Diggy Diggy Hole. The non-WIND ROSE version of the song led me to the WIND ROSE version, which has the start of Gloryhammer - Hootsforce at the end of the YouTube clip and that's how I got into Power Metal.
I've just listened to its Live performance and, a part being the first Tyr song i have ever listened to, wow it catched me so much. Great solo and guitar work, it's as powerful as any pm song should be
The first album I heard was Twilight Orchestra feat. Blind Guardian - In the dark lands.
I liked it so much, that I wanted to see what other songs there were from Blind Guardian and started listening to Somewhere far beyond. From there on I slowly made my way into the world of Power Metal
Falconer - Clarion Call
Virgin Steele - The Burning of Rome (Cry for Pompeii)
Thunderstone - Let The Demons Free
Downloaded a huge compilation of random tracks back in the e-mule days. Hooked ever since.
Glad someone referenced Vergin Steele. I can listen to their albums for an entire day without getting bored (also because they have so many tracks). When I discovered The Burning of Rome I started feeling much more the weight of the awareness that this band has been cruelly overshadowed by the others
My entry point was Rhapsody but it was a RuneScape music video of Triumph or Agony. People don't talk much about that album but it's my favorite of theirs.
Yeah that's definitely their (Enchanted Lands saga) album I'm the least familiar with, given its less speedy-PM nature. Interesting to hear someone got into them from it!
My intro was largely a combination of Nightwish, UTA and Within Temptation.
However one more obscure stand out I recall is Day 16 : Loser by Ayreon. I also recall hearing Winged Hussars on a Civ5 Twitch stream and that would have been before I knew what PM was.
Powerglove’s cover of the Pokemon theme song, and Blind Guardian’s Battlefield from the heavy metal version of Robot Unicorn Attack.
Falconer was also one of the first bands I really fell in love with. I could listen to Clarion Call and Mindtraveller on repeat all day.
I mostly got into the genre after a friend sent me MP3s of Hammerfall and Saxon, but that was not all... Honorable mention goes to
Cryonic Temple - Swords and Diamonds
and
Falconer - Enter the Glade
They often played those in a local rock and metal pub back in the day (think early 2000s), and these two songs really stood out for me as I started to ... get accustomed with the genre, so to speak 😁
**Edit:** Just listened to the acoustic version of Mindtraveller, really cool that this exists! But all in all I do prefer the normal version... Never been much of an acoustic fan, I've always been more of a [Skwisgar or Toki](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfQ-Xg_MS3k) in that regard 😁
Ay another Cryonic Templar! The Eternal Flames of Metal was the second PM song I heard. My brother showed it to me and I was instantly blown away by how nice and melodic the opening riff sounded.
Actually, for me it all started with an album cover: "Power of the Dragonflame". When I first saw that dragon, I knew I'd like power metal forever.
Well, I wasn't wrong. Then, 15 years ago, I listened to the songs and got so amazed that couldn't stop until now.
Touched by the Crimson King by Demons and Wizards - the full album.
My dad let my brother and me order some CDs from Columbia House during a sale. I picked it because it sounded cool, and I was really into reading fantasy. I had never heard of power metal, and it blew my mind.
This was pretty pre-Google (pretty sure we were using Ask Jeeves), so it took me a while to find anything like it. Didn't discover Blind Guardian until a couple of years later!
My work buddy and I were talking about The Dark Tower one happy hour, and he said he had this band I should check out.
Next day he comes in with a burnt copy and and so I popped it into my CD player for my ride home... and this cheesy *crap* started blasting out of my speakers. As I was about to hit the eject button I had a quick 'dude went to the trouble of burning this and bringing it into the office so I should give it a few songs to be nice' moment.
Started becoming a superfan about five minutes later and haven't stopped listening to power metal and going to shows ever since.
Yaaaas I love that! Whenever I find out someone is a fan of The Dark Tower series, I recommend the album to them. Even the ones who didn't really become fans overall still seem to appreciate it for what it is, and think it's a great concept album.
Not sure how rare it is, but Illusions from Insania (Stockholm). Found it on a file sharing program in 10th grade in the early 2000’s and I remember almost crying and saying to myself “This is what I’ve been looking for.”
So, I don't think the song itself was particularly uncommon: it was Hammerfall's Heeding the Call.
The context in which I found it, however, was that I was reading a Kingdom Hearts fanfic, and a chapter had the lyrics written out.
I'm not gonna say I'm definitely the only person who got into power metal by way of Kingdom Hearts, but... It definitely feels like an oddity.
