HammerFall is a band we should forever be grateful to, because when they recorded their amazing debut Glory To The Brave back in 1997, classic heavy metal was the most unfashionable of styles. However, that was an album which proved the power of pure heavy metal and the fans rewarded that with loyalty through the years.
Now, HammerFall are about to release their thirteenth full-length and even though they’ve had their missteps (see the abysmal Infected), the Swedes are now sticking to a tried and tested formula that rarely disappoints and also rarely exceeds expectations. Avenge The Fallen offers ten more typical for the band songs, most of which can sit well in either of their past albums. The shout-along, fists-in-the-air choruses of the title track or Hail To The King are made to please the festival crowds and are somehow close in spirit to what Sabaton and Powerwolf have made their trademark in recent years (even though Manowar invented that as far back as 1987). Actually, this brings me to the main point I need to stress in this review: I really loved that HammerFall had much more in common with the style of Pretty Maids, Warlord and Stormwitch in their first three albums and back then they played that style with conviction and with no fucks given about what’s trendy. Now, for the last decade (at least), I have the itchy feeling that their recent music is playing on the “string” of the commercial success of the aforementioned Sabaton and Powerwolf, ditching some of the band’s sincerity and identity.
Hope Springs Eternal and Capture The Dream are two totally mediocre ballads, which we can hum along to even before we’ve even heard them. More uptempo and guitar-driven tracks like Freedom, Burn It Down and Rise Of Evil are cleverly mixed along with the cheesiness, but the album is in fact ultimately saved by two songs only: the total speedy anthem The End Justifies and the wonderful closing track Time Immemorial, which shows that HammerFall are still quite capable of both putting up a killer stomping riff (a-la Holy Diver) and a fantastic guitar solo. Sadly, these two songs can’t raise Avenge The Fallen above the status of a “nice”, but faceless album in these guys’ discography. Extra point added out of respect for those first two albums.
7/10
Avenge The Fallen will be out on August 9th via Nuclear Blast and you can order it HERE
