The story of this band brought in my mind another act: Nightwish also started as a non-metal band and turned out to become one of the most successful metal acts of our times. The Storyteller are not so popular as Nightwish but their music is definitely more metal oriented (cursed female vocals!).
The band formed back in 1995 based on acoustic guitars and vocals by L-G Persson and Fredrik Groth. After recording several demos they decided to take their music a few steps further, and got a drummer, Martin Hjerpe. The Storyteller's debut album was released in Europe in May 2000. in 2002 came the follow-up Crossroad and the following spring they recorded a third album, Tales of a Holy Quest. The band has also released a CD including live recording and a cover by Ozzy Osbourne alongside other unreleased material.
I admit that this is the first introduction for me about this band. I haven't heard any of their previous works so I can't make comparisons with the band's past. Underworld as an album is an interesting mixture of traditional and power metal with some theatrical elements (mostly on the vocal performance). Without avoiding some clichés of the aforementioned genre the band easily forms a distinct sound (again mostly based on the vocal performance). The opener Changeling is a mid tempo symphonic piece of work with a huge refrain. From there on the band passes through several stages of transit between what we call traditional and what we call Europower.
The most interesting aspect of their work is the power deriving from their compositions. The thick production adds extra weight to a genre that lately has turned its back to power in favor of speed and melody. On the contrary The Storyteller sounds massive from time to time without losing the melodic grip always in demand by the fans of the genre.
In conclusion this is really an interesting piece of work in a genre constantly loosing ground against more extreme flavors of metal. Check them out!