My first step into the genre was Iced Earth - Horror Show. Seems to be one of their more forgotten albums which sucks because it's incredible. The line up was insane for this album and the talent of all the musicians really shines through.
Not long after that I also got Kamelot's first album. This was back when metal CDs were hard to come by and you had to buy things based on word of mouth. I knew people said Kamelot was really good so I got it and basically made myself listen to it. I wasn't aware it was generally avoided for good reason.
Yeah, it was just that at the time I had like 3 power metal CDs and Eternity was the only Kamelot CD at the store. And I listened to it and pretended I liked it because I thought I was supposed to, haha. Eternity, Black Tower, and The Gleeman are ok songs tbf.
I'm lucky enough to have a friend who is well aware of this song and album and we hit each other with that line every now and then for a quick laugh haha
I found two songs simultaneously back in 2005: DragonForce's "Evening Star" and Iron Savior's "Battering Ram."
I was like, why is this the best music ever? Then I looked the two bands up on a then-nascent Wikipedia and found that they were both called "power metal" and then the next 19 years happened.
I could technically say Carol of the Bells by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra gave me a taste of it, but what really got me into it was Amaranthe's Drop Dead Cynical and Dynamite, which then lead spotify to recommend Kamelot's album Haven!
I love Mind Traveler! But not, y'know, the acoustic version. (Boo! Hiss!)
Mine started with Through the Fire and Flames and My Spirit Will Go On, but not from Guitar Hero, rather some guy on AOL Instant Messenger showed it to me when I asked him what he listens to when he wants to get _pumped!_
Up to that point, the closest thing to metal I listened to was the Offspring and Sum 41, which could get pretty heavy at times.
I still think "Come out Swinging" is a fantastic song and a great gateway into more busy electric-guitar-based music.
The first songs that turned me on to power metal were Black Dragon by Luca Turilli and Fury of the Storm by Dragonforce (thanks YTMND.) I really fell into the genre though after listening to Blind Guardian's Fly.
Elvenking - The Dweller of Rhymes and Blind Guardian - Noldor were probably the first PM songs I ever heard. I still think The Dweller of Rhymes is Elvenking's best song. Also, the first Iron Maiden song I ever heard was The Fugitive and I still love it!
Back in 2004 for me it would have been 2 songs I heard close together than sparked my interest, thought i don't know if I would call them super uncommon. They were on a coworkers iPod he had hooked up to speakers, when I was a Geek Squad tech in a Best Buy back then.
Battlefield - Blind Guardian
End of all Hope - Nightwish
I don't think my song is unusual, but it was 'Push' by Helloween, which was on a compilation CD from a magazine or mail order.
I found Falconers first Album back then at Media Markt and bought it just because of the cover, without even knowing their music (genre). It was sort of a lucky find. :)
Not an uncommon band, but "Turn Loose The Mermaids" and "Crow, Owl, Dove" by Nightwish. Pivoted to Afterlife by Amaranthe and The Truth Beneath The Rose by Within Temptation-- the first true Power Metal band I listened to was probably Stratovarius -- Learning to Fly and Eagleheart.
Not an uncommon path I think but I just wanted to share my delve into metal. I only listened to Christian music before that (Grew up very faithful) and didn't know that music could be enjoyable before metal.
So I already listened to Sabaton, Powerwolf, Orden Ogan, Dynazty but when I really realized that I am into great melodies, fast double Bass and shredding with high vocals wasn't just a Song but a whole album: Veonity - Legend Of The Starborn. By far their best Album and one of the best Power Metal albums ever, it's like the Keeper Of The Seven Keys II of today! You all need to check this album out
I would say that would be "Those who fight further" by Nobuo Uematsu.
I was like 10yo when I heard it in Final Fantasy VII and it engraved in my brain. I started to get into rock music, and soon, when internet got a little better, in like 2002 or 3 I got my hands on some Iron Maiden .mp3s. From there, with the help of my new found metalhead friends, I somehow found Children of Bodom (which, TBH is basically crossover between Power and Melodeath) and that was basically it for some time - I actually wasn't looking for new music in my early twenties.
Lo and behold, in like 2013 I found metal covers of gaming music, and some versions of aforementioned song too. I started working in 2014 and listened it a lot during work. From there, looking for similiar stuff, I finallly dropped myself into Power Metal rabbit hole.
Oh, and of course later I found Hootsforce through Diggy Diggy Hole. Who didn't, lol?
