HammerFall - Gates of Dalhalla

Note: This review is for the CD portion of this release only. 

Every time HammerFall (or any power metal band from the late 90’s/early 2000’s) puts out a new release, I get a bit worried. Historically, most of these bands started out amazing and slowly got worse. HammerFall is still one of the better bands in this style; but their decline is quite evident. Luckily, they gave us a live album, which is pretty difficult to mess up. It had been 4 albums since the band’s last live record, so there is plenty of new material (and a couple new members) to liven up the performance. HammerFall were trying for an even more special show, however, as they brought in a plethora of guests from their past, and played an extended set.

There is very little bad with “Gates of Dalhalla”, but it certainly isn’t perfect. One issue is that 9 of the 26 tracks were on their previous release. These are all great songs, and most of them are essential HammerFall tracks, but there are plenty of other fan favourites from both the old and new albums that deserve to be heard. The other negative to “Gates of Dalhalla” is the lack of impact of the guest stars. On the CD, you will only notice Mikael Stanne doing vocals on “Steel Meets Steel”. You will definitely hear Team Cans doing backup vocals, but their part is largely irrelevant. On the plus side, the performances are spot on. Joacim sounds as great as ever, and though he sometimes omits words or uses different vocal patterns than on the albums, it helps make “Gates of Dalhalla” unique. The rhythm guitars aren’t as tight as you might expect, but it reminds the listener that this is truly a live album. The other thing I love about this record (which is the make or break factor for most live albums) is the song selection of the other 17 songs. It’s great to see a band so enthusiastic for their new album, as HammerFall play 5 tracks from “Infected”. In addition, less obvious picks like “Fury of the Wild”, and especially “Something For The Ages” turn out to be highlights. Once again, the performance of “Something For The Ages” reaffirms Pontus Norgren as the only person who could take over for the great Stefan Elmgren on lead guitars.  His shredding is fantastic, and he adds some leads to some older HammerFall classics that you might not expect.

“Gates of Dalhalla” is one of the better live releases from a band that still has something left in the tank. If you’ve heard their previous live album, “One Crimson Night”, you might get a familiar feeling with this record, but “Gates of Dalhalla” is still worth hearing for all fans of HammerFall. You might not hear too many surprises, but if you’ve never seen the band before, this release is an accurate representation of their live sound.

Be sure to check out and like HammerFall on Facebook!

Highlights

"Fury of the Wild"

"Dia De Los Muertos"

"Steel Meets Steel"

"Something For The Ages"

"Glory To The Brave"

Final Rating

4.25/5 or 85%. 

Written by Scott 

Stratovarius - Under Flaming Winter Skies

“Under Flaming Winter Skies” features the final show with Stratovarius for drummer Jorg Michael. In addition to being Stratovarius’ greatest drummer, Michael’s stellar resume includes Running Wild, Axel Rudi Pell, Mekong Delta, and others. In that sense, his retirement from the band was quite sad for fans such as myself, but it’s also a great reason to release an awesome live album!

Stratovarius’ greatest strength in recent years has been their ability to write catchy singles. From “Hunting High and Low” all the way to “Darkest Hours”, this band writes songs that were made for playing live. As you might guess, that makes for a stellar setlist. In addition to all of their poppy singles, the band played an amazing 6 tracks from “Visions”, all of which were highlights on this record. In fact, the only real disappointment was the lack of songs from the new album, which is probably their strongest record. Although covering Deep Purple’s “Burn” seems like a weird idea, it actually worked quite well and is not a song I’d cut.

The individual performances here are stellar. Vocalist Timo Kotipelto sounds exactly the same as he does on the albums. Likewise, both Jorg Michael and Jen Johannsson don’t do anything too different, but still play the songs well. New guitarist Matias Kupiainen is much better than Timo Tolkki could ever dream of being, and he does justice to their entire catalogue. Bassist Lauri Porra is relatively quiet, and doesn’t stand out much aside from the bass solo. When it comes down to it, this isn’t too much different from any of their albums, and that’s my main problem with it. You’d be better off listening to “Visions” and a greatest hits album, and you would have a similar experience, except that the studio records sound a little better. That doesn’t mean this a worthless release; after all, these songs are awesome, and it is fun to hear them in a slightly different setting, but is probably not worth the price of admission. On the other hand, I imagine the DVD of this album is worth buying if you’ve never seen the band (especially since they don’t come to North America often enough!). Both major and casual fans should definitely give this a listen. If not for the quality of the release, do it at least for Jorg Michael's last show. This is a fitting way for him to go out, and a necessary live release for a band that hasn’t put out a live record in over a decade.

Be sure to check out and like Stratovarius on Facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/stratovarius

Highlights

"Eagleheart"

"Black Diamond"

"Hunting High And Low"

Final Rating

3.9/5 or 78%. 

Written by Scott