Kev Rowland
When HammerFall released their second album in 1998 they were following up from the incredible success of their debut, and cemented it with ‘Legacy Of Kings’ which charted in multiple territories including Top 20 in Germany and their home country of Sweden. Nuclear Blast have now released a boxed set containing two CDs and a DVD (which I haven’t seen), with loads of additional material which makes this a “must purchase” for any fan. The ’20 Year Anniversary Edition’ contains the original album (remastered of course), along with singles/bonus cuts which were available in other territories, live versions from recent tours, and what is probably the most interesting for real fans, rehearsal demo material from 1998. It is certainly interesting to compare those songs with how they sound on the original album!
HammerFall rarely fail to deliver, and this is certainly no exception with their take on power metal which at times also brings in a folk element, always with loads of bottom end and great vocals. It is interesting to hear them cover Helloween’s “I Want Out” as while a good version it doesn’t contain the power and emphasis of their own material, while I am still not sure why they recorded “Man On The Silver Mountain”, but they don’t do bad (and it is a brave man indeed to take on Ronnie). I am sure that most metalheads will already have this album in their collection, but while waiting for the next album (which should be out in a few months), this is well worth investigating again.