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Trollheart · 10-22-2013, 03:22 PM

Tales from the kingdom of Fife --- Gloryhammer --- 2013 (Napalm)

Hold on just one minute there squire: a power metal band from Scotland? Well, not quite. Apparently this is a) the side project of Chris Bowes from Alestorm (who are, or were, Scottish) with some other international members on board and b) meant to be something of a piss-take on the often po-facedness of some power metal bands we could mention. This I did not know when I pressed play, and to be perfectly honest it doesn't matter. Others may scoff at their version of power-metal-by-numbers, or wildly predictable lyrical content like dragons and unicorns (and princesses) but I still think this a great album, especially for a debut. It certainly is capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the bands in the genre, even kicking the arses of some.

If you can stop tittering at the hilarious name, we'll get going then shall we? No? Still laughing? All right then, go ahead. I can wait. But not that long. Time to get this show on the road if I want to be home in time for tea.

Starting off with a big booming orchestral sounding intro, a dark voice intones "The prophecy is written: Dundee shall fall!" though why anyone would want the small Scottish city is beyond me, and rolling drumbeats punctuate layers of keyboards with choral vocals as "Anstruther's dark prophecy" gets us in the mood with a very Game of Thrones feel, then the unbelievably hilarious "The unicorn invasion of Dundee" hits, and the tempo goes up about ten levels. Great shredding and sonorous keys is the order of the day, and Thomas Winkler has a rough, ragged edge to his voice that often suits this kind of music, while nobody can deny it's catchy as all hell. It does sound derivative, but apparently that's the idea, so if so then it works perfectly. Just to add to the send-up feel of the album, the band have all taken elaborate fantasy-themed stage names which apparently identify them as characters in the story. But if you look beyond that you'll find some really competent musicians who seem to be having a blast doing what they do. This must be how Manowar felt when they first recorded "Battle hymns".

Fans of Rhapsody or Freedom Call will feel Gloryhammer are copying them --- pehaps mocking them --- on "Angus McFife", and they probably are, but there's a great sense of fun about it and the guitars from Paul Templing are certainly serious enough. Great keyboard backing from Bowes, who surely is winking at the audience as he runs his fingers up and down the keys delivering arpeggios and runs, and Winkler belts out the cliched lyric which you still can't help but smile at. "Quest for the hammer of glory" has Manowar's fingerprints all over it, and maybe Virgin Steele's too, and is a slower, slightly grindier piece telling of the quest to, oh you know... It has a very triumphant and majestic air about it, one of those songs you imagine playing as armies ride to battle, preferably against insurmountable odds. Some good orchestral style keyboards utilised well on this song, with trumpets and fanfares thrown in too, and I must mention the heavy basswork of James Spicemaster Cartwright --- no, that's not his stage name!

Great neoclassical piano starts "Magic dragon" and then it kicks into high gear in true power metal style, and even though it's hard to believe that you're listening to a song that includes dragons, wizards, demons and warriors in the lyric, somehow it's just too good to ignore. Almost like the cliches --- and this album is packed so full of them it's bursting at the seams --- don't really matter. It's all about a feeling, an atmosphere being built, and just having a good time without worrying too much, or at all, about the semantics. Great keyboard solo here too, wouldn't be out of place in a progressive rock album, and followed by a super one on the guitar. Bliss. And then of course there's the, as Fish once wrote, obligatory ballad.

"Silent tears of frozen princess" has a lovely violin and strings opening, with soft piano and perhaps harp in there too, although I suppose these could all be synthesised. They sound real though. Slow, heavy percussion then cuts in and the song's moved into its second minute before the vocal comes in. As expected, it's a restrained croon, but demonstrates at least that Thomas Winkler can handle ballads as well as bellowing anthems to power and glory. And he handles it well I must say. I have to say I like this, and it could be a decent single, if chosen, though I doubt any of the tracks here will see the light of single release. Foot hard down on the accelerator and we've off roaring down the highway with "Amulet of justice", triphammer drumming driving the song, and "Hail to Crail" is good fun too while "Beneath Cowdenbeath" is a fast and furious instrumental driven on racing guitar and powerful keys.

