Epic metal
Epic Metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music.
Lying between doom metal and classical American heavy metal with a balance between slow and solemn hymns and the occasional outburst into powerful mid-tempos, epic metal includes some themes found in epic poetry and fantasy themes; they're not the only themes, however, and lighter elements like bikes, women, and a healthy amount of self-apology are just as frequent. Bands include (early) Manowar, (early) Virgin Steele, Cirith Ungol, Omen and Medieval Steel from the US, some Bathory (band) (the Viking themed albums) from Sweden and more recently DoomSword from Italy. Recently, the Tolkien/Power Metal band Blind Guardian has been going in a more Epic direction then their earlier Power Metal albums.
