HammerFall

I have listened a bit to Hammerfall in the past.

I think what it always comes down to is that the music is so similar and simple all the time harmonically that it just gets grating for me. They're doing the power metal thing spectaculary well, and Joacim Cans is a great singer who always sounds amazing, but there's just seldom any true feelings in there. It's just metal that sounds nice all the time to me with lyrics that I have no connection to.

Sorry for ranting about people's favourite band, they're catchy and all that, but not for me. It's actually funny that I adore glam metal at the same time. It's all pop metal.

Favourite song is probably "Shadow Empire" off Treshold. The beginning of those verses are brilliant.
 

HammerFall started their new album tour:

The setlist is only 14 songs (probably because they are support of Helloween).

They played 3 songs from the new album - ''Brotherhood'', ''Hammer Of Dawn'' and ''Venerate Me''.

The surprises are ''The Metal Age'' (forgotten great song from their debut album) and maybe ''Glory To The Brave''.

Crimson Thunder medley is ''Hero's Return''/''Riders Of The Storm''/''Crimson Thunder''.

The stage set is cool - big shield & hammer!

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Great news, especially after their latest very good album.
 
HammerFall will release their new album called Avenge The Fallen on August, 9th.

Track list:

1.Avenge The Fallen
2.The End Justifies
3.Freedom
4.Hail To The King
5.Hero To All
6.Hope Springs Eternal
7.Burn It Down
8.Capture The Dream
9.Rise Of Evil
10.Time Immemorial

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The album cover is cool (as always), Hector brought some friends (and enemies), but I think the scene could have been more detailed. The previous cover is one of my favorites.

The first single is - ''Hail To The King''
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The song is solid enough, reminds me of their early era (Crimson Thunder style, especially the verses and melodies), cool solo and nice playful chorus, but overall not better that the stuff from the last album, which was a good return to form. The song works as a single but is a bit generic.

 
HammerFall will release their new album called Avenge The Fallen on August, 9th.

Track list:

1.Avenge The Fallen
2.The End Justifies
3.Freedom
4.Hail To The King
5.Hero To All
6.Hope Springs Eternal
7.Burn It Down
8.Capture The Dream
9.Rise Of Evil
10.Time Immemorial

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The album cover is cool (as always), Hector brought some friends (and enemies), but I think the scene could have been more detailed. The previous cover is one of my favorites.

The first single is - ''Hail To The King''

The song is solid enough, reminds me of their early era (Crimson Thunder style, especially the verses and melodies), cool solo and nice playful chorus, but overall not better that the stuff from the last album, which was a good return to form. The song works as a single but is a bit generic.

Nice artwork, but the song is very very meh. The same melodies, the same "Hey, hey, hey" on every song of every album, including this song, the same structures, the same vocal lines, etc... I'm bored by this band. :yawn: The first 4 albums are great, the rest is far from being exciting... :ninja:
 
Nice artwork, but the song is very very meh. The same melodies, the same "Hey, hey, hey" on every song of every album, including this song, the same structures, the same vocal lines, etc... I'm bored by this band. :yawn: The first 4 albums are great, the rest is far from being exciting... :ninja:
I agree, but they're obviously going back to what works. Last album of theirs I got was Infected. Change in artwork (no Hector), change in sound and it... wasn't good. This reminds me of the Threshhold artwork and the sound is... Hammerfall. I dig it, it's what I expect. Never had high expectations from them, but what they do they do well.
 
2nd single - ''The End Justifies''.


I like it, good song. An improvement over the first one and is in the band's classic style. Big 1998/2000 vibe (''Heeding The Call''). What I really like, besides the great vocals (pre-chorus & chorus), riffs, solo/melody/drumming, is the not typical structure, which is very welcome. The part after the solo. The song is anthemic and this is its greatest strength.
 
2nd single - ''The End Justifies''.


I like it, good song. An improvement over the first one and is in the band's classic style. Big 1998/2000 vibe (''Heeding The Call''). What I really like, besides the great vocals (pre-chorus & chorus), riffs, solo/melody/drumming, is the not typical structure, which is very welcome. The part after the solo. The song is anthemic and this is its greatest strength.
Great song. Love it more than the 1st single. :)
 
3rd single - ''Freedom''


I love the verses, they sound like classic HammerFall. Melodic greatness. Joacim's voice is still so good. Great harmonies and solo (that tone). The chorus is not that good, but it's effective (the ''oh-oh'' part too). The variation of it after the solo is cool. The song is memorable enough so it's good. Very solid singles so far.
 
The new album is very good (like the previous one) - and brings their early classic sound the most since 2006. The vocal melodies should be praised and are the highlights imo. Love Joacim's voice. Two good albums in a row. I am happy. One of the best albums of the year, I'm sure.

I like almost all songs, the first single is the weakest. One of the best songs is the closer, ''Time Immemorial'', because it's different from the rest of the album. A mix of classic faster verses, calm parts, acoustic guitar, keys and cool melodic riffs. Btw, the solos sound is great, some of them are really cool. It's perfect as the last song on the album and screams HammerFall!
The songs that have a big early days vibe are all strong: ''Hero To All'' (1998/2000, very memorable, should have been the lead single), ''Burn It Down'' (that chorus, the twin-lead melodies should have been longer), ''Capture The Dream'' (gallop, melodic chorus, harmony part, what's not to like). ''Rise Of Evil'' too, nice song with its riff (great Adrian-esque solo).
''Hope Springs Eternal'' is such a beautiful ballad with soulful playing and vocals, again first 3 albums vibe. And the 2nd and 3rd singles are solid enough.

If I have to point some aspect I don't like that much, and I know it's part of their sound, it's the overuse of the ''gang'' vocals in almost every song. They are effective for the title track (golden verses again) and some other songs, but I'm not impressed with it.

Definitely one of their best albums as a whole piece for me. Better than the previous one, which is great.
 
HammerFall are touring in support of the new album, but the setlist is shorter than usual. They can make cool stage sets with their covers, but at least this new one has a decor:

Rocks! Which is not thematic to the album cover, but.

They only played 3 new sogns so far: the title track, ''The End Justifies'' and ''Hail To The King''.
-> the number of newer songs in the shorter set is noticeable.


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