It seems like only yesterday I heard HAMMERFALL’S debut and positioned them as one of the leaders of the new generation of traditional Heavy Metal. Not only have to proved me right, they’ve now become legendary status themselves. “Avenge The Fallen” is another very strong chapter in their history as the continue to put out top-quality work on every level.
If you don’t know HAMMERFALL, the Swedish band has consistently cranked out Power Metal for decades and have a strong following around the world. Guitarist Oscar Dronjak and singer Joacim Cans have remained the two constant forces in the band with guitarist Pontus Norgren and bassist Fredrik Larsson joining the band around 2007 or so.
“Avenge The Fallen” focuses more on “war” than maybe they have in the past, even though it’s been a topic they visit often. And let’s face it, “war” is on many people’s minds when you look around the world. They don’t force or shove the subject down your throat, but it’s present.
HAMMERFALL are all about anthems and “Avenge The Fallen” is no different, the entire album is loaded with them. From the title-track to “Freedom”, “Hail The The King”, “Capture The Dream” and several more. It’s exactly what you’d expect from them.
As much as I loved the early HAMMERFALL they sometimes missed on having that big hook in the chorus. Some might say you don’t need one but as a radio veteran I know how important they are. About 3-4 albums in HAMMERFALL really caught fire with their memorable choruses and they’ve kept it burning ever since. There’s so many great singalong songs here that are custom made for playing live.
The band is incredibly tight too at the moment, you could argue this is the best they’ve sounded sonically. The production is top notch too. I’m not going to rank this one yet as it’s so early in it’s release, but I would say it’s easily in the top-half or even top-fourth of their album. One thing for sure it does prove to me that HAMMERFALL has plenty left in the tank.
