HAMMERFALL — Glory to the Brave

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HAMMERFALL - Glory to the Brave cover
3.95 | 19 ratings | 2 reviews
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Album · 1997

Filed under Power Metal
By HAMMERFALL

Tracklist

1. The Dragon Lies Bleeding (4:22)
2. The Metal Age (4:28)
3. Hammerfall (4:47)
4. I Believe (4:53)
5. Child of the Damned (3:42)
6. Steel Meets Steel (4:02)
7. Stone Cold (5:43)
8. Unchained (5:38)
9. Glory to the Brave (7:20)

Total Time: 44:58

Line-up/Musicians


- Joacim Cans / lead vocals and background harmonies
- Oscar Dronjak / guitars and backing vocals
- Fredrik Larsson / bass guitar and backing vocals
- Glenn Ljungström / guitars
- Jesper Strömblad / drums

Guest musicians

- Patrik Räfling / all drums
- Stefan Elmgren / lead and acoustic guitar on track 4
- Fredrik Nordström / grand piano, keyboard and backing vocals
- Niklas Isfält / background harmonies
- Hans Björk / backing vocals
- Mats Hansson / Guitars (lead)

About this release

Nuclear Blast Records
Formats: CD, LP, shaped CD, picture LP, red vinyl LP, deluxe edition (with bonus material), value box (with “Renegade” CDS)

Thanks to tupan, DippoMagoo for the updates

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HAMMERFALL GLORY TO THE BRAVE reviews

Specialists/collaborators reviews

Warthur
Power metal is kind of a hit-and-miss genre for me - when it clicks with me, it's really enjoyable, but too often the cheese factor is overwhelming and I can't deal with it. One of the happy exceptions to that is HammerFall's debut album, which updates the power metal formula as it existed in the mid-1990s with a healthy influence from NWOBHM masters like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. The end result is that the band dial back the cheese and deliver material with guts and grit to them - but, of course, with enough dragon-slaying and knightly quests to lend things the sense of fun and fantasy adventure power metal lends itself to.

Members reviews

Mjöllnir
In helping to kick off a revival of European power metal in the mid-90s, HammerFall also played a part in shaping the course of metal's journey for the next few years. Countless bands sprang up in their wake (and still do), and the popularity of the genre would escalate in the new millenium as some of the 80s stalwarts had just gone over their high water mark. I am largely disillusioned with this movement, which already used pre-existing ideas and barely showed any willingness to move beyond that. Helloween/Maiden/Priest condensed to their most stringent "metal" elements, with that pervasive Manowar attitude ruling over all. Or alternatively, melding the melodious, neo-classical approach of Stratovarius (initially inspired by Rainbow and others) with a pop aesthetic showing through. Either way, both equally became prisoners of their own formulas.

HammerFall however, write some energetic and largely memorable music. If we remove the woeful ballad "I Believe" we still have 7 songs (plus two covers) that are actually impressive, simple metal tunes. Sticking to the verse/chorus method of trad. heavy metal but sometimes mixing it up with an extended structure here and there. Joacim Cans' mid range voice is very plain but surprisingly distinctive, and the refreshing nature of the material at the time made sure they created an impression. The musicians themselves get the job done, in much the way an experienced 80s band could have but there's no star players here. My personal highlights include "Steel Meets Steel", "The Metal Age", and "Unchained". The title track is an "epic" ballad that lumbers along nonchalantly but acquits itself well considering their absymal track record for these slow, emotional numbers.

I don't listen to this much now, and the generic cheese is more evident to me but its release in 1997 rather than 2007 makes that far more acceptable. It was a time when the metal underground needed some vitality restored to it, and what better way to do it than with a throwback to the good old days.

Ratings only

  • Fant0mas
  • SilentScream213
  • karolcia
  • LORDOSOLIVAIS
  • Beyonder
  • powermetal2000
  • Psydye
  • DippoMagoo
  • jahkhula
  • KatiLily
  • jsorigar
  • jose carlos
  • Zombieman998
  • Earendil
  • Double-D
  • Anster
  • Bartje1979

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