Late to this thread, here goes!
Yeah I wondered that about Primal Fear myself. In fact, their drummer Randy Black is Canadian, he was raised in Edmonton and nearly every metalhead in the city knows who he is and the band he plays for, he's a local legend here.
I know that Blind Guardian and Iced Earth had extremely good shows in my area when they did their first cross-canada tours a couple years back, Iced Earth put about 1,000 people in a room in Calgary on their first go around, on their second they sold out in both Edmonton and Calgary with Symphony X, thought the venues were slightly smaller. Blind Guardian sold out a 700-person club in Edmonton and they booked an even bigger room for Calgary because ticket sales were going so well, I heard turnout was close to 900. Hell, Sonata Arctica comes through Canada very regularly in the past 5 years and always sells out (or close) in Edmonton.
Edguy did between 250-300 people here, Hammerfall not quite as much (a little surprised there) and Stratovarius was 150-200, but that didn't surprise me. Dragonforce was just here last month, but they played a smaller venue than last time. Kamlot and Rhapsody have never come through interior Canada, I don't think they've even done Vancouver, but maybe I'm mistaken.
That's all the examples I can give for power metal. Sounds like our turnouts tend to be better than many of the US examples I see here, but bands didn't start touring through here until about 5 years ago, I think Sonata Arctica was the first to come through I believe. We rarely get any of the great traditional metal, Saxon has never bothered. Manilla Road will play their first Canadian gig in Calgary in September.
Blind Guardian, IE, SX are the bands that can pack houses in terms of a prog power draw. Im not terribly familiar with HF or Edguys USA touring history but it seems like the (lets call them forefathers) were either USA based or SUPPORTED those bands on tour before they were headliner status.. Ill have backup on BG in later quotes....
HF went on tour with Death.. Thats really cool, but how many death fans would transfer to HF fans? Now let me ask you if HF supported BG in the USA how much more ratio of fans would they get? A lot more probably.
I'm Just saying some bands are to the point where they are so successful in other areas its either pointless or just "degrading" to 'support' another band in a territory that you are smaller in. You would never see HF support BG here in the states.. But BG has a much bigger spread here than HF.
Totally forgot about Blind Guardian. I would have to say about Blind Guardian, they probably do about the best in terms of the European power metal bands. I don't quite get how they've managed it though as I think one of their strengths simply is that they don't tour often here but when they do, it's a big deal and people go to see them. I don't think any other power metal band can do that.
Kamelot, Iced Earth and Symphony X I really don't consider because they're pretty much US bands. Kamelot's singer sure is foreign but still, it's mostly an American band. Nightwish is a different genre to me as Glenn said they have wider appeal and musically sound different for obvious reasons.
Yep...between being one of the absolute top bands in the genre and only doing a single NA tour for each album, which is roughly once every four years, they're generally assuring themselves a packed house. Perhaps they could tour more frequently to slightly less crowded venues and end up with more overall profit (or perhaps not), but it's safe to say they've found a formula that works for them.
- Its Blind Fucking Guardian. The Legendary Blind Fucking Guardian. Lol they are power metal incarnate and the ones that labeled it... Just ask VH1
- YES they only come around very few times... Believe it or not, it creates hype. Who here would hate to miss that one BG show?YOU WOULD NEVER GET TO SEE THEM AGAIN FOR 3-4 years!! NOOOO This shows in their touring. They toured their largest NA tour in 2010 with a bunch of bands that drew nothing before that as support. That's pretty ballsy if you ask me.
Kama and SX are killing it over here at the moment.. I'm curious to see how Kama does on a monday in st pete though (sep 10).. We will see... Bands like Firewind did shows like that and had maybe 75 there? its sad
But Kamelot I'm expecting at least 150... lets see!
There's been 0 new great Power Metal bands in the last 5 years.
You're going to eat those words very soon
I think there have been good power metal bands coming up in the last five years, but none of them have established the following that the bands that toiled through the late 90s and early 00s did.
