Sweden has proven, over the decades, to be one of the biggest hotbeds of music around the world. Famous acts, such as Abba, Robyn, and Ace of Base have come from Sweden. Pop rock fans have gotten music from the likes of The Hives. Metalheads to this day continue to get new music from the likes of Arch Enemy, Amon Amarth, and In Flames. Punk and garage rock fans even get some music courtesy of acts, such as The Hellacopters and Satan Takes a Holiday. Hair rock outfit Europe (known for the timeless hit ‘The Final Countdown’) also calls Sweden home as do power metal stalwarts Sabaton and Hammerfall. It is quite the statement about how much music Sweden has to offer audiences to this day, musically speaking. Arch Enemy actually released a new single just recently while Hammerfall dropped its latest album, Avenge The Fallen, this past Friday. The album, which spans 10 songs, is another work that fans of the Swedish power metal outfit will enjoy. That is due in part to its featured musical arrangements. This will be examined shortly. The album’s positive, uplifting lyrical messages add to that appeal, making for even more appeal. This will be addressed a little later. The record’s production puts the finishing touch to the presentation and ensures that audiences will remain engaged and in turn entertained from its opening to its end. In the end, those items come together to make Avenge The Fallen one more of this year’s best new hard rock and metal albums.
Avenge The Fallen, the latest full-length studio offering from Hammerfall, is a strong new offering from the veteran power metal outfit. Running a grand total of 46 minutes, it succeeds in part through its featured musical arrangements. From beginning to end, the arrangements are everything that audiences have come to expect from the band. Front man Joacim Cans’ operatic vocal delivery style pairs with the overall instrumentation – that rich, heavy pairing of the guitar and bass and equally tough drumming sound – to make every song fully immersive. It is a tribute to the production, which will be addressed later. The changes in the arrangements are so subtle that only those who actively immerse themselves in the album will appreciate them and in turn the songs. To that end, the songs are easily comparable to works from the likes of Angra, K.K.’s Priest, and Judas Priest just to name a few similar acts. Keeping all of this in mind, the musical content presented throughout Avenge The Fallen forms a strong foundation for the album.
Strengthening that foundation is the lyrical material that partners with the musical arrangements in this record. Cans’ said during interviews leading up to the album’s release that the song’s overarching theme is one of personal “freedom and the urge to let anyone be who they want to be.” The songs featured in this record each deliver that message in one way or another, not the least notable example of which being ‘Hope Springs Eternal,’ which serves as part of the album’s midpoint. The message of freedom comes clearly here as Cans’ sings in the song’s lead verse and chorus, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast/A waking dream/A fire inside your chest/Shreds of hope bring silence to a weary mind/Oh I wish to find the reason or the rhyme/Here today/Gone by morning, my friend/Live your life like there’s no end/Learn from yesterday/Hope for tomorrow/Let your spirit fly free/With no sorrow.” This is all about making the most of life, reminding people that life is short and to take advantage of the ability to live free and make choices. The message continues as he sings in the song’s second verse, “Am I immortal or a simple man/Born and raised to be the best I can/Who sets the limits/Makes you hold your breath/Oh I wish to live before and beyond my death/What is hope/But being able to see/That there’s light inside the dark.” He continues this inner dialogue stating in the song’s third verse, “No I am not immortal/I am just a man/Raised to live and do the best I can/Life to the limit/Every day’s a brand new start/When “Hope Springs Eternal” rule my heart/Without dreams/You will cease to exist/Life’s the ride that can’t be missed.” Again this is an uplifting message of taking advantage of that ability to live free; to live life to the utmost. It is a wonderful message and one that just as wonderfully delivers the message of taking advantage of that personal freedom in life.
‘Freedom,’ which comes earlier in the album’s nearly 50-minute run time, is another example of the way in which the message of freedom is delivered throughout the album. In the case of this song the message comes in the form of a statement about the control that the religious institution has on people and taking the freedom to think for one’s self rather than let it control us. This is just this critic’s interpretation. The seeming message of religious freedom comes as Cans sings, “Come inside before the darkness takes us all/Into the abyss’ eternal fall/The new/The Dark/The age made way more sinister/Time to wake up from your everlasting sleep/Fear divine damnation/And its sacred wrath/Chart your moral course/To steer your path/The blind will lead/Excuse of perfect ignorance/On the gleaming wings of science, we proceed/What is this/Future or repeated past/Faith instead of reason/It will never last/Rise and be the master of your destiny/Without anyone’s permission to be free/I’m free/Free to rule my life/No more/No repression/I speak/Freedom.” This is pretty clear. It is an indictment of the control that the religious fundamentalists, those uber-conservatives, try to put on people to this day versus the clear role of science. It encourages listeners to live free of that control, to listen not just to religion but on science and logic, on reality rather than unproven beliefs. This is such an important message that is as relevant today as it was in centuries past. It is one more example of the theme of freedom in this record and how it shines through.
One more way in which that message of freedom is delivered lyrically is in another aptly titled song, ‘Capture The Dream.’ The album’s eighth entry, it is that fist-pumping arena anthem living life against all odds. Living free against everyone and everything, taking the freedom to be the most that we can be. This as the song states outright in the opening verse and chorus, “Trying to shut me down since the beginning/But my dream’s my dream/And the will to fight is strong/They’ve been trying to undermine me/Right at my own grounds/But the fire inside’s been my virtue all along/Now or never/Be a champion/Find the rhythm/Your Spirit/Let the future begin/Don’t fear it/When your story’s told/The truth will unfold/So capture the dream.” It continues in such similar fashion, stating, “There is a choice in life/Which way will you go/Come to rest/Or step into the great unknown/When the future seems too bleak/Don’t look there for answers/Look inside yourself/Be true to you alone.” Talk about uplifting. This empowering message is one of personal freedom. Freedom to be ourselves. Freedom to make our own way in life, once again.” It is obviously not the first time this message is delivered in this album at any point and it is just as great here as in the album’s other entries, both noted and not. All things considered, the album’s overarching message of personal freedom rings loud and clear throughout the album and makes for so much more appeal when it is considered alongside the album’s equally accessible and familiar musical arrangements.
The overall content presented throughout the album is important to its appeal and is only part of what makes it successful. The album’s production brings everything full circle, putting the final touch to the whole. As noted previously, the production is impressive in its own right. The instrumentation expertly compliments the vocal delivery in each song from beginning to end. At no point is the work of any of the musicians overpowered by one another. The result is a wonderful aesthetic that gives audiences just as much to appreciate as the album’s collective content. All things considered here, the whole of Avenge The Fallen is a record that is sure to rise among the ranks of this year’s top new hard rock and metal albums by year’s end.
Avenge The Fallen, the latest album from Hammerfall, is a fully successful new offering from the veteran power metal outfit. The album’s success comes in part through its musical arrangements, which are from one to the next, entirely familiar and accessible while still being relatively fresh in each. The lyrical content delivered throughout the album adds to the album’s success what with its overarching message of personal freedom delivered in different ways from one song to the next. The album’s production ensures the best of each musician’s work is presented, too. Every performance compliments the others in each song thanks to that work. The result is a positive aesthetic that makes for its own appeal. Each item examined here is important in its own way to the whole of the album. All things considered they make Avenge The Fall unquestionably one more of this year’s top new hard rock and metal albums.
Avenge The Fallen is available now. More information on the album is available along with all of Hammerfall’s latest news at:
Website: https://www.hammerfall.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hammerfall
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hammerfall