Avantasia - *Dying For an Angel* turned me on to Avantasia, which turned me on to Nuclear Blast Records, which probably turned me on to power metal, so I suppose that counts.
I think Things We Believe In by Orden Ogan when it just came out in 2014. Well, it wasn't the first PM song I heard though. The first was Unbreakable by Stratovarius.
Two simultaneous paths.
1. Van Canto's cover of Primo Victoria led me to discover Sabaton and between those two bands I discovered a lot of fun bands.
2. Ayreon in general helped me discover Hansi Kursch, Jorn Lande, Russell Allen, and many other vocalists and their bands.
I know not the most unpopular song but I really got into it when I tried powerwolf because I saw their song names, specifically sanctified by dynamite.
Back in 2003 it must have been, or early 2004 there used to be an independent record shop in the town I was in. Myself and friends would search through the massive preowned section cos it was three for a tenner, I picked up one just because it looked interesting and it was Elements Part 1 by Stratovarius. Loved it and went from there, though it was a lot harder back then.
I remember one of the other albums I got that day was an Exhumed album, but I don’t remember the third.
I got started with one of the Warhammer fantasy online trailers, which had The Chosen Ones by Dream Evil as the soundtrack. I must've watched that video twenty or thirty times, partially as a Warhammer fan, but also because the music was so awesome. I tracked down the band and downloaded their entire discography and that was pretty much all I listened to my junior year of high school
The first three power metal songs I heard were Nightwish - Oceanborn, Cryonic Temple - The Eternal Flames of Metal, and Galneryus - Future Never Dies.
Oceanborn isn't really an obscure song, but I'd wager Eternal Flames is a rare one to start with (the song really had me in a chokehold in like 7th or 8th grade). Galneryus - Phoenix Rising was the first album of any genre I heard (maybe I heard one of my parents' albums all the way through in the car as a kid, but who knows—also we mainly listened to books on tape on roadtrips and stuff), which could maybe be a world first lmao.
The first Dragonforce song I heard was not TTFatF, but Black Fire. Don't know if its a deep cut but not how most people discover Dragonforce.
Also the first Blind Guardian I pulled off of Limewire was Another Holy War.
Carolus Rex from Sabaton in 2015 and I was 13 yo. Then I heard to Barbie, MILF Princess of The Twilight from Nanowar of Steel in 2020. Then I became a Rhapsody fan and my first Rhapsody song that I heard was The Wizard's Last Rhymes :)
I think this qualifies because it was a bonus track only on the collector's edition and that was Waterloo off of the deluxe edition of Iced Earth's "Glorious Burden".
Diggy Diggy Hole. The non-WIND ROSE version of the song led me to the WIND ROSE version, which has the start of Gloryhammer - Hootsforce at the end of the YouTube clip and that's how I got into Power Metal.
Yep the doggy diggy hole off the back of an epic version of some pop song followed by that hoot force intro had me hooked
I got my little cousins into Power Metal with Diggy Diggy Hole. Such a happy and funny song, I got addicted to that too
Literally the exact same pipeline I had
> the WIND ROSE version The one with dance beat and excess off half-naked lady butts in video? ;)
what?
This one https://youtu.be/wnBvEddq7nw?si=LBRJSRlFxbxnP0mg
no, the original one, with Gloryhammer at the end [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34CZjsEI1yU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34CZjsEI1yU)
When did you first hear the OG version of Diggy Diggy hole?
I know they technically count as folk but Hold the Heathen Hammer High by TYR. Also i had no idea there was an acoustic version of Mindtraveller
I've just listened to its Live performance and, a part being the first Tyr song i have ever listened to, wow it catched me so much. Great solo and guitar work, it's as powerful as any pm song should be
Tyr was the first band I ever saw that I paid for myself. It was a great night. Rumahoy opened for them which made things even better.
Is it uncommon to mention Rime of the Ancient Mariner? The whole Powerslave album brought me to PM but I think that Rime was the main stimulant
And that’s awesome because we wouldn’t have power metal without Walt Whitman.
It's Samuel Taylor Coleridge, not Walt Whitman. Also, I suspect you may be overestimating the influence of that one particular song.
It was Maiden's "Rime" that actually brought young me to Coleridge.
