In scouring the vast amounts of reviews on this site, I came across a very startling gap in terms of the heavy metal/power metal represented from the old guard of the 80's. Obviously the term USPM means different things from speed metal bands to Savage Grace and Exciter, to more power and prog oriented bands such as Crimson Glory, Sanctuary, and Queensryche- but more subterranean acts such as Agent Steel, Warlord, Liege Lord, Helstar, Griffin, Vicious Rumors, Cauldron Born, Destiny's end and the abundance of power/speed metal bands seem to have been massively ignored in favor of Power metal of the European variety. Granted, the fact that these bands may not have such sprawling discographies as say Iced Earth, Manowar, or even Queesnryche may have implications for reviewing them, but the influence that these albums had especially on the European scene cannot be understated even in the face of the more renowned acts from Europe.
Apart from this, what are some of your favorite power metal/heavy metal from the massively forgotten time in heavy metal, and how do you see this type of music stacking up against our European contemporaries?
