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HammerFall - Crimson Thunder Audio CD

A fair review of the HammerFall "Crimson Thunder" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all HammerFall reviews here, or go back to the HammerFall tabs.

HammerFall Band: HammerFall
Title: Crimson Thunder
Rating:
Release Date: 2002-11-12
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Riders Of The Storm 2: Hearts On Fire 3: On The Edge Of Honour 4: Crimson Thunder 5: Lore Of The Arcane 6: Trailblazers 7: Dreams Come True 8: Angel Of Mercy 9: The Unforgiving Blade 10: In Memoriam 11: Hero's Return 12: Detroit Rock City

Great music, but songs seem to be mislabeled.
I really like Hammerfall's music, but it appears that several of the songs are mislabeled here.


You can do worse,,,but you can do so much better
It would have to be, for Kiss's Detroit Rock City to be included on a power metal album. This is probably the least inspired collection of songs I've ever heard. These songs simply lack any hint of brilliance. This is not to say that they all suck. However, they don't really soar. The overuse and abuse of chanting sorta drags down rhe otherwise decent vocals, the lyrics are about 6. 5/10 on the cheesy scale, and the guitar solos suck. Let me be blunt; these guys aren't very good musicians. Passable, but neither original nor exceptional. The music hear actually has a lot in common with 80's glam metal (perhaps explaining the otherwise inexplicable KISS cover?). It's sort of a combination of glam and power metal. The song Dreams Come True is a sleazy ballad written for some record exec. The best songs hear are The Unforgiving Blade, Riders On The Storm, Trailblazer, and Hearts on Fire, although these all abuse the chanting a little too much. The song Lore of the Arcane is a pointless and boring bit of chanting, In Memoriam is a boring mid tempo instrumental, and Angel of Mercy, Hero's Return, and Crimson Thunder are all bland, mid-tempo bits of power metal that are safe to listen too, but pointless. I would recommend over this album some Dragonforce, Blind Guardian, Demons and Wizards, Iced Earth, Helloween, or if you like the glam, Motley Crue, Ratt, W. A. S. P. , LA Guns, or Cinderella. Also, what I've heard of Hammerfall's other albums has been considerably better than this.


Pseudo- Fantastic
What I am looking for IS the cheesy, epic metal fantasy of our inborn desire to conquer and battle foe and beast and rest our heads at the end of the journey in the arms of a fair maiden. Ok, so I listened to the well "scribed" words of praise for the band, and purchased the album. However, what I do not dig is the thinly veiled parallel of Hammerfall's epic, a tribute to the "evil one's" fall from the heavens and the rallying cry of support for this "misunderstood" adversary of our Creator. Here we go: Oh yeh oh yeh, I'm a rebel and I relate to you, beautiful black serpent of old,. . . let's bring down the walls of heaven and make up our own rules too, aaaahhhhh yeeeehh, life sucks here, there's only death in hell, lets bring the taint up there as well, oohhh ahhhhhh.

Give me a break. If I wanted that I would have signed up for Slayer, or even better yet, would have devolved to my infantile state of teenaged rebellion and rocked to hell with King Diamond. At least his vocal capability is talented enough to lull you into the spiders web and into oblivion's madness. Yawwwwwwwwwwwwn.

Is there any metal band that doesn't fit this stereotype?

.


Power Metal at its Best!!
Most of the other modern so called "metal" bands are nothing but screaming crap. Hammerfall is one of the best modern metal bands around today. Hammerfall took the best parts of 80's metal and solidified it together with an updated sound. They have a lot of skill and talent. Their songs are powerful and heavy and yet actually have melody that you can follow. You can hear and understand all the words. But again, they are extremely powerful and heavy. They have a constant Middle Age theme running through all their albums which is what makes them unique. It creates a certain mood and flow that connects all the songs on an album.

Now about rating their albums. . . all 5 of their albums rock! But the last 4 are better than the first. Their first is good heavy metal, much better than most metal bands today, but the songs did not completely "click" and come together. However, that issue was completely gone by the second album! None of their next 4 albums are better than the other. They all are as good as heavy power metal with melodic vocals can get. On each album they further develop their style and introduce a few new things. But. . . and a very important but. . . each album still sounds like Hammerfall! They remain true to their sound. So here are the ratings:
3. 5 Glory to the Brave
5. 0 Legacy Of Kings
5. 0 Renegade
5. 0 Crimson Thunder
5. 0 Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken

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Should actually be 6 stars!


YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPPOINTED!!!. This is the ultimate power metal collection! I listen to it almost everyday! BUY IT if you love power metal! This music is what pumps me up before my combat jujitsu training.


You can see a complete list of all HammerFall discography, or go back to the HammerFall tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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