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HAMMERFALL
Hammer Of Dawn
Napalm Records


For those not all too familiar with HAMMERFALL, not unlike myself and what appears to be a mighty and illustrious discography, one look at the new albums cover, band image and the assumptions the mind will make are immediately confirmed when upon the opening chords of "Brotherhood" ring out, with soaring vocals, layered chorus' and the Wolf Hoffman, ACCEPT "Princess Of The Dawn" heavily influenced first solo that exits with epic gang vocals, the power metal journey has commenced.

As I mentioned, my familiarity with HAMMERFALL is fleeting, cursory and the only real recollection is their absence on Ronnie James Dio's Killing The Dragon tour in Seattle, Washington where they were touted on the bill only to be a no show as the curtain rose. A bummer at the time but with the mighty KING'S X and of course Dio (RIP) destroying the night, sadness was fleeting. Wonder what happened to them?

The mythos does not sway for the albums runtime and certainly continues on high with the title track with its keyboard tease of an intro into the staple gang vocals and galloping chug chug of the verse.

"No Son Of Odin", begins with an "Against The Empire" walk in that progresses into what is apparent as a staple SAXON-esque hard rock riff verse chorus verse that again is heavily influenced by that lost metal band MALICE. "Venerate Me" is a slower, mid tempo power metaller with a nice stunning solo, again heavily Hoffman influenced and guest vocals by none other than the KING DIAMOND, which are an obvious inclusion during the later parts of the song and the 'aaaaah ah ahhh's'.

"Reveries" begins with a choral gang vocal, and then about floored me with the intro riff that is slathered with power and sleazy as all get out and when you hear it you'll be smitten and pleading for more, but then the song abandons this crushing lick for some standard mid tempo power metal, until it touches greatness again twice on the 2nd guitar solo intro and then teases us once more with this lick of licks in that solo's outtro. The verse rhythm after the 1st solo is rather crushing as well and I wish the band would have stuck with these 2 parts and abandoned for a moment the standard, maybe a re-edit for me is in the future gentlemen? "Too Old To Die" is another galloping power metaller with a monster nod to LIZZY BORDEN's "American Metal" in the verse and then the chorus, albeit still within the epic power HAMMERFALL is known for, we see a touch of an almost MOR vibe. The use of palm muted guitar trickery is abundant in the pre-solo (very well done) and the solo, albeit short, is very on point.

"Not Today" will tickle many with its heavily influenced Steve Miller "Abracadabra" guitar intro, pre-verse break, outtro and overarching running underlying theme of the song and I for one love it. This one is a power ballad with a near perfect verse and chorus that will have any arena swaying with cell phones held high lighting the way. The solo is quite "Still Loving You" from the SCORPIONS, played to perfection and accentuating this near perfect number. "Live Free Or Die" could easily be an ACCEPT "Balls To The Wall" era b-side with those period specific gang vocals and a QUEENSRYCHE inspired verse and rhythm section. This one is a current favorite and the breakdown is appreciated with its clean guitar that obliterates your ears when Joacim Cans powers into his "Eyes Of A Stranger" vocal and that outtro scream is quite powerful, approved. "State Of The W.I.L.D." feels again very MALICE-like with a more tradition metal presentation, crushing guitars and soaring vocals abound. The pre-solo breakdown is fitting and noteworthy as is the solo that shreds like anything "insert your favorite period shredder" is doing these days or did in those days gone past. This one is a well presented number in a more traditional metal sense, abandoning the battle hymn metal of previous offerings. The albums closer "No Mercy For You" is befitting to the entirety of the albums themes and touches on all the bands influences in an epic power metal closer.

I must say that HAMMERFALL is a very solid band and Hammer Of Dawn is a real good record. I very much appreciate the musicianship, proficiency in its presentation, the songwriting and the influences the band brandishes without hesitation. Definitely a band worthy of their pedigree and your appreciation.

3.8 Out Of 5.0

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