Power Theory was formed by guitarist Bob Ballinger in 2006
who envisioned an inspired blend of the iconic Heavy
Metal sounds of the early 80's & NWOBHM fused with the
aggressive stance forged by modern Power Metal.
Ballinger's songwriting pulled directly from guitar heavy
bands such as Judas Priest, Saxon, Accept & Iron
Maiden
while also retaining the melodic sensibilities the style
is known for. The early days of Power Theory saw several
lineup changes as trying to find musicians within the
Philadelphia area who were of the same mind in their
influences was an arduous process. Finally armed with a
stable lineup in 2007 the band hit local venues
ferociously,
honing their early songs through numerous live
performances before recording and releasing an EP
independently
in May, 2009 titled "Metal Forever".
Always pushing forward, 2010 saw Power Theory follow up
this EP with the release of their debut full length album
"Out Of The Ashes, Into The Fire". They hired notable
producer Achim Koehler (Primal Fear, Sinner) for the
mastering and on the strength of it landed a distribution
deal with Pure Steel Records, Germany who released it
internationally and through the Keep It True Festival in
2011. During this time more prestigious gigs were being
offered with Power Theory opening for heavyweights like
Accept, Kreator & Helstar, all of this topped by an
invitation to play the 2012 Warriors Of Metal Open Air
Festival in Ohio, USA. This festival was also used as the
launch of their 2nd full length album "An Axe To Grind"
again released internationally via Pure Steel Records.
As Power Theory continued fleshing out and defining its
sound it became evident that a 2nd guitarist and vocalist
with greater range would be required for the much stronger
and diverse material Ballinger was crafting for the
next album with greater emphasis placed on more serious
and sometimes darker toned concepts. The band hit the
road for 14 shows in 15 days directly supporting Vicious
Rumors & Seven Witches in fall 2013, followed by a
homecoming show opening for Raven, multiple Philly area
shows and a second stage headlining appearance at the
2014 Ragnarokkr Festival in Chicago. Recording immediately
began afterwards with Carlos Alvarez (Helion Prime,
Judicator) brought on to engineer, produce & mix the
album, Peter Baltes of Accept serving as executive
producer
and mastering by Brett Caldas-Lima (Ayreon, Devin
Townsend) on what became the 3rd full length album "Driven
By Fear", released internationally via Pure Steel Records
in October 2015. Prior to the album's release Power
Theory was invited to play Hard Summer Festival in
Falkenfels, Germany and a show with FireForce in Belgium.
Returning from Europe multiple live dates were played in
2016 to a steadily increasing following throughout
Florida, Ohio, Michigan, NYC and of course Philadelphia.
Power Theory was once again invited to perform at the
Hard Summer Festival in Germany and also at the Rock On
Fest in Budapest, Hungary, capping off yet another
highly successful year filled with even greater
achievements.
Early 2017 saw Power Theory record & independently
release an EP “Something Old, Something New, and
Something F***king Live from Europe” with Carlos Alvarez
again producing, engineering & mixing and Brett
Caldas-Lima providing the mastering. The EP consists of
one brand new song, 2 live tracks from European shows in
2015, and 2 reworked fan favorites from the back
catalogue, the rights of which have reverted back to Power
Theory. Most recently the band was chosen as the 1st place
winner in the Wacken USA Metal Battle Philadelphia
qualifying round.
"POWER THEORY has recently begun pre-production on the
follow up to their "Driven By Fear" album. Carlos
Alvarez, who is also currently playing guitar live with
them will again be producing, recording and mixing. The
goal
is to wrap up pre-pro sometime in fall 2017 and begin
actual album recordings shortly after with a release aimed
for Spring 2018. Mastering will most likely again be
handled by Brett Caldas-Lima of Tower Studio in France.
The as
yet untitled follow up will see POWER THEORY pushing their
Traditional / Power Metal style cemented on "Driven
By Fear" even further in regards to heaviness, speed and
intricacy while sacrificing none of their established
hallmarks of melodic, anthemic songwriting. Song titles
set to appear include "Draugr" and "King Of Lies" with the
band shooting for around 10 tracks overall".
Current Lineup:
Robert “BB” Ballinger (Guitar and Backing Vocals) – Carlos
Alvarez (Guitar) – Jeff Rose (Vocals) – Alan D’Angelo
(Bass) – Johnny Sasso (Drums)
