{"id":26803,"date":"2013-02-08T14:10:31","date_gmt":"2013-02-08T19:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=26803"},"modified":"2014-01-24T09:06:32","modified_gmt":"2014-01-24T14:06:32","slug":"hammerfall-gates-of-dalhalla-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/hammerfall-gates-of-dalhalla-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Hammerfall | Gates of Dalhalla<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alissa Ordabai<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Hammerfall\"The intro of the opening track makes you double-check you are listening to Hammerfall, not to Motely Crue\u2019s \u201cShout at the Devil\u201d. But seconds later there is no mistaking these power metal troopers for anyone else in the biz. Recorded at an open-air venue near a small Swedish village, the album in hand is a 26-track marathon which only the most devoted fans will have the stamina to finish. <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong \u2013 Hammerfall\u2019s take on the genre has always been one of the most entertaining and pathos-free on the scene. Oscillating between sing-along drinking songs and good old-fashioned Kiss-inspired Seventies-style rock ‘n’ roll, it carries the goodtime vibe of a campus student party. The melodies may get repetitive after a short while, and the songwriting may roll along the all-to-familiar track, but flashes of spontaneous inspiration still fire up the proceedings in the form of Pontus Norgren\u2019s solos. <\/p>\n

Virtuosically performed and flawlessly constructed, Norgren\u2019s leads rescue the material from total predictability. Instrumental guitar standout \u201cSomething for the Ages\u201d becomes one of the biggest highlights of the album \u2013 an exciting, beautifully phrased song-like piece which adds a grown-up element beyond the band\u2019s campy \u2013 although often jocular \u2013 poses. The band\u2019s recent announcement of a hiatus couldn\u2019t have been accompanied with a more illustrative summation of their decade-and-a-half output. <\/p>\n

Genre: Power Metal<\/p>\n

Personnel:
\nPontus Norgren \u2013 guitar, backing vocals
\nAnders Johansson \u2013 drums
\nFredrik Larsson \u2013 bass, backing vocals
\nOscar Dronjak \u2013 rhythm guitar, backing vocals
\nJoacim Cans \u2013 lead vocals<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1. Patient Zero
\n2. Heeding The Call
\n3. Any Means Necessary
\n4. B.Y.H.
\n5. Riders Of The Storm
\n6. Let\u2019s Get It On
\n7. Crimson Thunder
\n8. Renegade
\n9. Blood Bound (Special Guest: Stefan Elmgren)
\n10. Last Man Standing (Special Guest: Stefan Elmgren)
\n11. Fury Of The Wild (Special Guest: Stefan Elmgren)
\n12. Drum solo: Anders Johansson
\n13. Always Will Be
\n14. Dia De Los Muertos
\n15. Steel Meets Steel (Special Guest: Mikael Stanne)
\n16. Threshold
\n17. The Dragon Lies Bleeding (Special Guest: Jesper Str\u00f6mblad)
\n18. Let The Hammer Fall
\n19. N\u00e4r Vindarna Viskar Mitt Namn (Special Guest: Roger Pontare)
\n20. Something For The Ages
\n21. The Templar Flame
\n22. Oh Fortuna (Special Guest: Team Cans)
\n23. Glory To The Brave (Special Guest: Team Cans)
\n24. One More Time (Special Guest: Team Cans)
\n25. HammerFall
\n26. Hearts On Fire (featuring all Special Guests)<\/p>\n

Label: Nuclear Blast<\/p>\n

Online: www.hammerfall.net<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 7\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alissa Ordabai – Senior Columnist — The intro of the opening track makes you double-check you are listening to Hammerfall, not to Motely Crue\u2019s \u201cShout at the Devil\u201d. But seconds later there is no […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[336,96,339,1097,334],"class_list":{"0":"post-26803","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2013","7":"tag-cd","8":"tag-hammerfall","9":"tag-nuclear-blast","10":"tag-power-metal","11":"tag-review"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26803\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}