Philips”. None the less Pirate Metal gives that feeling of being in a tavern on one of those tropical islands where pirates frequented back in the day.

Viking Metal:

Viking Metal is very similar to Pirate Metal. But in recent years it has gone heavy with the immersion of Death Metal into the genre. Viking Metal innately already has a dark side to it because of the historic inspiration for the genre, the Viking raids in the 12^th century. While there are many great stories of these raids this genre doesn’t stop there. They also delve into Norse myths and legends.

The link between Power/Pirate/Viking Metal:

Each sub-genre has different aspects to each. Some may be serious in their lyrical content, while others are more about having fun. Each one of them is enjoyable and fun in their own way. This can be said for all of Heavy Metal music. Heavy Metal isn’t about being overly serious. It’s about relieving destructive emotions in a positive way and making you feel good. Of course if it happens to have a good message or point out things wrong with society, then it becomes more than just a feel good song. It becomes auditory art.