The quality of releases in the genre as a whole really seems to have dropped off a cliff the last couple years too which obviously doesn't help.
The quality of releases is definitely down. When was the last time you had a power metal disc you could not stop spinning? I believe those cds were made in the dates you mentioned!
I think a lot of the new power metal Is also just needing more time to solidify itself.. a lot of the new bands are barely a third as old as some of the pioneers.
Sabaton, while not 'new' in the last 5 years, first hit the US less than 5 years ago and seem to be on their way to being a stable draw as a headliner. I don't know how their whole tour did this past May, but they packed the Key Club in LA.
I realize that it's debatable whether Sabaton are a 'great' power metal band, but in the context of drawing power, I'm not sure there's another relatively new band that could compare with them.
Sabaton is a band that broke into the market here the right way. Also being support on tours that will for sure gain you fans is a tremendous help... I would imagine that even the size of their euro market would effect a small percentage of the usa based crowd!
They are for sure able to do a small headliner tour over here in the states... New bands should ask themselves, They are making it happen and HOW are they doing it?
I'd say Nighfall in Middle Earth.... and that's been a while now.
I was going to say this in a sarcastic reply but you beat me to it hahaha
I think the problem is that these acts are tired of being "pioneers" of an untamed land. The reason why the Power Metal scene is in deep decline is because we never really had an "American" scene to begin with. It was like the old North American Soccer League back in the day: A bunch of foreigners, with few, if any, Americans that the casual US fan can call their own. Quick, name me five US-based power metal acts that have the capability to introduce acts on a mass basis. Those that could have saw their heyday in the 80's, and those that still exist are there for nostalgia purposes only. Sadly, those that have the potential to do so, like KatV, Seven Kingdoms and Aska, have never been given the chance to do so no matter how hard they have worked. Even bands like Manilla Road, Helstar and Sanctuary, can barely scratch out a music existence despite their histories. So, if you are one of the acts from Europe, why should be the builder of a scene that may or may not exist on its own?
What also shocks me is how in the hell do these guys not get paid? Are there not contracts? Are their managers robbing these bands blind? Or, are they plain incompetent?
Just these two facts alone would make anyone spooked of touring the US, never mind the ball-busting the USCIS gives you in order to protect non-existent American artists.
I have not 'tried' my hardest yet... Seriously, though you guys will see how much noise I'm going to make to try and get you people to turn your heads. haha
but look at the record industry - BG had 1,400 copys first week and pretty much won the heatseekers chart for that - Theocracy sold 700 first week and charted... Compare those numbers to years ago...
There are no contracts like their 'used to be' I suppose, and with the record sales looking like this, would you blame the labels? You think record labels will play for no money?! haha only bands do that...
The only real way a new band can make a big growing fanbase today is to support a bigger band that you could appeal to their fans with. This is 1) usually very expensive and 2) you have to have a very well connected agent or manager booking you. Given the state of the USA's prog power scene there is only a few tours that would be amazing for a new prog/power band and well... good luck getting on those hahaha
Bands are doing more now (or just giving up - Abigail Williams - and then marketing it to make more people show up on their 'last' tour) than they ever had for less numbers.. I ask myself sometimes why am I doing this but its because its something I love to do. I also look at it as a competition and that keeps me going
And come on. At least I can say I never gave up; thats just a general cop out in life.
I'd argue The Black Halo.....but still, that's an oldie.
Regarding the bands mentioned in the initial post:
Edguy - no new album out
Dragonforce - major lineup change, nobody plays Guitar Hero anymore, did US dates a month or two ago
Sonata Arctica - I dunno
Primal Fear - never been a draw in the US
Hammerfall - rarely toured the US
Stratovarius - rarely toured the US
So really, IMO it's only strange that Sonata isn't touring here. Hammerfall was kind of a one-off thing as they've never toured the US much to begin with. Stratovarius didn't do that many tours and those that they did weren't even all that extensive. Nobody in this country cares about Primal Fear and I imagine we'll see an Edguy tour once they have something to promote.