We end on, perhaps rather predictably, the final cliche. An epic song, which even has "epic" in the title! "The epic rage of furious thunder" starts off with a big bombastic introduction, choral voices and a deep, rich vocal from Winkler, almost operatic as he praises the city of Dundee and the band winds up behind him. I have to say, it's hilarious when he sings "Mighty Dundee!" I mean, Rome, London, even Avalon, okay, but Dundee??! You might as well sing mighty Dublin! It rocks out then for a minute or so, fades down to a female spoken vocal and then kicks off again. Good vocal harmonies and great pounding rollicking percussion with a slick little guitar solo in about the fourth minute. I'll give it this much: the lyrics may be contrived and cliched all through this album, power metal-by-numbers, but they make more sense than many a German or Danish power metal album I've listened to. The whole thing would appear to follow a basic concept which ends with the taking back of "the great city of Dundee", and the rippling soft keyboards in the seventh minute presage a triumphant power metal climax (ooer!) that carries through to the end of the song, although it does end with a rather silly dark voiceover (presumably the same evil chappie who foretold the doom of Dundee at the beginning) and a rather unnecessary acoustic guitar fade.

TRACKLISTING

1. Anstruther's dark prophecy
2. The unicorn invasion of Dundee
3. Angus McFife
4. Quest for the hammer of glory
5. Magic dragon
6. Silent tears of frozen princess
7. Amulet of justice
8. Hail to Crail
9. Beneath Cowdenbeath
10. The epic rage of glorious thunder

Okay would you please stop laughing? Thank you. Now, it's true this can be seen as a parody --- which is, I think, how it was intended --- and a sendup of the often up-its-own-arse-ness of power metal, but you can't fault the musicianship, the hooks in the songs or the overall production and execution of the whole thing. Let's look at it this way: if this was the first power metal album you'd ever bought or heard, you'd probably think it was great. And in many ways it is. You can laugh at the cliches all you like, but the fact is that this is a well put-together and cleverly-written piece of power metal that, while it's not exactly going to dethrone the likes of Hammerfall or Blind Guardian, and won't find a place alongside "Keeper of the seven keys" or "The marriage of Heaven and Hell" in the annals of power metal, is still an album that no metal fan should be ashamed of owning. And it's a rollicking good ride, into the bargain.

Anyway, how can you resist an album with a song title like "The unicorn invasion of Dundee"? Come on! Give in! You know you want to...

Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloryhammer

10-22-2013, 03:22 PM	#1982 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,971	Tales from the kingdom of Fife --- Gloryhammer --- 2013 (Napalm) Hold on just one minute there squire: a power metal band from Scotland? Well, not quite. Apparently this is a) the side project of Chris Bowes from Alestorm (who are, or were, Scottish) with some other international members on board and b) meant to be something of a piss-take on the often po-facedness of some power metal bands we could mention. This I did not know when I pressed play, and to be perfectly honest it doesn't matter. Others may scoff at their version of power-metal-by-numbers, or wildly predictable lyrical content like dragons and unicorns (and princesses) but I still think this a great album, especially for a debut. It certainly is capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the bands in the genre, even kicking the arses of some. If you can stop tittering at the hilarious name, we'll get going then shall we? No? Still laughing? All right then, go ahead. I can wait. But not that long. Time to get this show on the road if I want to be home in time for tea. Starting off with a big booming orchestral sounding intro, a dark voice intones "The prophecy is written: Dundee shall fall!" though why anyone would want the small Scottish city is beyond me, and rolling drumbeats punctuate layers of keyboards with choral vocals as "Anstruther's dark prophecy" gets us in the mood with a very Game of Thrones feel, then the unbelievably hilarious "The unicorn invasion of Dundee" hits, and the tempo goes up about ten levels. Great shredding and sonorous keys is the order of the day, and Thomas Winkler has a rough, ragged edge to his voice that often suits this kind of music, while nobody can deny it's catchy as all hell. It does sound derivative, but apparently that's the idea, so if so then it works perfectly. Just to add to the send-up feel of the album, the band have all taken elaborate fantasy-themed stage names which apparently identify them as characters in the story. But if you look beyond that you'll find some really competent musicians who seem to be having a blast doing what they do. This must be how Manowar felt when they first recorded "Battle hymns". Fans of Rhapsody or Freedom Call will feel Gloryhammer are copying them --- pehaps mocking them --- on "Angus McFife", and they probably are, but there's a great sense of fun about it and the guitars from Paul Templing are certainly serious enough. Great keyboard backing from Bowes, who surely is winking at the audience as he runs his fingers up and down the keys delivering arpeggios and runs, and Winkler belts out the cliched lyric which you still can't help but smile at. "Quest for the hammer of glory" has Manowar's fingerprints all over it, and maybe Virgin Steele's too, and is a slower, slightly grindier piece telling of the quest to, oh you know... It has a very triumphant and majestic air about it, one of those songs you imagine playing as armies ride to battle, preferably against insurmountable odds. Some good orchestral style keyboards utilised well on this song, with trumpets and fanfares thrown in too, and I must mention the heavy basswork of James Spicemaster Cartwright --- no, that's not his stage name! Great neoclassical piano starts "Magic dragon" and then it kicks into high gear in true power metal style, and even though it's hard to believe that you're listening to a song that includes dragons, wizards, demons and warriors in the lyric, somehow it's just too good to ignore. Almost like the cliches --- and this album is packed so full of them it's bursting at the seams --- don't really matter. It's all about a feeling, an atmosphere being built, and just having a good time without worrying too much, or at all, about the semantics. Great keyboard solo here too, wouldn't be out of place in a progressive rock album, and followed by a super one on the guitar. Bliss. And then of course there's the, as Fish once wrote, obligatory ballad. "Silent tears of frozen princess" has a lovely violin and strings opening, with soft piano and perhaps harp in there too, although I suppose these could all be synthesised. They sound real though. Slow, heavy percussion then cuts in and the song's moved into its second minute before the vocal comes in. As expected, it's a restrained croon, but demonstrates at least that Thomas Winkler can handle ballads as well as bellowing anthems to power and glory. And he handles it well I must say. I have to say I like this, and it could be a decent single, if chosen, though I doubt any of the tracks here will see the light of single release. Foot hard down on the accelerator and we've off roaring down the highway with "Amulet of justice", triphammer drumming driving the song, and "Hail to Crail" is good fun too while "Beneath Cowdenbeath" is a fast and furious instrumental driven on racing guitar and powerful keys. We end on, perhaps rather predictably, the final cliche. An epic song, which even has "epic" in the title! "The epic rage of furious thunder" starts off with a big bombastic introduction, choral voices and a deep, rich vocal from Winkler, almost operatic as he praises the city of Dundee and the band winds up behind him. I have to say, it's hilarious when he sings "Mighty Dundee!" I mean, Rome, London, even Avalon, okay, but Dundee??! You might as well sing mighty Dublin! It rocks out then for a minute or so, fades down to a female spoken vocal and then kicks off again. Good vocal harmonies and great pounding rollicking percussion with a slick little guitar solo in about the fourth minute. I'll give it this much: the lyrics may be contrived and cliched all through this album, power metal-by-numbers, but they make more sense than many a German or Danish power metal album I've listened to. The whole thing would appear to follow a basic concept which ends with the taking back of "the great city of Dundee", and the rippling soft keyboards in the seventh minute presage a triumphant power metal climax (ooer!) that carries through to the end of the song, although it does end with a rather silly dark voiceover (presumably the same evil chappie who foretold the doom of Dundee at the beginning) and a rather unnecessary acoustic guitar fade. TRACKLISTING 1. Anstruther's dark prophecy 2. The unicorn invasion of Dundee 3. Angus McFife 4. Quest for the hammer of glory 5. Magic dragon 6. Silent tears of frozen princess 7. Amulet of justice 8. Hail to Crail 9. Beneath Cowdenbeath 10. The epic rage of glorious thunder Okay would you please stop laughing? Thank you. Now, it's true this can be seen as a parody --- which is, I think, how it was intended --- and a sendup of the often up-its-own-arse-ness of power metal, but you can't fault the musicianship, the hooks in the songs or the overall production and execution of the whole thing. Let's look at it this way: if this was the first power metal album you'd ever bought or heard, you'd probably think it was great. And in many ways it is. You can laugh at the cliches all you like, but the fact is that this is a well put-together and cleverly-written piece of power metal that, while it's not exactly going to dethrone the likes of Hammerfall or Blind Guardian, and won't find a place alongside "Keeper of the seven keys" or "The marriage of Heaven and Hell" in the annals of power metal, is still an album that no metal fan should be ashamed of owning. And it's a rollicking good ride, into the bargain. Anyway, how can you resist an album with a song title like "The unicorn invasion of Dundee"? Come on! Give in! You know you want to... Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloryhammer __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 10-25-2013 at 01:06 PM.