ALBUM REVIEW: Hammer Of Dawn – HammerFall

There’s a really heartwarming opening track on the newest HAMMERFALL album. Brotherhood is a big and upbeat song that has all their usual tropes, but pay attention to the lyrics and you’ll start to glow from the inside. It’s a tribute to their fans, thanking their audience for supporting them for so long, but it’s also a love letter from the band members to each other. HAMMERFALL are not cool and never have been, but they’ve written a great big hug of a song. The fact it rocks is a bonus as well.

It’s just the first of a series of bangers that make up Hammer Of Dawn. Twelve records into their career, you could forgive HAMMERFALL for resting on their laurels. Their legacy is already established, but rather than phoning it in, they’ve written more merry melodies than Warner Bros. This album isn’t subtle, but it is a well-produced and hugely entertaining record that shines like a ray of wildly optimistic sunlight. Any cultural commentators out there still desperately clinging to the stereotype that metal music is for suicidal, Satan-worshipping malcontents, need to spend a weekend with this album. And a Viking re-enactment society with access to a limitless supply of beer.

Every song is a single in waiting, from the call-and-response title track, to the anthemic stomp of No Son Of Odin. Reveries has a hook you’ll be humming for days, while Live Free Or Die is a light-hearted but punchy number. It’s a hugely enjoyable four minutes of sword-waving fun; nerdier than a night spent painting Warhammer figures but shamelessly entertaining at the same time. If power metal was ever allowed on the radio, there’s no reason why these couldn’t all be big hits. They’re well-written, sound great and there’s no glaring filler.

And their musicianship hasn’t faded with age either. Joacim Cans remains one of the genre’s best singers, the riffs slam and the rhythm section hits with all the power of an ogre’s fist. This is especially true on No Mercy, the dramatic finale. This closing track defies the cliché that the ending has to be an epic ballad and is instead, a neck-wrecking, turbo-charged barnstormer. This could have easily been an attention-grabbing opening track rather than the climax and it brings Hammer Of Dawn to a rousing end.

The only issue that could potentially be raised against Hammer Of Dawn is that it plays things safe. It does nothing to challenge HAMMERFALL’s established formula of big choruses, fast riffs and fantasy-inspired song topics. Their last three albums could have been released in any order and there are no surprises to speak of. However, this overlooks just how much of a joy this album is. This is metal at its most shamelessly fun, life-affirming best. And if Henry Cavill doesn’t blast HAMMERFALL while painstakingly tarting up little plastic Elves, we’ll give away our entire Broken Axe Greenskin army for free.

Rating: 8/10

Hammer Of Dawn is set for release on February 25th via Napalm Records.

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