Mormegil wrote:Rebel wrote:Florian wrote:You've forgotten something : first, you're just talking about your tastes. Then, Gamma Ray is Kai Hansen's band, and Kai is the godfather of the genre.
I really think Kai's contributions are overrated in Helloween. Helloween are the godfathers of the genre, and that's thanks to Michael Weikath. Gamma Ray is just the project that spawned out of Helloween. If you have Helloween then you have the birth of the genre. 3 German bands is a bit unbalanced too
But the big four of thrash metal was all-American.
I too prefer Angra many times over the current Gamma Ray, but I don't think they have (yet) been nearly as influential to the genre. Rhapsody of Fire could be added to the lot, but in my opinion there's no way you can leave Kai Hansen out of this.
It's Kai's fault for leaving Helloween. Gamma Ray has been pretty bland, and uncreative, and I think without a doubt Angra's albums have been more highly regarded if you take out the "OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGKAIHANSEN"
If you look at it this way, there are three major scenes of power metal
Scandanavia
Mainland Europe
and South America
Scandanavia's power metal is all descended from Stratovarius
Mainland Europe's from Helloween
and the most significant South American Power Metal band is by far Angra
You could of course argue that there is a large United states power metal scene, but the best bands (Kamelot, Iced Earth, Symphony X) are all considered "Impure" by the real USPM fans, (Either for sounding very European, incorporating non-power metal elements, or being more prog than power)
But, you take those three bands, that lead the biggest schools of power metal, and the fourth, you take the most successful power metal band, Blind Guardian.