February 2022 Feature Release – The Guardians Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month’s feature release for The Guardians has been nominated by Vinny. It's last year's self-titled fourth album from German heavy metal outfit Hammer King. This is an artist that I've not heard of before which is a refreshing change. I'm looking forward to being introduced to a new & exciting take on the classic metal model.

https://metal.academy/releases/32461

Yep, this is a power metal album alright.

7/10

...well I guess I should elaborate. Hammer King are German with power metal leanings, so expect a lot of songwriting techniques taken right out of the Blind Guardian/Helloween playbook. Thankfully Hammer King are not about to just make an album that sounds like it could have been written in the 1990s. They use a lot of techniques and motifs that are indebted to heavy metal OG's Judas Priest as well. Riffage is varied, but falls into a very comfortable lane that sounds like it has a lot of Evergrey influence, and maybe even some Avantasia. 

None of these are negative traits on their own; I like how a newer artist can take influence from heavy metal behemoth's and transform each of those sounds into something that sounds fresh, while still maintaining the fundamentals of what made them iconic in the first place. But I found it actively distracting as I could pick apart each track on this album and guess what source material each riff, melody and solo came from. Not so much that Hammer King were permutating the sound, but rather combining pieces from different puzzles together that somehow fit.

The least distracting tunes were "Baptized by the Hammer", "Atlantis (Epilogue)" "Ashes to Ashes". Nothing here is outright offensive and it does make for a consistent listening experience. But if you want a new power metal sound, this isn't it. It's more enjoyable than Alestorm/Gloryhammer, but these guys have some work to do if they want to challenge Spirit Adrift or even Cirith Ungol. 

I struggled with "Hammer King" a bit to be honest. It holds some pretty cool hooks at times but the impact of these are often cancelled out by the usual German power metal traits of overblown cheese (see the epic "King Of Kings" for example which I really want to like due to its a wonderfully anthemic chorus but are left just short as I simply can't overcome the world of pomp & schmaltz that surrounds it). We've got this album tagged as a Heavy Metal release on the Metal Academy database at present but one quick spin should leave the listener with very little doubt as to the inaccuracy of that tag as this is quite clearly a European Power Metal record. While it may often reference the US brand of Power Metal & is heavily influenced by Iron Maiden, it's really only the one-two punch of Maiden-worshipping "Into The Storm" & the more traditionally focused "Ashes To Ashes" that see Hammer King leaning over into the more classic style of metal for any prolonged duration.

Former Ross The Boss front man Patrick Fuchs is a more than capable vocalist but I can't help but wish that he sounded a little more ballsy. As it is he's got that unintimidating Geddy Lee kinda thing going on during most of the verses & it's only really during the more powerful & anthemic choruses that I can start to admire his prowess. Much admired guitarist Gino Wilde is another one that I'm not completely onboard with. He clearly doesn't have the technical skills of your average European power metal axeman so he stays very much within himself & in doing so ends up sounding... well... a bit flat & dull I guess. It becomes immediately obvious as to what he's missing when Isaac Delahaye (Epica/God Dethroned/MaYaN) makes a guest appearance on "Hammerschlag" with a shredding display that lifts things up significantly for a fleeting moment & that kinda sums up my feelings on this album to an extent. It's all a little too basic & easy on the ear while those trademark European power metal choir style backing vocals easily manage to get my goat & further taint my experience. Still.... there are some pretty enjoyable moments here when Hammer King can keep their more bombastic tendencies in check (see very solid opener & album highlight "Awaken the Thunder" for example) & I'd probably suggest that I find around 40% of the tracklisting to be fairly entertaining. Unfortunately it's not enough to see me returning to "Hammer King" any time soon though.

3/5

I'm going to get on my high horse for this one feature since I don't really have anything else I want to say about this one. 

Turns out I've listened to over 100 Power Metal albums from 2018-ish to 2022. I've been around the block with these newer Power Metal bands and good lord do they still all sound pretty much exactly the same. Hammer King has basically no defining characteristics that have been repeated over and over by their many, many contemporaries. Hammer King is yet another album that gets chucked into the bin of albums that I'll never really remember or want to go back to because it sits neatly in the same space as so, so many other albums. 

3/5, I still like Power Metal a lot. 

Having read the reviews of this to date I find myself in the bizarre scenario where I am defending what is deemed to be a power metal album. Perhaps the least power metal favouring member of The Guardians is the one left with only good things to say about Hammer King’s fourth full-length. Joking aside, this distinction is important. I have no vast armoury of power metal albums to be drawing comparison to, no years of listening to the likes of Hammerfall, Rhapsody etc to have to feel any sense of (over) familiarity. Plus, I do not think this is a pure power metal album either.

I have already made my feelings clear on the usual lack of power in most power metal. As such, if I find an album labelled as thus that has some ‘oomph’ behind it then it is more than halfway there to a positive response. Hammer King have that ‘oomph’ to them and what I get on the album is hi-octane metal with just enough cheese to remind me that this is a power metal influenced album. If I gave a shit about classification/sub-genres/boxes/pigeon-holes I would say this is more heavy metal than power metal.

Now, clearly it is not perfect (the rating is not a five as you can see) but to be honest, I don’t care. I cannot wax lyrical about the album. In simple terms, it is fast, it is heavy and it is memorable and that is enough. There would not be any Grammy nominations for song writing; no masterclasses in performance are delivered here folks. As the album artwork suggests, the album is here to just look impressive and then go home, which is exactly what happens.

Nobody is exceptional on their instrument. Everyone just turns up and puts a solid shift in and a result I do not have to decipher anything or focus on some story I am being told. Instead, I can just nod along appreciatively and then get on with my day with a positive mentality. Hammer King feels good and sometimes that is all that counts. Choruses ring around my head for hours after listening to it and the teenager in me can look at the album artwork all day long.

3.5/5

It seems to be increasingly obvious to me, as we get into the third year of clan featured releases, that my own metal tastes are possibly not as broad as a number of other Academy regulars. A case in point is power metal, or more specifically European power metal. By and large I can't stand it - it literally makes my ears hurt. I guess my preference is rawer when it comes to metal - funeral doom, conventional black metal, OSDM and thrash being favourites, so I tend to struggle with the more bombastic styles such as power and symphonic metal. Hammer King most definitely fall under the european power metal umbrella and while I could stomach a track or two, by the album's midpoint I had had enough and come the end I felt like puking from excess cheese consumption. Too much... too much of everything. I just could not stand another harmonised chorus or neoclassical lead break. I'm not even sure how many songs are on the album as they all just blurred into one coagulated fucking mess. Power metal must be one of the great misnomers in metal because to me it is the musical equivalent of WWE wrestling when all I really want to see is bare-knuckle pit fighting!

I'm feeling generous so I'll give it 2/5.