{"id":45186,"date":"2014-09-22T15:59:38","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T20:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=45186"},"modified":"2014-09-24T07:25:15","modified_gmt":"2014-09-24T12:25:15","slug":"hammerfall-revolution-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/hammerfall-revolution-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Hammerfall | (r)Evolution<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"HammerfallDon\u2019t be fooled by the title of the ninth endeavor of the Swedish Power Metal giants! Even though the title of Hammerfall\u2019s newly released album suggest there\u2019s been some kind of (r)evolution going on, the truth is that it has the band going full circle in many ways rather than exploring new territories. The names associated with the album are well-known from the group\u2019s past, from Fredrik Nordstr\u00f6m (who handled the producer\u2019s tasks with Glory To The Brave<\/em> and Legacy Of Kings<\/em>) to the band\u2019s aulic graphic designer Andreas Marschall (again responsible for the cover artwork). Also music-wise (r)Evolution is nothing the longtime Hammerfall fan could feel particularly shocked about. \u201cWe are the keepers and for us this is real, not a game\u201d, as their singer Joacim Cans notices in his trademark high-pitched voice and it\u2019s certain the band remained the \u201ckeepers\u201d faithful to their power metal aesthetics also on their new release. And yes, it\u2019s not your eyes deceiving you \u2013 it\u2019s Hector back on the album cover again!<\/p>\n

The only \u2018problem\u2019 with Power Metal these days is that it\u2019s more about clich\u00e9s than anything else \u2013 and also Hammerfall\u2019s (r)Evolution<\/em>, as befits a worthy representative of the genre, is studded with trademark guitar-fueled gallops, Accept-esque group chants and pompous vignettes about the struggle of restless warriors. \u201cHammer high to the sky\u201d, sings Cans in the first track, \u201cHector\u2019s Hymn\u201d \u2013 a clear proof that after 2011\u2019s Infected the band goes back to their chivalrous roots both music- and lyric-wise. Love it or loathe it, it\u2019s modern-day Power Metal at its best.<\/p>\n

Next is the title track which proves that Hammerfall remain the faithful disciples of Teutonic Metal traditions \u2013 even though the focus is again on melody rather than the aspect of sound\u2019s overall heaviness, differently from the lumbering, monumental \u201cBushido.\u201d Additionally, \u201cbushido\u201d is the Japanese equivalent for \u201cthe way of the warrior\u201d \u2013 we\u2019ve already spoken about clich\u00e9s and drawing from the past endeavors before, haven\u2019t we\u2026?<\/p>\n

The massive chorus of \u201cLive Life Loud\u201d certainly has the unique power to make you, as the bands themselves put it, \u201craise your fist and yell\u201d against the wall of heavy guitar riffs that blasts through your speakers. \u201cEx Inferis\u201d starts out with a mysterious, gloomy intro that develops into a raw, heavy mid-tempo driven by a Sabbath-esque riff, while its follow-up, the feisty and uplifting \u201cWe Won\u2019t Back Down\u201d is certainly not intended to mark any slowdown.<\/p>\n

This slowdown comes, however, with the only ballad on the album that is \u201cWinter Is Coming,” led by a grandiose, wistful guitar lick. \u201cOrigins\u201d and \u201cTainted Metal\u201d both have the band returning to their trademark furious gallops against melodic choruses, all backed with the hurtling rhythm section. In \u201cEvil Incarnate,\u201d some echoes of Sabbath and Accept classic sounds are to be heard again \u2013 even though the track itself sounds surprisingly modern, remaining perhaps the heaviest on the album. \u201cWildfire\u201d marks the album\u2019s finish; it\u2019s a furiously fast, speed metal-infused song enriched with further changes of tempo, a fine finish to the fine album of its category.<\/p>\n

Hammerfall\u2019s (r)Evolution<\/em> is neither a revolution, nor an evolution to the band \u2013 if there was any, it was signaled here and there with their previous album Infected but is certainly not to be continued here. The predecessor being at times surprisingly dark, their 2014 release brings back the sound that\u2019s made the first-league band out of Hammerfall \u2013 the band that is perhaps ridiculed by those tired of epic metal tales on warriors and dragons, but nevertheless cherished by many. If you\u2019re one of those restless metal knights who\u2019d just exchanged their armor of their glorious ancestors for Hammerfall t-shirts – (r)Evolution<\/em> is an album you\u2019ll put on your CD shelf next to your all-time favorites. If not, you may only hope the Swedes will be going for some real musical (r)evolution on the next album of theirs \u2013 who knows\u2026?<\/p>\n

Genre: Power Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nJoacim Cans – lead vocals
\nOscar Dronjak – lead and rhythm guitars
\nPontus Norgren – lead and rhythm guitars
\nFredrik Larsson – bass guitar
\nAnders Johansson – drums<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1.\tHector\u2019s Hymn
\n2.\t(r)Evolution
\n3.\tBushido
\n4.\tLive Life Loud
\n5.\tEx Inferis
\n6.\tWe Won\u2019t Back Down
\n7.\tWinter Is Coming
\n8.\tOrigins
\n9.\tTainted Metal
\n10.\tEvil Incarnate
\n11.\tWildfire<\/p>\n

Label: Nuclear Blast Records<\/p>\n

Website: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hammerfall<\/a><\/p>\n

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

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Senior Columnist — Don\u2019t be fooled by the title of the ninth endeavor of the Swedish Power Metal giants! Even though the title of Hammerfall\u2019s newly released album suggest there\u2019s been […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":45187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[9523,2317,96,339,1097],"class_list":{"0":"post-45186","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-revolution","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-hammerfall","11":"tag-nuclear-blast","12":"tag-power-metal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45186","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=45186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}