I’ve been talking about Gothenburg metal a lot lately with new At The Gates and In Flames albums coming out this year as well as Amaranthe.  Being a huge fan of what Gothenburg has to offer in the metal scene, I surely cannot look over Hammerfall.  The Swedish Power Metal band has been creating anthemic metal since 1993.  Hammerfall began a new era in Power Metal and began my crusade for European in America.  Hammerfall is one of the most influential Power Metal bands ever, Glory To the Brave and Legacy of Kings attribute to their powerful reign of metal all over the world.  Those are two of my favorite albums of all time.  Hammerfall is certainly not Swedecore, but their own genre alone.

 

After an almost two year long hiatus, Hammerfall are back in 2014 with (r)Evolution, their brand new album.  Their ninth album is a huge departure from their last, Infected (2011).  It is a throwback album to Hammerfall’s roots and their best characteristics.  The album is a perfect cross between Glory To the Brave, Legacy of Kings, and heavier guitars from Nikas and Pontus.  The guitar solos are screaming, fast, and placed perfectly in the pocket.  (r)Evolution just has that powerful sound that takes you back to the days of sword battles and the fantasy world of conquest and dragons.  It has every ingredient that the fans wish for in the typical Hammerfall album.  Joacim Cans is of course the biggest contributor to the band’s sound, with his mighty and powerful lead vocals, perfectly executed on every song.  (r)Evolution is the best album from Hammerfall we may ever get.

 

The album opens with the epic anthem, Hector’s Hymn, with a powerful viking edge to it that their last album was absent of.  The trackhas absolutely amazing vocals, epic Speed Metal guitars, and perfectly executed technical drums.  The title track, (r)Evolution, is spot on with Hammerfall’s anthemic sound.  The second track starts out slowly building, then a great powerful high note, and then building faster and heavier into another amazing fist pounding anthem.  The softer verses on this song are what makes this song perfect, giving a great dynamic to the album.  Bushido is reminiscent of their first album, but so much cleaner and well produced.  This song has the typical dynamic and does tend to fall flat after the first two songs.  However, Bushido is true to the story of the warrior.  Live Life Loud is yet another slow building power anthem, but the guitars are harder hitting and more interesting on this song than Hector’s Hymn.  Live Life Loud sounds like a tip of the hat to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.

 

Ex Inferis is a darker, more intense, harder hitting song and breaks the album up from the typical anthemic song.  This song specifically shows Hammerfall went for a lyrical and vocal based album than Infected.  We Won’t Back Down speeds things up and finally turns the bass up more.  The song features vocals from the brilliant and powerful James Michael from American rock band, Sixx Am.  He is featured throughout the album singing the lower parts, adding contrast to Joacim’s soaring high vocals.  James was also featured on Infected.  In true Hammerfall style, (r)Evolution has it’s well executed beautiful ballad, Winter Is Coming.  This song takes me back to Legacy of Kings in such a vivid way.  Winter Is Coming is one of the best written songs on this album, however I expected it to be a little more long and epic.  Origins is a very interesting Celtic Speed Metal song that I absolutely love on this album, having a more rhythmic feel to it than other tracks.  Tainted Metal is a stomping track, having guitars a bit more in the forefront to keep the vocals from being too repetitive throughout the album.  The snare however gets repetitive on the verses and drowns out the other instruments too much.  Evil Incarnate is a dragging, technical heavy song, that delivers adequately with typical Hammerfall sound.  The album closes with a bang at the track Wildfire, a fast intense ride that brings (r)Evolution to life, giving every musician their final say  It is a perfect epic jam to close a well produced Hammerfall album to an end.

 

Overall (r)Evolution is a well executed and well performed album from Hammerfall, however it lacks the typical energy the band  usually attributes to their albums.  The dynamic truly falls flat and the vocals tend to be at one level throughout most songs, making for a boring listening experience.  Although this isn’t Hammerfall’s best album, it is everything I love about the band and makes for a reminiscent experience.  I liked everything they put into this album and I am glad to hear them go back to their roots.  Their root sound is what makes them truly great and is the biggest factor  to why this album is overall perfect.

 

Rating; 7/10

 

Also Listen To: High Priestess by Kobra and the Lotus, Maximum Overload by Dragonforce, The Human Contradiction by Delain, Heroes by Sabaton, Fallen Leaves & Dead Heroes by Amoral