🎶 2022-03-17 09:30:22 – Paris/France.
When hair metal was floored by grunge and alternative at the turn of the 90s, traditional heavy metal also found itself on the chopping block. Histrionics and songs about warriors and wizards were about as cool as they come in 1993, but that didn't stop Sweden's Hammerfall from leading the charge for a new generation of heavy metal stars to proudly proclaim. their allegiance to the metal gods. old.
“Heavy metal is a powerful force,” says Hammerfall guitarist Oscar Dronjak. “It's great to see him again… maybe not 'in style', but at least respected because he was very, very despised for a long time. »
With that in mind, we asked Oscar to pick ten records that kept the spirit of heavy metal alive during the genre's darkest days...
1. Judas Priest – Painkiller (1990)
« Pain killer by Judas Priest was a genre-defining album that came out perhaps a little too late to get the acclaim it deserves. But also, if it had come a year or two later, I don't think it would be as big as it is. Pain killer still to this day, stands out as one of the most comprehensive heavy metal albums ever released.
Even back as far as shoot it downthere are a few songs that would have had a big impact if they had been on Pain killerbut they also had more down-to-earth songs Turbo side of things too. But you know, I've never been one of those guys who goes, 'oh, they use a synthesizer so I don't like it' – I like everything they do, every album. They are all excellent.
2. Widowmaker – Blood and Bullets (1992)
“Dee Snider is a personal hero of mine and he really means something special to heavy metal. I couldn't really choose a Twisted Sister record since they hadn't released anything after 1987, but Widowmaker came out right before I formed Hammerfall, making the album blood and bullets. It was Dee Snider's first album that we had in a long time and I was blown away by the album.
It's just 12 very, very good songs with one of the most inspiring people in the entire music industry. For me, Dee Snider's influence doesn't just come from his music or his lyrics, but from how you should approach life in general. Snider taught me not to worry about what other people think, basically! He embodies the spirit of heavy metal for me more than anyone else.
3. Accept – Objection overruled (1993)
“Accept is one of my main influences, and they still float around today. In the early 90s, heavy metal had no place anywhere – nobody really wanted to give it any attention. When Accept is published Objection dismissed I was floored. It was also the reunion with Udo [Dirkschneider, vocals] which for me was the biggest deal of all time. They also hadn't released anything since '89 I think, when they changed singers and it became a big thing.
Unfortunately for them, it happened at the wrong time and under the wrong circumstances because heavy metal didn't really have a place at that time, even though they had Udo back on vocals. They tried to incorporate more of a 90s sound on the next two albums. Death corridor et Predator and like a lot of bands that I loved in the 80s and 70s, when they tried to adapt to the 90s, it didn't really go down well.
4. Mercyful Fate – In the Shadows (1993)
« Mercyful Fate is another one of those bands that influenced me so much, but it doesn't always show so much in today's music. We're nothing like Mercyful Fate, but the spirit is there and the songwriting approach has always been there. And of course, King Diamond's voice is unparalleled, that's another factor. But I also really like the guitar work, Michael Denner and Hank Sherman, I think they create some really cool things together.
In the dark is another reunion type record like Accept and was released in the same year. Mercyful Fate hadn't been around since around 1985, so it was a big thing that they released a new album. And not only that, they came out with a fantastic new album. This album is so good and I hold it in as much esteem as the first two. Plus, there was a Swedish guy playing drums in Snowy Shaw, which is pretty cool! »
5. Gamma Ray – Land of the Free (1995)
“Gamma rays Land of freedom had a very big impact on Hammerfall as a band. It came out at a time when no one was really doing this stuff, or at least no new bands. I hadn't really gotten into Gamma Ray before so for me it was like 'oh wow there's a band still making this kind of music' and it made me go back and watch all the other albums they had made.
It was a huge revelation for me and Land of freedom is such a great album too. For me, it happened at the right time, but maybe not for them! It reinforced the beliefs I had about the music I was playing at the time, because there was no question in my mind about what kind of music we should be making.
6. Manowar – Louder Than Hell (1996)
“When Hammerfall formed, there really weren't a lot of new heavy metal album releases. The first big one I remember was Manowar's louder than hell. I mean I'm a huge Manowar fan anyway, but what they did with it louder than hell surpassed even the classic 80s albums for me.
If you look at Manowar in 82, or even in 96 or even in 2022, they always say the same things. They kept the same approach to what they do and I love it. Nothing that's happened in their career has changed their attitude towards the music they play and I feel like I can relate to it a lot.
7. Stratovarius – Destiny (1998)
“I discovered Stratovarius through the album destiny. I had never heard of them before, but they had just signed to Nuclear Blast so while we were at this music fair in Cologne, Germany, I bought their CD. It was so full of melodies that I couldn't believe it. It really struck me and since then I have gone through the entire Stratovarius catalog.
Of course we also toured with them later on and I got to know them and then a year after that album came out we had Jens Johansson's brother Anders on drums so we had a lot things in common with them afterwards. They were doing exactly what we were doing; bringing melodies back into metal music and I don't think you can overstate how important they were to so many different countries, especially those in the south like Italy, Spain and Greece.
8. Iron Maiden – Brave New World (2000)
“Hammerfall was instrumental in bringing this style of music back, but bringing together Iron Maiden and Bruce Dickinson to The best of worlds in 2000 was hugely important for heavy metal not only to come back, but to grow. Again, it doesn't hurt The best of worlds a really, really, really good album too. They did everything right and that's a big part of why the music climate is what it is today.
Maiden was a really big name in the 80s, but I remember they came to Sweden with Blaze Bayley and played in front of around 800 people, which was very different from the 12 tours per show they were doing with Bruce. Which means nothing against Blaze Bayley – it was just the moment. But when Bruce came back, it was big news.
9. Hammerfall – Renegade (2000)
“The same year Bruce returned to Iron Maiden, Hammerfall also released Renegade, our third album. We even released singles at the same time! With The Legacy of Kings et Glory to the brave we had a great audience, but they were all a bit our age. With Renegade there were teenagers who maybe hadn't even heard of heavy metal before it hit us.
I don't know how many times I've heard that over the years people would come up to me and be like, "Hey man, it was your album that got me into metal." It doesn't matter what album it is, it makes me so proud. I've always known that heavy metal is powerful music and if you expose people to it a little, they'll want more. It's a true and honest form of music and one that I think captivates a lot of people too. »
10. Sabaton – Carolus Rex (2012)
“Sabaton has done something amazing over the past 10 years or so, going back to Carolus Rex. I think that's when people really started realizing 'wow, this is a really big band' and they've only grown since then. It's funny, they were our special guests in 2009 on the European tour we did. It was a whole tour of a Swedish band. At that point, they had been around for a while, but they hadn't been as successful, but they had been growing for a while and I think it was bubbling under the surface.
We got along really well and then the tables turned when we toured with them in North America in 2019, when we were the special guests. I thought that was really cool. We hadn't necessarily kept in touch over the years, but we can say that we are very good friends. It was fun to see how much they had changed – in 2009 it was obvious that they had achieved something, and they wanted to be big but they still succeeded, so to see them get really big is fantastic .
Hammerfall's New Album, Hammer Of Dawn, Is Out Now Via Napalm
SOURCE: Reviews News
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