Band:	HammerFall
Album:	Avenge The Fallen
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	August 2024
A review by:	AndyMetalFreak

01. Avenge The Fallen
02. The End Justifies
03. Freedom
04. Hail To The King
05. Hero To All
06. Hope Springs Eternal
07. Burn It Down
08. Capture The Dream
09. Rise Of Evil
10. Time Immemorial

Will the mighty hammer fall to the ground once and for all, or Avenge The Fallen standards of traditional power metal?

When speaking of European power metal, one band you simply can't ignore is HammerFall, who formed over 30 years ago in 1993 during a time when we saw other Swedish power metal giants such as Sabaton and Lost Horizon make a real breakthrough on the scene. The early stages of HammerFall's career got off to a high-flying start (the first 4 albums in particular), which really helped put them, and Sweden as a whole, on the European power metal map. Along with Sabaton, HammerFall have maintained a prominent position in power metal, and in doing so continue the legacy of German power pioneers Gamma Ray and Helloween, leading right up to this 13 full-length album Avenge The Fallen.

By now, you should have some indication of what to expect from HammerFall; their style is uplifting, light-hearted, energetic, and fun, brimming with memorable melodies, even if the themes are borderline cheesy. They're as traditional as European power metal gets, and have maintained this same approach throughout their career; their songwriting has always remained consistent and true to themselves, giving diehard traditional power metal fans some hope and glory to cling onto. Expecting a change in musical direction now is rather unrealistic, but even if the band have not quite lived up to the standards of their golden 90s/early 00s era in recent years, they've rarely released an album of sub-par quality so far (minus the minor mishap of 2011's Infected).

The option to continue using the same formula for such a lengthy period of time is often risky for any metal band, as many by now would have lost a sense of ambition, or at least run dry of material that keeps listeners engaged; this for me has been a recent case for HammerFall. Now they return once again, unsurprisingly sticking to their glorious traditional power roots, but don't make the mistake in thinking this is another effort of mediocre standards, as you'll soon find out to the contrary on opening title track "Avenge The Fallen".

From the get-go, it's clear the album is going to be an uplifting, fun, and energetic release; the guitar work performed by Oscar Dronjak and Pontus Norgrenis is satisfying to say the least, delivering traditional, melodic, and epic galloping riffs, and memorable solos. The rhythm section is carried forth by the prominently heavy bass of Fredrik Larsson and powerful pounding drumming of David Wallin, and the ageless Joacim Cans soars into action once again with his powerful, passionate vocals, which are occasionally accompanied by epic battle chants. This is a rapid, semi-heavy, and rousing opener, and this intent carries through to the end of the album. Performance-wise the record is unsurprisingly top-notch; the songwriting, although nothing out of the ordinary, is engaging, and has enough catchy melodies and memorable choruses to keep you hooked, but topping it all off is the impeccably crisp, clean production. Each instrumental element maintains a strong, powerful presence in the mix, and the symphonic arrangements (although not constantly present) are expertly orchestrated, often giving the instrumentation that boost of epicness where it's needed.

Unsurprisingly, HammerFall haven't altered style since their origins, but they're power metal icons now, so why change a formula that's become imbedded in them. Holding onto that is important, but so is being able to keep listeners and fans engaged and content, and Avenge The Fallen succeeds in that respect. This is no mere standard quality power metal, at least not compared to what the majority of modern power metal bands are putting out these days; despite not reaching the heights of Glory To The Brave or Legacy Of Kings, this a mighty fine effort from these power metal veterans, who proceed to please their glorified battle-ready audience once more.