Hammerfall - GLORY TO THE BRAVE

Every once in awhile, there is a band that becomes the center of talk and gossip in the metal circles, and Hammerfall is definitely one of the last bands that has been subjected to this. With the release of an album known as "Glory to the Brave", something happened somewhere along the line, and the buzz was, is that this album was ushering in the second coming of power metal. Since this time, everyone into this sort of music, either bought the album or listened to it, and discussions raged about it. The cd itself underwent large amounts of over-the-top praising and fawning over it, as well as the opposite end of the spectrum with it stamped with the seal of being 'way' over-rated. The band - and the album in general, has its fans and then those that are disgusted because of the attention that was given to it, when, in fact, there are multitudes of albums that DO deserve the hype that was built around Hammerfall.

But even with all the debate over the disc, the album is not the greatest piece of power metal ever recorded, as the fanboys would have you to believe, and neither is it the worst piece of crap the detractors have saddled upon it. "Glory to the Brave" fits comfortably inbetween these two labels, and is muddled in a sea of averageness. The worst thing about the band, is also one of its strengths, and that is lead vocalist, Joacim Cans. He has a higher pitched voice, that doesn't quite fit with the music. Joacim would sound fantastic singing with a lighter more melodic rock type band, for his pipes belt out ballads with such overflowing emotion, but he's not equipped with the kind of inspiring power to belt out Manowar-esque battle hymns. His voice also has the kind of tilt to it that Timo Kotipelto has, just not as powerful. However, on songs that are styled for his voice, he sounds better than average, and helps give new life to substandard material. The rest of the music has more in common with Manowar than anything, both musically and lyrically. In the music department, the songs are guitar driven and feature tight rhythm work and plenty of shredding on the solos. Drums have a nice sound to them, not overly done, but settled into the background. Of course the songs themselves are speed metal with that power touch.

And on to the songs. There's "Hammerfall", a tune dealing with the band themselves I guess, kind of a 'unite brothers of metal and take on the world' thing, a'la Manowar. "The Metal Age" was their single, and was chosen wisely, for Joacim sounds his best on that selection of the harder and speedier tunes. "I Believe" is one of two ballads that found their way onto the album. Driven by a strong vocal performance, and light acoustic melodies, it slowly builds up into an explosion of sound (and emotion). The guitar solo is rather reflective and subdued, and is tailored nicely to fit the song. "Glory to the Brave", the title track, ends the disc, and is the other ballad. This one is along the same lines as "I Believe" but is given a much more epic feel. The bridge is positively beautiful, nothing but acoustic and the gorgeous voice of Joacim (I said he was born to sing ballads didn't I?). The drums don't kick in until after the first run through the chorus, and the electric blazes into the second time through the chorus, with a legion of background vocals supporting the lead voice of Joacim. It weaves back and forth between the 'stripped' sound of the acoustic and the lead vocals and the big booming epic sound achieved on the chorus. The switching back and forth makes the song even more appealing, for the contrast is quite moving, especially the ending, which fades into nothing with just vocals and piano. The song itself, is inspirational in feel, but is an ode to one that has died, and is created in memory of their life. I can imagine this song being played at many funerals for power metal fans in the far future (I want it played at mine *laughs*).

"The Dragon Lies Bleeding" is another standout tune, and is the one that kicks the album off to the roar of electric guitars and pounding speed drums. Its held together with an amazing amount of melody despite the thundering sound of the overall song. Its chorus is especially melodic sounding. The middle of the song is pounding, before and after the shredding solo, a real headbanging track overall. If there is anything to take points away from the song, its the fact that it becomes a tad repetitive at times, but holds it together to keep it a solid track. "Stone Cold" is another song that just ignites from start to finish, and is different in tone and structure than the other cuts. "Stone Cold"'s opening guitar is neoclassical and Yngwie Malmsteen-like in the fact its arpeggio ridden stuff, which I love. The deep voices that almost chant out "stone cold", with Joacim singing along in his higher tones make the chorus unique. The crowd noise sounds a bit cheesy, but its easily overlooked. This is another good cut that could have been made even better if it wasnt for repetitiveness. The rest of the album is standard speed metal stuff, "Child of the Damned", the blistering "Steel Meets Steel" and "Unchained". They are interchangable to me, and sound just alike except for a few little differences tossed in here and there. Not terrible, but not great, and just painfully average.

And so it goes for the whole album. With the exception of the emotional ballads and one or two other cuts, the album is painfully average. I couldn't pick out any exceptional guitar runs or solos that were particularly grabbing and unusual, but the axework throughout the entire album, is competant, and gets the job done. Joacim sounds too sappy and too high pitched to be convincing on some of the more warriors vs the world, Manowar type tracks, but yet on the ballads and a few select others, its his vocal abilities improve the overall sound of some of the more cookie cutter tracks. There is one other quality about this album that's very odd. Even though the album 'is' buried in averageness, I still find myself listening to it occasionally and actually enjoying it, and that alone speaks volumes about it. I recommend everyone at least to listen to it once, just to see what all the hoopla over it was about, and if you like wannabe Manowar power metal, then buy the album no doubts. Its straightforward stuff, but its not bad, and heads and tails better than some of the other bands that decided to do the world a 'favor' and crank out similiar albums like Pegazus.

Album Review by Alanna Evans
Rating - 6.9
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