694. HammerFall / Legacy of Kings. 1998. 3/5

On the back of their generally heralded debut album “Glory to the Brave”, Hammerfall had toured Europe as support act for many of the continent’s best power metal acts. During this process they had been exposed to many more fans and been spoken of in high terms by those that attended these tours. The story of how the band came together as a side project for musicians from several bands for a music competition and then grew can be found on the episode in Season 3 of this podcast. As the majority of those musicians returned to their full time gigs, Hammerfall led by guitarist Oscar Dronjak and lead vocalist Joacim Cans moved forward with Hammerfall as their number one gig. The success of the album and the tour meant they went into the writing and recording process for the follow up with momentum and positive vibes. Jesper Strömblad, who had been the band’s drummer before he returned to his band In Flames, had co-written most of that first album with both Oscar and Joacim. When it came time to start the follow-up, he returned to do the same job as co-writer for what eventually became “Legacy of Kings”. The thought process behind this was to keep a symmetry between the songs of the two albums, to encourage the fans that they would be following a similar path musically with their sophomore album.
When it came to the band’s debut album, there had been some background criticism of the professionalism of the music as it was played and recorded. Some critics felt it was not played clean enough, that it could have been rehearsed and played better. Others believed that there was not enough diversity in the tracks as written. Whatever the critiquing that had occurred, the band went into their second album with a determination to give the fans what they wanted rather than try and appease the band’s critics in the world music media.

This album tends to cop a lot of flak online both from music listeners and critics alike. Actually, I guess the band itself tends to receive a brunt of criticism. One of the strangest things to me has always been the pile on over the vocals of Joacim Cans, with so many people describing them as weak, and one dimensional, and that he doesn’t have the range required to make the songs varied enough from each other. This has always surprised me, because I’ve always felt that it is Cans’s vocals that have been the leading light of the band, that his singing is what gives HammerFall the power and energy to drive through. Rather than being weak, I feel it is the strength of what he is able to hold in his voice that is the signature of the band’s music. Not everyone can sing with a range in the power metal genre like Michael Kiske or Hansi Kursch. So I am on the other side of the fence from those critics.
This will usually get followed up by the fact that his vocals are unable to differentiate the songs because all the songs have the same beat, the same tempo, the same rhythm, and are drawn from a similar template. Again, that is not so obviously true here on “Legacy of Kings” as perhaps could be argued happens elsewhere. You can hear the band’s influence from the late 1980’s power metal in their songs here, mostly in the solos from Elmgren and Dronjak. But given that I like how they sound that really isn’t a problem for me.
The opening gallop of “Heeding the Call” starts the album off with a bang in the best power metal fashion, followed by “Legacy of Kings” which increases the power of the track with great guitars and terrific vocals. “Let the Hammer Fall” is the chugging, chanting singalong song that power metal has a habit of highlighting and is joined in this respect with “At the End of the Rainbow”, where the slower tempo of the song also draws the choral voices for the chorus. At the other end of the spectrum is the light and airy “Dreamland” that does the same in a brighter and faster tempo. The cover version of the Pretty Maids song “Back to Back” showcases the band’s love of their music, and is followed by the return of the power in tracks such as “Stronger Than All” and “Warriors of Faith”
The power ballads are, as always, where my major problems lie in a euro metal album such as this. “Remember Yesterday” at least tries to retain a little of the power in the song and I am able to forgive it for the most part, but the piano base of “The Fallen One”, which concludes the album, makes it ever so much more difficult. Power ballads are terrible creatures at the best of times, but as the final song on the album, when it should be finding the perfect hard way to conclude so as to draw the listener back in for another listen is, for me, unforgivable.
If you want to be a critic, you can take this album apart song by song and find those parts that you don’t like. Yes, there is a similarity in the template of each track. Sure, Joacim’s vocals, if compared to some of the greats of the genre, don't have the same range or definition. And yes, power metal can be a drag if it isn’t done well. Here on “Legacy of Kings” though, I don’t believe any of those things are accurate. To me, the album is very much on the high side of the line when it comes to albums of this genre.

I was drawn into power metal at about the time that HammerFall started their recording career, and they were one of the bands that started my real journey into this medium of the late 1990’s. Their debut album resonated with me hard – still does actually – and this album followed that same path, which as you have discovered is somewhat how the band wanted it to go. I got all three of their initial albums at around the same time, and it feels as this one may have gotten lost for me amongst the other albums I was discovering at that time. In essence, I had “Glory to the Brave”, and that was my dominant HammerFall listening, along with a bootleg live album from 2001. I enjoyed the album, but I certainly didn’t overplay it.
Come the past month or so where I have pulled it out again for this podcast, and “Legacy of Kings” has been the album that really drew my attention on my playlist of albums I have been listening to in that time. And it’s easy to hear why, because it is perky and upbeat and bright and breezy and fun! It is a quintessential power metal album, maybe not one that is laden with over-the-top vocals or massively fast and intricate guitar solos and amazing drumming time changes, but instead just a really fun and uplifting album to listen to. And we all need music like that, don’t we? Have I been surprised how much I have enjoyed t again? Absolutely. And it again makes me wonder about those that have tried to bring it down. I don’t have a problem with those that don’t enjoy HammerFall or this album because they aren’t fond of the power metal genre, that’s fair enough. But trying to suggest it is poor musicianship or average vocals? Please. Perhaps try again.
It’s interesting how enjoyable I think this album is, and the backlash that it has received in some quarters, considering that I feel as though some of the band’s work in recent years doesn’t reach this same standard. Do people not enjoy this album because they don’t enjoy modern day power metal? Or am I just completely out of whack, and on a different plane from everyone else? There is little doubt that I could well be on the wrong side of the argument. In the long run, who cares as long as you enjoy it. And as for HammerFall’s “Legacy of Kings”, I do certainly still enjoy it.