Friends, it’s that time again: End-of-Year List Season, bayyy-beeee! And for once, Comrades Voss and Kaplan got their shit together in time to lead off this most revered of Nine Circles holiday traditions with the stuff that matters most: POWER METAL.

(Kidding.)

(Kinda.)

In any case, 2024 felt like an exceptionally strong year for power metal. Whittling this here list you have on your screens down to just nine-ish entries felt like more of a challenge than it has in a while. We had a shit-ton of quality albums to pull from, but also quite a few that challenged our existing notions of power metal, and what to include or not include on this list. Do we count power-prog? What about symphonic power? Hell, there was even a power/deathcore album at one point, which — thankfully — you will not have to read about here.

Among them all, we eventually settled on our nine-ish. (You’ll see what we mean by that “-ish” shortly.) The list includes some long-awaited returns, a couple of truly refreshing “bounce-back” albums, and even a few repeat entrants from last year’s list. We’ve got some debut albums, but also some from bands with over 25 years in the game. We’ve got artists from seven different countries, spanning North America, Europe and the Far East. (Sorry, no Italian representation this year. But let’s be honest: after accounting for a full one-third of our list last year, Italy needed to give someone else a turn in 2024.)

But enough rambling. You’re here for the list, and dammit, it’s time to do the list. Without further ado, please join us in kicking off #BestOf season with the Nine Circles ov Power Metal in 2024!

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When is a 9C Ov… not a 9C Ov? When you sneakily cram two EPs in as your first pick in the hopes the math is correct and 2 EPs equal 1 LP…even though it’s two different bands. But how to NOT include the latest EP Alter from Connecticut’s Dialith, who I already covered once back in April’s Month That Was. Vocalist Krista Sion remains a powerhouse, and I’m still over the moon for the chugging attack of “Writhing Red” and that sweet sweet sax on “Ironbound”. On the other hand, how can I NOT include the latest EP (simply titled Lovebites EP 2) from my beloved Lovebites, who — after releasing a stellar double live album earlier in the year — came back with five new tracks that burn with the white hot fire of their previous stunner I called my favorite power metal album of 2023. Come for “Unchained” (not a Van Halen cover, sadly), stay for “Soul Defender” and everything else. (Chris)

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It’s no small thing to be able to serve up two high-quality releases in consecutive years, but… that’s exactly what Galneryus has done here. Twelve short months after spellbinding us with Between Dread and Valor, the Japanese quintet claims a spot on our 2024 list with The Stars Will Light the Way. As ever, the band’s “wow” factor is in just how many different ways they manage to completely excel at this stuff. In the upbeat “Lost in the Darkness,” for example, guitarist Syu and keyboardist Yuhki trade feverish, lightning-fast licks and make some of the year’s best prog ‘n’ roll. But just a few songs later, you’ll find yourself marveling at the impeccable sense of melody on more traditional, sweeping, power metal epics like “In Water’s Gaze” or “Voice in Sadness.” There’s also, just… any time Masatoshi Ono sings; if the dude’s performances here aren’t the very definition of “over the top,” then the term has lost all meaning. Stars is a thoroughly engaging album from start to finish, and a terrific continuation of Galneryus’ …basically entire-career-long run of stellar form. (Dan)

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This blurb is about Glyph‘s terrific, debut full-length, Honor. Power. Glory., but really, it’s about Glyph as humans. Let’s start with the music. In March, the band self-released Honor. Power. Glory., whose nine tracks combined a flair for lively, epic melodies with absolute brick-shithouse riffage. It was about as good a soundtrack for “entering battle” as you could possibly ask for. But not long after the album dropped, disturbing allegations emerged concerning the band’s vocalist. (It’d hardly be appropriate to discuss details here, but guess what? Google exists.) Glyph swiftly parted ways with said vocalist, and has continued to forge ahead. They’ve since made live appearances and studio re-recordings with guest vocalists from bands like Empress, Sellsword and Fellowship, all while continuing the search for a new, long-term singer of their own.

Believe women. And, in an increasingly fucked up world where shame, accountability and consequence feel like lost arts, take up your goddamn swords for Glyph for having done the same. (Dan)

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“Avenge! Avenge! Avenge!” The mighty Hammerfall return and while it’s nothing new, there’s comfort in the sweet sounds of a band that keeps on keepin’ on. You get plenty of solos, songs that namecheck the band (“The End Justifies”) and a whole lot of soaring vocals on the band’s 13th album, Avenge The Fallen. Singer Joacim Cans continues to be the crown of the band’s power, his voice weaving with a delicacy that can suddenly burst into a forceful gale. But what makes Avenge The Fallen sit higher in the band’s discography is a renewed emphasis on the guitars. You can’t get to “great” without both sides of the power metal equation, and on tracks like “Freedom” and the wicked late track “Burn It Down” the twin attack of Pontus Norgren and Oscar Dronjak are sublime. (Chris)

