Never let it be said that I’m not nostalgic. HAMMERFALL had the good (or bad) fortune to come along at a time when metal of all sorts was deep in the throes of an identity crisis, from which it took years to emerge. Still, MANOWAR was on a major label, and BLIND GUARDIAN, STRATOVARIUS and ICED EARTH were holding the banner high, our great and shining hopes for the future. By 1999, however, HAMMERFALL – at least to my ears – sang their creative swan song with the original material on the I Want Out EP. Renegade would follow with the dawn of the millennium, and it seems the band has been going through the motions ever since to varying degrees of acclaim.

‘Avenge The Fallen’ begins with a chant of “Avenge! Avenge!”, but my hopes for a true banger were dashed when the mid-tempo tweedly-dee began. Joacim Cans’ voice is, it must be said in fine form, having recovered from a nasty throat issue years ago. He’s never been of the stratospheric school, but his mid-ranged late ‘80s Klaus Meine-influenced style been reliable and remains so here. After a respectable ‘The End Justifies’, ‘Freedom’ fails to keep the fire burning, and I begin to see that the Swedes’ true self-saddled curse is that they seem to be forever in a rush to reach the chorus, the verses just vehicles to get to what they hope would be a rousing call to brotherhood. Sadly, it rarely is, unless you’re really into football chants or drowsy Vikings half-asleep from too much success instead of drunk on the blood of their enemies.

‘Hail To The King’ certainly won’t be waking anyone up, but ‘Hope Springs Eternal’ is pure power ballad gold circa 2024, brimming with emotion and what would be an undeniable classic in the genre if they could just leave off the chorus vocals please for one song, please, for the love of all things pure and sacred. There’s a huge difference between background vocals and this male choir that the quartet has either been unwilling or unable to kick out of the studio for ages.

‘Burn It Down’ is yet another headlong sprint to the chorus, all aggression sucked dry and leaving us with the equivalent of sugar poured down the ear canals. ‘Rise Of Evil’ manages to recover a bit of bite in the guitar tone, but the lyrics are so utterly abysmal it’s hard to even raise your fist without covering your mouth to avoid laughing out loud.

Well, here we are, HAMMERFALL, over two decades later, and the best I can say is thanks for not being DRAGONFORCE. You’ve still got it in you somewhere, I believe. Why don’t you look for it?
Review By: Lord Randall

HAMMERFALL
Avenge The Fallen
Nuclear Blast