HAMMERFALL „Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken”

When HAMMERFALL began recording their debut album, “Glory to the Brave”, Nuclear Blast stepped forward and offered them a long term record contract. With their second release “Legacy of Kings”, which many fans hold up as the stick to measure all HAMMERFALL releases
against, HAMMERFALL became the most successful newcomers to the metal scene going to number one on the charts in Sweden!

Their third and fourth release “Renegade” and “Crimson Thunder” continued to please power metal fans as the band continued to deliver their heavy weighted thunderings and blistering leads.

Lets take a closer look at HAMMERFALL's (Joacim Cans – vocals, Oscar Dronjak – guitars/backing vocals, Stefan Elmgren – guitars/backing vocals, Magnus Rosén – bass,
Anders Johannson – drums) latest release: “Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken”.

The album starts of with “Secrets”, combining moody organ overlaid with blazing notes hammered out with blazing fury. Then with intensity the powerchords hit as the vocalist takes introduces us to Hammerfall in all their glory with lyrics informing us that “There's something in our hearts worth fighting for” and “Some secrets better left untold” Halfway through the song the melody slows down and becomes melodic with a reflective ambiance and then just in time the the powerchords come crashing in with an intensity that climbs to unbeleivable heights. Listening to this song for the first time I was felt it reach down and grab my adrenaline and pull it kicking and screaming to to my bloodstream. It was then I realized I was head banging and fist pumping along with the rhythm guitar chords. As the song ended I let out a resounding YESSSS! This is Metal as it is supposed to be!

The second track “Blood Bound” continues where “Secrets” left off with mix of anthmetic verses, firey solos, and a great
showcase of Cans excellent vocal power!

My personal fav is “Fury of the Wild” with its vocal exchanges and the lead guitar creating the melody on to build up to a pause in the chorus “the Fury of the…… WWWIIILLLD”. I love it! The song ends with a rythmn guitar exchange that is just much fun to listen to!

“Hammer of Justice” is a straight ahead metal anthem delivering a steady pounding rhythm from start to finish and leaves you wanting… no begging for more!

Next up is the seemingly mandatory ballad “Never, Ever”. Its my personal belief that ballads are to reinforce the metal by providing a stark comparison. Whether its mandatory or not HAMMERFALL deliver in grand style.

“Born to Rule” eases us back to the metal with a mid-tempo melodic contribution that opens an infectious crunching guitar hook and continues plodding all the way through exhibiting a taste of Black Sabbath influence.

Following “Born to Rule” is “The Templars Flame” which sounds so close to Judas Priest's “Touch of Evil” that I found myself trying to fit the lyrics from “Touch of Evil” into “The Templars Flame”.

“Imperial” is an instrumental track that has an “ancient warrior sitting by the fireside” feel to it. All though a very
well done and pretty piece it somehow doesn't seem to fit. Did they include this haunting melody to garner critical
acclaim or to add more balance with a softer side, I do not know.

What HAMMERFALL is trying to tell us with “Take the Black” eludes me lyrically. The verses are great such as: “You though you had it all in there In your little bag of tricks, Insanity won't set you free, As you cross the river Styx”. But the chorus leaves you scratching your
head with “Ain't no reason for the rhyme, Take the Black – Ready to attack”…. What is that? To its credit though “Take the Black” musically is great! Strait ahead no frills heavy metal!

Which brings us to the albums closing track. “Knights of the 21st Century”. Clocking in at at over 12 minutes long
{the song is actually 10 minutes long) with a long silent pause culminating with the guest vocalist (Conrad Lant of Venom) piping in with a repeated phrase from the tracks opening growl “the propecy grrrrr, grrrrr. grrrr. hell, f@cking yeah” Uh… OK. I guess this is an attempt at a hidden bonus track. Why? who knows… but in the end who cares, Overall the album makes up for this minor fallacy.

Nuclear Blast has done well delivering the goods with HAMMERFALL on the whole the songs are hungry and weighted heavily with solos that are fast and clean combined with stellar production which pushes this metal opus to the top! Listeners will be amazed with the variety on this record with its progressive parts, classical and orchestral elements, symphonic influences, acoustic tracks and everything in between semi-ballads and Speed Metal. HAMMERFALL dispenses powerful, majestic and melodic
power metal with memorable choruses, crunchingly clean riffs, pounding drums, and thundering bass chords, combined with near perfect metal vocals that will no doubt stand the test of time!

“Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken” bears the HAMMERFALL name with unabashed pride. I highly recommend adding this to your growing metal collection. I certainly gave it a resounding YESSS! HORNS UP!

Tracklist

01. Secrets
02. Blood Bound
03. Fury Of The Wild
04. Hammer Of Justice
05. Never, Ever
06. Born To Rule
07. The Templar Flame
08. Imperial
09. Take The Black
10. Knights Of The 21st Century

Line-up

Joacim Cans – lead and backing vocals
Oscar Dronjak – lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals
Stefan Elmgren – lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars, backing vocals
Magnus Rosén – bass guitar
Anders Johansson – drums