LIVE REVIEW: Gloryhammer @ Club Academy, Manchester

It has come as no surprise that drooling through the walls of the Club Academy in Manchester was sold out for months for the power trio of headliners GLORYHAMMER, BEAST IN BLACK and new recruits WIND ROSE. It was told that by the time the lights dropped, it was packed in every corner and all in attendance were set to be subscribed into three worlds of power metal, unique to each act.

“We don’t write songs, we smith them against the anvil”, exclaims costume-clad frontman Francesco Cavalieri as Italian’s WIND ROSE positioned themselves to take all on a collective metal journey. Singing exclusively about dwarves from a Tolkien perspective, the affectionate dwarfing quintet hit their stride and succeeded in getting the packed room with the embracing their embracing. Entering the tavern with infectious singalongs Wintersaga and Drunken Dwarves, it was clear that everyone was already having a grand ol’ time. When the popular creation of Diggy Diggy Hole played, everyone proceeded to dig a hole in rhythm and bellow the chorus in unison as if WIND ROSE just recruited their own army. The troupe closed their short but epically sweet set with hard-hitting To Erebor giving the crazy Italians new friends at the end of their journey.

Rating: 8/10

Imagine what would it be like if JUDAS PRIEST and EUROPE collided in space? Now With two strong albums in their repertoire, the Finns BEAST IN BLACK were ready to bring their sounds to their onlooking Mancunians. It was from that point that there was no messing about as soon as the chords to Cry For A Hero and Unlimited Sin hit the PA. All in attendance craved every drop of their blistering power metal and with each track played became even more addictive with each approving roar. Adding even more flavour to their addictive collection of Beast In Black, Born Again and Die By The Blade, the musicianship from the band on stage was strong. Probably stronger the last time the band hit waves in the UK. From having a quick breather with singalong Sweet True Lies, the troop hit back hard with 1980’s EDM-infused metal clasher From Hell With Love which lead to their epic closers Blind & Frozen and End Of The World, marking the end to another great show of their world. BEAST IN BLACK were having the time of their lives and the perfect choice of support. It won’t be long until they will hit bigger stages.

Rating: 9/10

It was quite the sight for Manchester to be presented with a cardboard cut-out of Tom Jones and sing Delilah from the top of their lungs all the while holding inflatable hammers and unicorns, before huge cheers filled in for the headlining intergalactic force GLORYHAMMER to step on the stage. Angus McFife XIII, Crown Prince of Fife, along with his comrades greeted Manchester with the bombastic openers The Siege of Dunkeld (In Hoots We Trust) and Gloryhammer. Getting the intergalactic power metal party started in style with the “hootsforce” [affectionately called their fans] fully embracing their wacky interplanetary universe of tracks Legend Of The Astral Hammer, Questlords of Inverness, The Hollywood Hootsman and Goblin King. It was clear that the musicianship singing untaled scenes of goblins, unicorns, Scotland and hammers, their army loved eating every bite of the madness! With plentiful amount of crowd participation from their space heroes, the lunacy didn’t stop when Battle For Eternity, Masters Of The Galaxy and Rise Of The Chaos Wizards hit the floors and galaxy opened for closers Universe On Fire and Unicorn Invasion Of Dundee. Behind the unrelenting ridiculousness, the sold-out show was impressively well performed with massive choruses custom built for air-punching and cheesy grins all round. Mission accomplished for GLORYHAMMER!

Rating: 9/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Manchester from Sabrina Ramdoyal Photography here: