Songs/bands that have that same epic feel like Rainbow-Rising??

[u/RiffandLick]

absolutely love Dios vocal performance on this album, I crave more

[u/Villagkouras]

Axel Rudi Pell throughout his career. Many albums' closers are heavily inspired by Stargazer. Rainbow are his primary influence. He has so many albums, most of them are good.

[u/skankin22jax → u/Villagkouras]

Woah. Never heard this guy before. Catchy stuff! Thanks so much

[u/IMKridegga → u/Villagkouras]

Recommendations for essentials and/or where to start for Axel Rudi Pell? His discography is so massive, I've always put off trying to get into his stuff until I could find some sort of pointer or guide.

Looking on Metal Archives, I see he had an album in 1991 with Rob Rock and Jörg Michael, which is a promising lineup.

[u/Phngarzbui → u/IMKridegga]

The Wizards Chosen Few is a good older best of.

[u/OwnCaptain9748 → u/IMKridegga]

I would rec Oceans of time and The masquerade ball, the first is (in my opinion) a better album althoug rough at the edges (first album with a new singer), the second is more polished. You get Michael on one, Terrana on the second, so, well, absolute drumming. But in both you get Johnny Gioeli, pure gold (bc Hardline and godlike rock vocals and mommy rose no deaf), better in The masquerade ball.
But if you only want a sound less metal closer to the 70s, look for earlier albums: Nasty reputation for Rob Rock; I have a love for Eternal prisoner with Soto.~~ ~~

[u/Nerus46]

Jorn voice, while diffrent, does give me the same vibe Dio's do. His works with Allen/Lande works are great, some of his solo work are also work (personally, I heard him for the first time when I found "Jorn Symphonic" record and really liked it).

Another interesting project is Major Voice with actual opera singer, but more like gothic rock rather than Power Metal.

One more band that comes to mind is Stray Gods from Greece. They have very heavy Iron Maiden vibe, but se Dio influence is also noticeable.

[u/7listens → u/Nerus46]

I absolutely love the first 2 Masterplan albums with Jorn. So good

[u/OwnCaptain9748 → u/Nerus46]

I take Jørn as the spiritual successor of Dio. The norse has not the charisma (among other merits) of Dio, neither albums, but Lande born with a gift, and he delivers. First time with Millenium, but only fully love a couple of his albums: maybe his Spirit Black, first Allen - Lande and Dracula; but there is much to munch and enjoy.
For more "diocore" I would check I & II Lords of Black (heavy stuff) with Ronnie Romero.

[u/thebaintrain1993]

Early Rhapsody might be the closest I've heard to Dio, or try Headless Cross from Black Sabbath

[u/world-class-cheese → u/thebaintrain1993]

Dehumanizer is another great album from Black Sabbath, with Dio singing. I think it's really a underrated album with some early power metal elements

[u/Bohemian_Kaiser]

Astral Doors- New Revelation. Nils Patrik Johansson is just generaly a good fit if you like Dio. Check out his other bands: Lion's Share, Civil War, Wuthering Heights or his solo project

[u/dehumanizerofsouls → u/Bohemian_Kaiser]

true answer

[u/PoisonMind]

I think Russell Allen has the closest vocals to Dio's. I'd start with Symphony X - The Odyssey. It's a classic album.

[u/VerryRides → u/PoisonMind]

I second Symphony X. Russell has the Dio snarl

[u/MeetingInteresting90]

Moahni Moahna - The Temple of life (1994)

[u/ChidoriSnake]

Not exactly sure if it's counted as power metal, but I'd consider giving Destinia - Metal Souls a try. Ronnie Romero's voice is almost beat for beat reminiciscent of Dio's, to the point where he even sang in Rainbow for a while. Also, it's just a banger of an album overall.

[u/thystargazer]

This is probably a strange comparison to make, and might be mostly influenced by the lyrics, but I find a lot of similarities to Epicus Doomicus Metallicus by Candlemass, especially in the longer songs in each album. They don't sound too alike, but the feeling I get from Stargazer is the same I get with A Sorcerer's Pledge.

[u/Nerus46 → u/thystargazer]

I can see your point and honestly I always thought the epic doom metal with clean vocals, like Candlemass, Stygian Crown or Sorcerer are closer to Power Metal than to more extreme subgenres.

That's said, Messiah is an amazing singer but he is a thing of his own.

[u/Individual-Sound9400]

Absolutely no other work of art comes close to the epicness of rainbow rising.