I had it in my head that I really liked power metal. In recent years I've learned there's a big difference between USPM and European power metal. The US variation led by the likes of Iced Earth I quite like. The European variety of Helloween and Blind Guardian, not so much. And when I bought a rather large selection of metal titles in 2015 / 16, most of them were in these categories. So I'll probably be getting rid of many more. But there's been plenty of surprises in that batch as well. In addition I'm throwing other metal styles in this post out of convenience.
Nevermore - The Obsidian Conspiracy. 2010 Century Media. There's some quality thrash in here (a genre I seem to never tire of) but overall it fell into that familiar Gnosis 10 range.
Savatage - Streets A Rock Opera. 1997 Concrete. I was an early fan of Savatage going back to their Sirens album (on Par no less - still treasure that LP!). They lost their way in the middle 80s and returned very strong on Hall of the Mountain King (which I also still own on LP from back then). These later albums sit on the fence between power and prog metal. Even hard rock. I had no interest in this kind of music in 1997. By 2015 I could objectively understand why people liked it. No emotional pull for me though.
Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side. 1999 Century Media (1995). The prototype for the kind of European power metal that I enjoy, but only so much. I'll be keeping the early Helloween albums, and probably a couple of others, and that's enough for me.
Sinister Realm. 1999 Shadow Kingdom. On paper I'm a big fan of doom metal. In reality, what I really enjoy are the bands that mix in some tempo and progressive ideas, such as Candlemass and early Trouble. Or Black Sabbath of course. A lot of doom metal albums stay true to the slow pace and go more for the oppressive atmosphere than trying their hand at more compositional thought. I never really loaded up on doom for that reason. Sinister Realm defines this thought pattern. It's the type of album I enjoy, but not enough to keep.
Revelation - Release. 2009 Shadow Kingdom. As above.
Brocas Helm - Defender of the Crown. 2004 private. I thought I liked this one more than I did lol. I still think I do for their first 2 albums. It's old school metal, perhaps of the epic variety ala Manilla Road. Which if you've read this blog enough, is one of my favorite styles. But this album came across to me as perfunctory traditional heavy metal rather than innovative. This one sold fast.
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