Hammerfall Albums Ranked
One of the leading lights of the European metal resurgence in the mid- to late ’90s, Sweden’s Hammerfall helped bring melodic power metal back to the forefront of a scene that was struggling to find its footing amidst the alt-rock/grunge boom. Emerging in 1997 with the Swedish Grammy-winning Glory to the Brave, subsequent outings like Renegade (2000), Threshold (2006), (r)Evolution (2014), and Dominion (2019) proved to be just as popular throughout Europe and the Americas as they were at home, with multiple releases going gold. In February 2022, HammerFall issued the Fredrik Nordström-produced Hammer of Dawn. Founded in Gothenburg in 1993 by ex-Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak — the dissolution of that band would also help launch another influential group, In Flames — Hammerfall took some time getting off the ground. Many of its then-members were doing double duty with more established bands — drummer Jesper Strömblad and guitarist Glenn Ljungstrom were both in In Flames and vocalist Mikael Stanne was fronting melodic death metal giants Dark Tranquillity — and their set lists leaned hard on covers. However, by the time of the release of their acclaimed 1997 debut, Hammerfall were an almost completely different band, and became a primary focus. Here are all of Hammerfall albums ranked.
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10. No Sacrifice, No Victory
“The album starts out with the aforementioned single, so it’s a strong beginning. The second song, “Life it Now”, is one of the two weakest tracks. The next couple of songs are filler-ish, but not too bad. The track five, “Between Two Worlds”, is the other weaker track on the album (it is their obligatory mid-album power ballad, but nowhere near as wonderful as “Dreams Come True” and “Always Will Be”). Then, starting with track six, the album gets going. Tracks six through ten are all excellent Hammerfall rockers that live up to their first four albums. Finally, track eleven–the cover. On first listen, I thought their version of “My Sharona” was one of their more uninspired covers, but after a few listens it has really grown on me. They really Hammerfall-ify it, adding backing-vocally “HEYS!” instead of “whoas”, along with plenty of soloing. Sounds pretty epic, actually.”
9. Infected
“The music style on the album probably won´t be a surprise to those familiar with Hammerfall. The band play a combination of heavy pounding traditional heavy metal and euro power metal. The latter style isn´t that dominant on this album though and is mostly heard in the fast-paced tracks on the album.”
8. (r)Evolution
“(r)Evolution is another excellent Hammerfall album, that contains a perfectly even split between their two styles. I personally prefer Infected and their earlier albums because those were all more focused and cohesive compared to this one, but in the end (r)Evolution is a collection of 9 solid to excellent songs, one good song and only one misfire, which is certainly nothing to complain about.”
7. Hammer Of Dawn
“All of the songs were pretty incredible, but Venerate Me has to be my favorite and the title track a close second and the closer, No Mercy was my least favorite. All of the riffs and solos were absolutely awesome, and the solo on Live Free or Die is now one of my favorites. I’m kinda sad that there were no ballads cuz power metal ballads usually make me melt and die and come back to life. Also like most power metal albums, the cover is very rad.”
6. Threshold
“I love this whole album, and I recommend it to everybody that is looking for power metal/hard rock. But for the beginner, I would recommend to start with Legacy of Kings and Renegade. These albums are phenomenal! Joacim Cans has a very melodic voice, he is a very good lyricist, years of training can tell that and he’s voice is so much apart from other singers, just amazing, when you look at him you would not think that he can sing so good, yet slow and clear not raspy and not understandable.”
5. Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken
“What can I say, I love Hammerfall to death. Blood Bound and Hammer of Justice have been favorite songs of mine for a long time now. The great riffs and the solos are what make Hammerfall something to behold, but this album was over the top in my opinion. I loved Legacy of Kings, and Renegade, but this was amazing.”
4. Crimson Thunder
“Maybe the first metal band I listened to(together with Rhapsody)..and this is a real classic, with great production and very epic riffs. I consider the lyrics good for this genre – in terms of cheese it could get much worse. “Dreams come true” is actually awesome and flows very naturally, not forced like the so many other metal ballads. This is some well done heavy metal!”
3. Legacy Of Kings
“Pure metal. Hammerfall continued paying tribute to traditional heavy metal and european power metal with their second release. Pretty much the same formula, perhaps a bit more melodic and anthemic. While this is a classic power metal gem, i believe that Glory to the Brave is their absolute best. Still, Hammerfall quickly became one of the main driving forces for true metal in the 90s, and is still enjoyable up to this day.”
2. Glory To The Brave
“It is cliched and standard heavy/power metal? Yes, but that’s exactly why it is good. This is from an obscure time for classic metal, with grunge being almost in decline and nu metal was almost ready to rise. Hammerfall were bold enough to record an album that pays homage to traditional metal acts such as Iron Maiden, Priest and Dio, while keeping a heavier and faster sound of the european power metal bands. This , along with other euro power metal bands such as Stratovarius and Blind Guardian ,marked the arise of metal bands who wanted to return to the glorious sound of original heavy metal, and hopefully some day it will come back.”
1. Renegade
“More melodic power metal, in fact some people credit this outfit with leading the power metal resurgence. They are indeed of quality, although I have to admit they took a few listens. Imagine a cross between Helloween, Judas Priest and Yngwie Malmsteen and you’d be pretty close. Great cover.”