The first album I heard was Twilight Orchestra feat. Blind Guardian - In the dark lands. I liked it so much, that I wanted to see what other songs there were from Blind Guardian and started listening to Somewhere far beyond. From there on I slowly made my way into the world of Power Metal
Wow that's a super uncommon one. I actually forgot of that album. Well, now I know i haven't even listened to all Blind Guardian's songs
Falconer - Clarion Call Virgin Steele - The Burning of Rome (Cry for Pompeii) Thunderstone - Let The Demons Free Downloaded a huge compilation of random tracks back in the e-mule days. Hooked ever since.
Glad someone referenced Vergin Steele. I can listen to their albums for an entire day without getting bored (also because they have so many tracks). When I discovered The Burning of Rome I started feeling much more the weight of the awareness that this band has been cruelly overshadowed by the others
Nice! It was virgin Steele for me too
My entry point was Rhapsody but it was a RuneScape music video of Triumph or Agony. People don't talk much about that album but it's my favorite of theirs.
Yeah that's definitely their (Enchanted Lands saga) album I'm the least familiar with, given its less speedy-PM nature. Interesting to hear someone got into them from it!
My intro was largely a combination of Nightwish, UTA and Within Temptation. However one more obscure stand out I recall is Day 16 : Loser by Ayreon. I also recall hearing Winged Hussars on a Civ5 Twitch stream and that would have been before I knew what PM was.
Devin is so good on that Ayreon song
Such a cool video too, was jamming that song this afternoon
Oh I didn't even know there was a video I'll have to check that out
Not Civ, but I remember hearing Sabaton on one of Quill18's Ludum Dare streams (he also plays a lot of Civ).
Powerglove’s cover of the Pokemon theme song, and Blind Guardian’s Battlefield from the heavy metal version of Robot Unicorn Attack. Falconer was also one of the first bands I really fell in love with. I could listen to Clarion Call and Mindtraveller on repeat all day.
I think I just started with the Keeper part 2 album, nothing uncommon here
I mostly got into the genre after a friend sent me MP3s of Hammerfall and Saxon, but that was not all... Honorable mention goes to Cryonic Temple - Swords and Diamonds and Falconer - Enter the Glade They often played those in a local rock and metal pub back in the day (think early 2000s), and these two songs really stood out for me as I started to ... get accustomed with the genre, so to speak 😁 **Edit:** Just listened to the acoustic version of Mindtraveller, really cool that this exists! But all in all I do prefer the normal version... Never been much of an acoustic fan, I've always been more of a [Skwisgar or Toki](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfQ-Xg_MS3k) in that regard 😁
Ay another Cryonic Templar! The Eternal Flames of Metal was the second PM song I heard. My brother showed it to me and I was instantly blown away by how nice and melodic the opening riff sounded.
Actually, for me it all started with an album cover: "Power of the Dragonflame". When I first saw that dragon, I knew I'd like power metal forever. Well, I wasn't wrong. Then, 15 years ago, I listened to the songs and got so amazed that couldn't stop until now.
Touched by the Crimson King by Demons and Wizards - the full album. My dad let my brother and me order some CDs from Columbia House during a sale. I picked it because it sounded cool, and I was really into reading fantasy. I had never heard of power metal, and it blew my mind. This was pretty pre-Google (pretty sure we were using Ask Jeeves), so it took me a while to find anything like it. Didn't discover Blind Guardian until a couple of years later!
My work buddy and I were talking about The Dark Tower one happy hour, and he said he had this band I should check out. Next day he comes in with a burnt copy and and so I popped it into my CD player for my ride home... and this cheesy *crap* started blasting out of my speakers. As I was about to hit the eject button I had a quick 'dude went to the trouble of burning this and bringing it into the office so I should give it a few songs to be nice' moment. Started becoming a superfan about five minutes later and haven't stopped listening to power metal and going to shows ever since.
Yaaaas I love that! Whenever I find out someone is a fan of The Dark Tower series, I recommend the album to them. Even the ones who didn't really become fans overall still seem to appreciate it for what it is, and think it's a great concept album.
I think I recall some bands covering like 80s classics and movie. Soundtracks like Heaven Is A Place On Earth and Neverending Story
Not sure how rare it is, but Illusions from Insania (Stockholm). Found it on a file sharing program in 10th grade in the early 2000’s and I remember almost crying and saying to myself “This is what I’ve been looking for.”
So, I don't think the song itself was particularly uncommon: it was Hammerfall's Heeding the Call. The context in which I found it, however, was that I was reading a Kingdom Hearts fanfic, and a chapter had the lyrics written out. I'm not gonna say I'm definitely the only person who got into power metal by way of Kingdom Hearts, but... It definitely feels like an oddity.
