Band:	HammerFall
Album:	(r)Evolution
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	August 27, 2014
A review by:	R Lewis

01. Hector's Hymn
02. (r)Evolution
03. Bushido
04. Live Life Loud
05. Ex Inferis
06. We Won't Back Down
07. Winter Is Coming
08. Origins
09. Tainted Metal
10. Evil Incarnate
11. Wildfire
12. Demonized [limited edition bonus]

On the cover artwork, Hector is back. But, is HammerFall?

After failing while trying to darken their sound with 2011's Infected, (r)Evolution marks a blatant return to the roots, to the sounds of the late '90s/early 00's that forged HammerFall's name. Therefore, one could assume the logic, twisted as it is, behind the album name, but that's it.

HammerFall never released phenomenal albums: they always watered down four to five tracks of great content with as many just tolerable tunes, obtaining seven good albums in which, until Infected, the passable tracks had a glorious predominance. (r)Evolution is no exception. Despite "Hector's Hymn" being one of the best openers in their career, and "Bushido" and "Origins" gaining a sure place in every future live setlist, the rest of the album is a mixture of mediocrity, stereotypes and "already heard".

With musicianship that rarely pushes itself beyond the trivial, the foreseeable and the safe, and the same being for the songwriting, reduced to the bone, (r)Evolution is both a slightly subpar HammerFall album yet among the best they've released in some years. Because, let's face it: if some bands can last their whole career trusting their trademark sound, HammerFall can't, and the hype around their albums has been dropping in recent times. The band probably sensed it, and here is where Infected came in, trying to renew what was born already old, but failing. The only thing to do was rushing back to the roots, clinging to the popularity these Swedish guys have crafted.

As stated before, with a similar throwback, for a band like this falling in the "already heard" was almost inevitable. But, despite the attempt to dust the older style, (r)Evolution doesn't even remotely convey the sensations that classics as Glory To The Brave did. It pales in comparison, and feels? tired.

This said, long-time HammerFall fans will find what they've almost always found. Some great sing-along live tunes, a dramatic power ballad a la "Dark Winds, Dark Words" again based on the Game Of Thrones universe, a handful of decent tracks and others made to make sure that the "skip" button on the stereo still works.

(r)Evolution is not the ground-breaking return some were hoping for. Neither is it a good album for the band's standards. It's a safe, just satisfactory one. No more. But at least, many will say, it's HammerFall again.