CoC : HammerFall - Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken : Review

HammerFall - _Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken_
(Nuclear Blast, 2005)
by: Jackie Smit (5 out of 10)

Like it or not, you have to hand it to HammerFall. While power metal bands might be a dime a dozen these days, their debut came along at a time when the genre had devolved into little more than a bad joke, and subsequently their initial impact sparked a musical renaissance that, for better or worse, is still going strong today. Ironically, they'll vehemently deny the power metal tag as though it were synonymous with some sort of wasting disease, and perhaps it's this train of thought that would explain why _Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken_ is the tawdry affair that it is. Now, I'm not pretending to be the world's biggest power metal fan here by any means; but where I can at least be captivated for a few songs by bands like Iced Earth, Mystic Prophecy and even Primal Fear, HammerFall's sixth full-length leaves me about as excited as a deer in hunting season. It's a lumbering, mid-paced bore of a record; akin to studio outtakes from _Seventh Son of a Seventh Son_... minus half the talent.

Contact: http://www.hammerfall.net

(article published 19/4/2005)

CHATS
1/10/2001	A Bromley	HammerFall: Renegades Reliving the Glory Days
6/7/1997	D Schinzel	HammerFall: Hammering Out the Details

ALBUMS
4/15/2009	A Erickson	7	HammerFall - No Sacrifice, No Victory
10/14/2006	Y Stefanis	6.5	HammerFall - Threshold
10/1/1998	A Bromley	9	HammerFall - Legacy of Kings
3/16/1997	D Schinzel	10	Hammerfall - Glory to the Brave

GIGS
1/16/1999	A Cantwell	Death / HammerFall	Dying Under the Hammer