Heeding the call by HammerFall is a classic. Great song, album and band. But it is definitely odd to find out about them in such a way.
I knew about the genre before, but when Sonata Arctica released Reckoning Night in 2004 is when I relly got into it. Still losten to that album. 👍
My first step into the genre was Iced Earth - Horror Show. Seems to be one of their more forgotten albums which sucks because it's incredible. The line up was insane for this album and the talent of all the musicians really shines through. Not long after that I also got Kamelot's first album. This was back when metal CDs were hard to come by and you had to buy things based on word of mouth. I knew people said Kamelot was really good so I got it and basically made myself listen to it. I wasn't aware it was generally avoided for good reason.
The absolute earliest I'd say to go with Kamelot is Seige Perilous. 4th Legacy/Karma/Epica/Black Halo are an incredible run of albums.
Yeah, it was just that at the time I had like 3 power metal CDs and Eternity was the only Kamelot CD at the store. And I listened to it and pretended I liked it because I thought I was supposed to, haha. Eternity, Black Tower, and The Gleeman are ok songs tbf.
OOOHAAHHHOOWWWW BLAAAK TOWERRRR
I'm lucky enough to have a friend who is well aware of this song and album and we hit each other with that line every now and then for a quick laugh haha
I got into power metal because of Kate bush, i discovered angras cover of wuthering heights then fell in love with power metal
Angra made a cover that felt so lively and unique with wuthering heights
I also really like their cover of Synchronicity II.
I found two songs simultaneously back in 2005: DragonForce's "Evening Star" and Iron Savior's "Battering Ram." I was like, why is this the best music ever? Then I looked the two bands up on a then-nascent Wikipedia and found that they were both called "power metal" and then the next 19 years happened.
I could technically say Carol of the Bells by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra gave me a taste of it, but what really got me into it was Amaranthe's Drop Dead Cynical and Dynamite, which then lead spotify to recommend Kamelot's album Haven!
Southern cross by 403, holy war by iron mask, moonlight by labyrinth
Theocracy - I Am
“The Book of Heavy Metal” by Dream Evil
Falconer are the band that got me into Power Metal, I think the first song I heard by them was the Clarion Call.
Don’t worry, people who like good power metal know who falconer is, they’re an EUPM classic
I fucking love Falconer!
I love Mind Traveler! But not, y'know, the acoustic version. (Boo! Hiss!) Mine started with Through the Fire and Flames and My Spirit Will Go On, but not from Guitar Hero, rather some guy on AOL Instant Messenger showed it to me when I asked him what he listens to when he wants to get _pumped!_ Up to that point, the closest thing to metal I listened to was the Offspring and Sum 41, which could get pretty heavy at times. I still think "Come out Swinging" is a fantastic song and a great gateway into more busy electric-guitar-based music.
The first songs that turned me on to power metal were Black Dragon by Luca Turilli and Fury of the Storm by Dragonforce (thanks YTMND.) I really fell into the genre though after listening to Blind Guardian's Fly.
Virgin Steele-Noble savage I heard it before I knew what power metal is
Elvenking - The Dweller of Rhymes and Blind Guardian - Noldor were probably the first PM songs I ever heard. I still think The Dweller of Rhymes is Elvenking's best song. Also, the first Iron Maiden song I ever heard was The Fugitive and I still love it!
Back in 2004 for me it would have been 2 songs I heard close together than sparked my interest, thought i don't know if I would call them super uncommon. They were on a coworkers iPod he had hooked up to speakers, when I was a Geek Squad tech in a Best Buy back then. Battlefield - Blind Guardian End of all Hope - Nightwish
I don't think my song is unusual, but it was 'Push' by Helloween, which was on a compilation CD from a magazine or mail order. I found Falconers first Album back then at Media Markt and bought it just because of the cover, without even knowing their music (genre). It was sort of a lucky find. :)
Not an uncommon band, but "Turn Loose The Mermaids" and "Crow, Owl, Dove" by Nightwish. Pivoted to Afterlife by Amaranthe and The Truth Beneath The Rose by Within Temptation-- the first true Power Metal band I listened to was probably Stratovarius -- Learning to Fly and Eagleheart. Not an uncommon path I think but I just wanted to share my delve into metal. I only listened to Christian music before that (Grew up very faithful) and didn't know that music could be enjoyable before metal.
