A Part of the Revival of Heavy Metal.
It wasn’t Ozzy and the Ozzfest that revived heavy metal. He supported pop acts, but this stuff is the real steel sound in metal. It was bands like HammerFall, Iced Earth, and Jag Panzer that were unearthing real metal to small, loyal, and growing masses. Really what it was a new wave of power metal, in the vein of many predecessors like Manowar, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden. Everything on Legacy of Kings is completely unoriginal in sound. However, it is well executed. No doubt that is why HammerFall was hitting the charts in Germany long before many people had picked up on them in the USA. Germany is such a rule driven society that when someone excels on following the rules, it is generally met with warm reception. HammerFall follows the rules of metal. Several years back, I saw them as an opening act for the band Death. There, it seemed like nobody knew what to do with them. Perhaps, 5 people were interested in what they were playing, but the band didn’t let that affect their ego. It was a great show, even though they weren’t cool in the USA then. Also, HammerFall deserve kudos for writing music that is PG. I play Magic the Gathering, and when I think of the type of sound and lyrics on this album, it makes me think I’d recommend it to someone who plays MTG. The genre this belongs to is power metal. It is essentially the same as speed metal.
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