I 100% agree with Cheiron. Every other style of metal has had newcomerS rise to headlining status, whether you're talking US or worldwide. The only new big power metal band is Sabaton. A genre on the decline indeed.
You forget that there is a huge age gap between sabaton and some still very very young bands. and then another gap between sabaton and say BG... Give it some time man, Give it some time haha
but yes, I cannot disagree on the lack of good releases from MOST of the pioneer bands.. Like the ones listed which one honestly besides Strato has a really power metal disc? Edguys cd was a joke, litterally, Hammerfall was trying something new following SA. Im a huge fan of these bands and im not sure I would go even see SA or Edguy if they said they were going to play all new material.
"Age of the Joker" came out in August 2011 and they haven't done any US touring for it. Considering how the Tinnitus Sanctus headlining tour went, that doesn't surprise me, but the issue isn't that they have nothing to promote.
HAHA its just too easy man.
Powerwolf is currently building empire in Europe with no real interest in the States yet.
Trust me on that.
They are smart
Wow, all I can say is I am shocked that you are all letting the poster get away with the claim that the last good power metal release was NIGHTFALL IN MIDDLE EARTH. Not to slam the newbies, but I bet dollars to donuts that many here weren't even into metal when that album came out. Amazing how trends change with the times.
Though, and I know its only my opinion, its certainly not the result of lack of talent or good songwriting.
Maybe power metal from the US isn't as hip to the American crowd as if it were sung by a European!
Thank you! let me bask in the re incarnation of power metal that i never got to live through. Screw all of you for living in the prime day!!! hahahaa
Just playing devil's advocate here, but not sure how people have factored in the economy in all this. Trying to get people to support a scene financially speaking when the finances aren't there is the biggest problem facing the touring industry right now.
Choices are being made and some show attendance is suffering, but some isn't. I hate to say it, but the industry is coming to a point where we weed out the weak so to speak. There just isn't enough money and interest to go around in the live arena for all bands.
I stopped touring in 2009 because of show attendance slipping and the economy was bad then, but it's even worse now for bands. I decided to focus my efforts on something else until people had money to spend and the competition on the summer touring market wasn't as fierce. It was brutal competing in nearly every town with anywhere between 1-3 shows. It got to a point of being ridiculous. Now some of the bigger markets can EASILY hand that, but smaller markets cannot.
There is a club here in town that has been around for nearly 30 years but is on verge of closing down because nobody is coming to shows. It sucks, but this is where we find ourselves in 2012.
and gas prices still killing small touring bands AND the fans that cant make it out to a show mid week. If you had an extra $100 in your pocket a week what would you do with it?
I am not sure if declining interest is not the result of declining quality. My personal opinion is that genre has just stagnated for whatever reason, not sure why. For me the '90s was easily the power metal hayday and hasn't or just can't be matched. All the '90s Blind Gurdian is pheonominal, Land of the Free and Somewhere Out in Space for Gamma Ray can't be touched. Glory to the Brave(the album that got me into power metal) and Legacy of Kings for Hammerfall. Master Of The Rings, Time of The Oath and Better Than Raw for Helloween. Hell, even '90s Running Wild is amazing (Black Hand Inn). And don't even get me started on Rage, I love all their stuff, but I know better than to compare their new stuff to their old stuff, it's not as good. The only recent release that has really opened my eyes is the The Art Of War.
I've been listening to stuff from Mystic Prophecy lately and for whatever reason, nothing stands out. Don't get me wrong it is good music, but I can't think of a song that reaches out and forces me to sing along with it like Beyond The Black Hole or Vahalla always do.
I just get the feeling that all that can be done in this genre seems to have already been done. I really hope something comes along that proves me wrong on this.
I think what can happen with the Genre now is something like a "Dramatic Re-Imagining".... Everything in the Genre has been done for the most part. Its up to some fresh minds to put fresh twists on it now.