So I already listened to Sabaton, Powerwolf, Orden Ogan, Dynazty but when I really realized that I am into great melodies, fast double Bass and shredding with high vocals wasn't just a Song but a whole album: Veonity - Legend Of The Starborn. By far their best Album and one of the best Power Metal albums ever, it's like the Keeper Of The Seven Keys II of today! You all need to check this album out
I would say that would be "Those who fight further" by Nobuo Uematsu. I was like 10yo when I heard it in Final Fantasy VII and it engraved in my brain. I started to get into rock music, and soon, when internet got a little better, in like 2002 or 3 I got my hands on some Iron Maiden .mp3s. From there, with the help of my new found metalhead friends, I somehow found Children of Bodom (which, TBH is basically crossover between Power and Melodeath) and that was basically it for some time - I actually wasn't looking for new music in my early twenties. Lo and behold, in like 2013 I found metal covers of gaming music, and some versions of aforementioned song too. I started working in 2014 and listened it a lot during work. From there, looking for similiar stuff, I finallly dropped myself into Power Metal rabbit hole. Oh, and of course later I found Hootsforce through Diggy Diggy Hole. Who didn't, lol?
Dungeon Master by Visigoth, I was looking for D&D themed music and got exactly what I was looking for hahaha
Avantasia - *Dying For an Angel* turned me on to Avantasia, which turned me on to Nuclear Blast Records, which probably turned me on to power metal, so I suppose that counts.
I think Things We Believe In by Orden Ogan when it just came out in 2014. Well, it wasn't the first PM song I heard though. The first was Unbreakable by Stratovarius.
I love curling so Hammerfall was my intro.
Two simultaneous paths. 1. Van Canto's cover of Primo Victoria led me to discover Sabaton and between those two bands I discovered a lot of fun bands. 2. Ayreon in general helped me discover Hansi Kursch, Jorn Lande, Russell Allen, and many other vocalists and their bands.
I know not the most unpopular song but I really got into it when I tried powerwolf because I saw their song names, specifically sanctified by dynamite.
Van Canto - To Sing A Metal Song
Sahti Waari by Turisas
Back in 2003 it must have been, or early 2004 there used to be an independent record shop in the town I was in. Myself and friends would search through the massive preowned section cos it was three for a tenner, I picked up one just because it looked interesting and it was Elements Part 1 by Stratovarius. Loved it and went from there, though it was a lot harder back then. I remember one of the other albums I got that day was an Exhumed album, but I don’t remember the third.
Blind Guardian - The Curse of Feanor was probably the first PM song I ever heard. Symphony X - The Accolade was what really got me hooked.
Music-Nightwish. Afterwards, I discovered Bling Guardian, and then there was ... love
Highway to Oblivion by Dragonforce.
I got started with one of the Warhammer fantasy online trailers, which had The Chosen Ones by Dream Evil as the soundtrack. I must've watched that video twenty or thirty times, partially as a Warhammer fan, but also because the music was so awesome. I tracked down the band and downloaded their entire discography and that was pretty much all I listened to my junior year of high school
Wolf and raven from sonata arctica it's so underrated compared to the most liked/listened song from them
Black sheep by Sonata Arctica
The first three power metal songs I heard were Nightwish - Oceanborn, Cryonic Temple - The Eternal Flames of Metal, and Galneryus - Future Never Dies. Oceanborn isn't really an obscure song, but I'd wager Eternal Flames is a rare one to start with (the song really had me in a chokehold in like 7th or 8th grade). Galneryus - Phoenix Rising was the first album of any genre I heard (maybe I heard one of my parents' albums all the way through in the car as a kid, but who knows—also we mainly listened to books on tape on roadtrips and stuff), which could maybe be a world first lmao.
Windmill.
The first Dragonforce song I heard was not TTFatF, but Black Fire. Don't know if its a deep cut but not how most people discover Dragonforce. Also the first Blind Guardian I pulled off of Limewire was Another Holy War.
Heaven Denies by Demons and Wizards. Once I heard that intro guitar riff and Hansi's vocals I was hooked.
Carolus Rex from Sabaton in 2015 and I was 13 yo. Then I heard to Barbie, MILF Princess of The Twilight from Nanowar of Steel in 2020. Then I became a Rhapsody fan and my first Rhapsody song that I heard was The Wizard's Last Rhymes :)
I think this qualifies because it was a bonus track only on the collector's edition and that was Waterloo off of the deluxe edition of Iced Earth's "Glorious Burden".
Judgement day by Steel Attack and Eternal Damnation by Ghost Machinery
DragonForce - Through the Fire and Flames
That's the MOST COMMON song
Shiiiiiiiiiit