Review Summary: A blast to the past, with modern engines.
Hammerfall have been around for a long time. They’ve had their good and bad albums, and have projected their cheesy power metal style through the ages. There’s a lot of value in consistency, and Hammer of Dawn is a glorious offering to the metal gods, proving that resilience pays off. This shredded cheese is greater than ever, with more meat and spice than a taco. It’s a good album.
Hammerfall sound incredibly modern for an old band. The clean production quality helps, but it’s more than that. Joacim Cans sounds almost as good as he did in 2005 (see Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken), as though time has stood still. I found myself thinking, “Wow, this sounds great” through the album, only shrugging at some of the unfortunate crowd vocals. This triumphant style of power metal with cheesy lyrics has been done to death, (especially considering Powerwolf is active) but the charm of Hammerfall has remained thanks to the lead vocalist.
Ultimately, Hammerfall can compete with the best that power metal has to offer. Guitar playing may not be as jaw dropping as Dragonforce or Secret Sphere, but it’s no matter. The heavy, chugging riffs create a stunning pace, and the drummer seems to have no problem laying down beats on top of beats. The plentiful guitar solos are also varied, and effortlessly impressive, giving a new, surprising flavour each time. The band have clearly been around the block, and their veteran status is well deserved.
To state the obvious, this is a Hammerfall album. Lyrics are as corny as ever, with such gems as:
“Say my name, and I will never die
Light my flame, on the forever sky
Say my name, be my last battle cry
Light my flame, on the forever sky
Oh, oh-oh
Oh, oh-oh”.
Conclusively, this is power metal in its purest form. It’s exactly what you want or don’t want depending on your feelings towards the genre. If you stay for this ride, I guarantee catchy songs and a generally positive, jovial tone that I find bands often lack. It’s a lot of fun. Hammer of Dawn is highly recommended, and will no doubt be a top shelf 2022 power metal release.