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D’you like songs about hammers? What about kings? Okay, well… I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy Hammer King. And I’m only being a little facetious, there. The German quartet’s always packed their albums to the brim with songs about both topics*, but also — more importantly — with quality power metal. And on full-length number six, König und Kaiser, that continues to ring true. For the most part, the album plays like a slightly weightier run-back of its predecessor, Kingdemonium — a bit more urgency to the riffs here, or a bit more heft behind the gang choruses there, but the same great feel for melody and hooks. If there’s a fault to be found, it’s that there’s hardly a change of pace to be had until the Middle Eastern-flavored late-album cut, “Kings of Arabia”; up to and after that point, you’re gonna be beat upside the head with meaty, uptempo, hammer and/or king-influenced power metal, and you’d better like it, dammit. Thankfully, these guys do it well enough for that to be an easy ask. (Dan)

_{* Seriously. Every album in their discography has at least three songs about hammers and/or kings. They are to hammers and/or kings what Andrew W.K. is to partying.}

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Forget the slightly awkward title; InnerWish are back after almost a decade to rip power metal a new one with guitars that are heavy as…well, heavy as a really heavy thing! Ash of Eternal Flame is everything I love about modern power metal – gone is the overdone reverb; these guitars have a bite that can rip your face off. Opener “Forevermore” has a propulsive riff causing my head to whip back and forth like the best thrash, and in vocalist George Eikosipentakis you have my favorite kind of power vocalist – capable of singing with soaring cleans but without sacrificing that dirt and grit that brings a real heft to the songs. I hate when power metal forgets to actually bring the power, and InnerWish never forgets. With superb, robust production, anthemic choruses, killer solos, and hey – why not bring Hansi Kürsch in for a duet on “Sea Of Lies” while you’re at it? Yeah… this is my power metal album of the year. (Chris)

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It will never not be wild to me how a guy I primarily became aware of through folk / black metal is just… consistently, absolutely slaying it with his heavy/power metal project. But that’s what we’ve got with Andrew d’Cagna and Ironflame. On Kingdom Torn Asunder, the band’s fifth album in eight years, d’Cagna continues to spew trad-flavored fire. Fantasy themes, harmonized guitar licks for days, and some of the finest, Dickinsonian wails the year had to offer. And okay, there’s not a ton of variety in the melodic cadence from song to song, and okay, I don’t think the band’s topped 2020’s Blood Red Victory — but hey, they may never do so. (That shit positively owned.) But fuck it: the eight stellar, rambunctious tunes on Kingdom Torn Asunder are still a shit-ton of fun. I dare anyone not to bust out a massive grin listening to, say… the ascending bridge guitar lick in “Majesty of Steel,” for example. Or the exhilarating, triumphant-as-fuck chorus of “Standing Tall.” Absolute, cheese-filled sex. Sex-filled cheese? (Who’s to say?) Collectively, it’s one of the year’s best retro metal trips. (Dan)

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I’ll let my review from back in July do most of my talking, here. But, in short: I wanted more from Orden Ogan, and got-DAMN, did Orden Ogan deliver. The Order of Fear felt like an instant classic on arrival back in July, and if anything, it’s only risen in my estimation since then. “Kings of the Underworld” is about as good as album openers can get. The gang choruses are all fucking mint. The ballad actually sticks the landing! And okay, “Moon Fire” is still a bit silly, but I don’t particularly care because just about everything else here is so top-notch. If Final Days had me wondering whether Orden Ogan had already hit their ceiling and were starting to regress, The Order of Fear blasts right through and starts a new ascent for the band. It’s 45 minutes of power metal bliss. (Dan)

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How do you classify Triton Project? Dan and I agonized over this forever (really, we just texted back and forth for about 3 minutes before deciding to include it), but in the end despite the very large progressive rock/metal influence there’s enough power here to warrant it on the list. And if I’m being honest, since discovering thanks to Dan a few weeks ago I’ve listened to it more than literally everything else on this list combined. Messenger’s Quest is the band’s debut and is this the first progressive/power band I’ve heard out of Thailand? Holy shit this album. Vocally… man, where has Sean Thompson been? I can hear comparisons to James LaBrie in his prime, and even some of the musical ideas have that Dream Theater sheen about them. And when your last three songs are 13, 20, and 28 minutes long you’re definitely veering into prog territory. But project leader Tanpawat Suttipong puts everything into each of these songs and brings so much drama to the concept of a lone messenger tasked with delivering crucial information from the king to a cold, distant land that the tendrils of power metal envelop everything in its path. I know I said the InnerWish is my power metal album of the year, but this is one of my albums of the year, period.

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That’ll do it for us, and for power metal in 2024! Thanks for reading, and make sure to sound off in the comments if you didn’t see your favorite power metal album here. (Or don’t. That’s fine, too.) Either way, enjoy the rest of 2024 and keep hold of the flame in 2025 and beyond.