ALBUM REVIEW: Renegade 2.0 – HammerFall

To many, Renegade is one of HAMMERFALL’s crowning artistic achievements. Having recently departed to focus on IN FLAMES, it’s the last album to feature musical contributions from original drummer and founding member Jesper Strömblad, marking a significant milestone for the band. In a number of ways, it is the sound of HAMMERFALL hitting their stride and coming in to their own as forebears of a new wave of power metal, breaking out from their odd position as a side project for some of Gothenburg’s finest metal musicians. Its amped up and remastered format, Renegade 2.0, is certainly the best way to enjoy this historically important release. Yet, 21 years after the fact, Renegade 2.0 now also stands as a microcosm of a particularly homogenous period within the European melodic metal scene.

Time has not been completely forgiving to Renegade. Riding the crest of a wave that would result in a shore full of extremely samey power metal imitators, HAMMERFALL mostly managed to keep their head above water with strong song-writing chops and a litany of great performances. However, it can’t be denied that Renegade carries many of the same genericisms that the band’s lesser contemporaries leaned on. For an album clocking in at nearly 50 minutes, there is very little variety amongst its collection of heavy metal fantasy cuts; each song bragging tremolo picked riffs that switch to half time power chords at the chorus, while never-ending double bass pedals keep the momentum constant and predictable.

It was a known quantity even by 2000, the album’s original release following on from years of 90s GAMMA RAY and the like, with HAMMERFALL doing little to push the sound further. In the context of 2021, Renegade sadly boasts a few tracks which embody the creative nadir of this era of power metal, such as the forgettable Destined For Glory. Mind you, when the band do diverge from the safe haven of power-metal-by-numbers, things get worse; Always Will Be is a verbal blender of lyrical clichés that undermines any instrumental quality present (that’s not to mention that Bette Midler probably has ownership of the phrase “wind beneath my wings” in perpetuity).

Despite these moments of dated pomp however, Renegade does to this day retain some bona fide classics that have obviously cemented its reputation. Amongst the lofty high points are the triumphant Living In Victory, a catchy mix of glory and arrogance; Templars Of Steel, the anthemic and timeless opener; and The Way Of The Warrior, a musical battle cry of fittingly epic proportions. The latter also boasts one of the album’s strongest instrumental sections, its middle eight wandering with determination through jigging guitar parts and singalong vocals before returning to the more traditional power metal hijinks.

Renegade’s best moments have also never sounded better, with the revamped mix presenting the album in its best possible form. While there was nothing wrong with the original mix per se, its slight muddiness blurred the edges of the instrumentation. By contrast, Renegade 2.0 sounds decidedly sharpened; the guitars are brighter and much more defined compared to their original incarnation, whereas the pounding rhythm section’s tight attack comes through far more clearly than before. Additionally, Joachim Cans’ silky smooth vocals cut through the distortion like a hot knife through butter, leading the charge at the front of the mix with a backing vocal army that sounds 10,000 strong. In adding so much clarity to the sound, there is a loss of some of the intangible warmth of the original’s guitar tone. However, it’s a worthwhile trade off to bring Renegade 2.0 more sonically in line with the band’s succeeding albums Crimson Thunder and Chapter V (and, of course, the original album and mix will always remain).

At its core, Renegade 2.0 is a very well executed upgrade of one of HAMMERFALL’s landmark releases. What is more debatable is how well the original material has aged, particularly as many of HAMMERFALL’s follow ups felt more unique and vital. If you have a particular soft spot for Renegade, this is undoubtedly the best it’s ever sounded and well worth checking out, even if just to get a slightly new perspective on something that is no doubt seared in to your memory. For those coming in to the album fresh however, Renegade 2.0 shows the age of its material, acting as a somewhat generic but highly competent dose of early 00s Euro metal.

Rating: 7/10

Renegade 2.0 is set for release on November 12th via Nuclear Blast Records.

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