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Nuclear Blast – Out Now
Traditional Heavy Metal is a genre that is currently very popular with younger audiences, evidenced by the prominence of bands like Enforcer, Bullet and In Solitude in the hearts and…on the hard discs of many people. It is thus difficult to image that twenty years ago the genre was in terminal decline, with Grunge bands eager to put the last nail in its coffin.
That is when a bunch of Swedish extreme Metal musicians decided to invest in a classic sounding side project – a project that was given the name Hammerfall and which, against all odds, managed not only to help resurrect interest in Classic Heavy Metal but also become one of the most commercially successful bands in Metal.
The band opted to celebrate two decades of active service by recording an anniversary headline performance with the help of old band mates, local music legends and director Patrick Ullaeus – a man whose extensive CV includes names such as In Flames, Dimmu Borgir and Children Of Bodom.
“Gates Of Dalhalla” will be released in two different formats, a DVD/2CD and a Blu- ray/2CD and, sadly, my review is only really covering the audio part of the band’s performance – I say sadly because those of you who have attended a Hammerfall show in the past know very well that the visual aspects of the band’s performance are as important as the music itself.
With eight studio albums under their belts and much crowd-pleasing material the Gothenburg-based quintet presented its local audience with a varied and well balanced set list – one that consisted of twenty six tracks, whose duration exceeded the two hour mark and which, based on the recorded reaction of the crowd, managed to meet the band’s well-known high standards.
Hammerfall is a band whose musical character balances between classic riff-orientated Accept-influenced Heavy Metal and melodic Europower and while normally my alliances would be strictly with the former I have found myself in recent years becoming more and more tolerant of the latter! Even so, when it comes to choosing my favourite moments from the vast material on offer it is the hardest riff-based tracks like “B.Y.H”/“Last Man Standing”, the Running Wild sounding opus “Last Man Standing” and the head banging “Steel Meets Steel” that I would personally opt for.
But what about the people who travelled all the way to Rattvik on the 28th of July 2012? What do they have to say about that? Based again on the audio files provided, it is the more melodic tunes such as “Crimson Thunder” and the sing along classics “Blood Bound”, “Hammerfall” and “Hearts Of Fire” that got the best reaction on the night – the latter being, also in my humble opinion, apart from a triumphant ending also the absolute highlight of the show.
Hammerfall have always been an acquired taste and if you never managed to connect with their music thus far, chances are that this will continue to be the case after listening to “Gates Of Dalhalla”. Though never a massive fan and hardly ever inclined to play any of the band’s albums at home, I have somehow always managed to enjoy Hammerfall in a live setting, so the idea of owing a copy of “Gates Of Dalhalla” is not so alien to me.
If you are already a Hammerfall fan you are in for a great treat with this release. If, on the other hand, you don’t know the band (are there such people out there?) and you like music which combines simple Dio-Accept sounding riffs with melodic/anthemic/sing-along choruses then this twenty six track live album might just be the best introduction to this band.
John Stefanis
Rating: **** (4.0/5.0)
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