Author: Sebastijan Videc
Photos: Sebastijan Videc
Video: Sebastijan Videc
Venue: Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Concert date: October 31, 2018
October 31st: witches’ night, a.k.a. Halloween. Yet another imported holiday forced on us by Western consumer society, though luckily it hasn’t caught on quite as strongly as some others. At least judging by the number of people in costume at Wednesday’s show, it hasn’t. But no matter: this October 31st will be remembered by roughly a thousand young people, and the young at heart, for one unforgettable gig, conjured up by Swedish power metal legends HammerFall, who visited our little homeland after far too long a break.
Picking the opening act can be a double-edged sword for the headliner. In 2009, for example, when HammerFall also played at Štuk in Maribor, they brought Sabatone along. Those guys had just released the excellent album Art of War and were climbing relentlessly and steeply among the stars of heavy and power metal. And they completely steamrolled HammerFall that night. Luckily for the Swedes, that didn’t happen this time. Armored Dawn come from faraway Brazil. The young band, active for only a few years, is made up entirely of seasoned musicians and has put out two full-length albums and an EP in the last three years. As expected, they built their set around tracks from this year’s album Barbarians in Black. It was recorded under the baton of Seeb Levermann (Orden Ogan), got big praise from critics when it came out, and many rank it among the best power metal albums of the year. What’s interesting about their music is that the most criticized part is Eduardo Parasso’s vocals, which really don’t stand out and don’t sound much like the mighty voices of their European peers. The band is clearly aware of this, too, since bassist Fernando Giovanetti helps out with a slightly rougher voice most of the time, which means the guitars take center stage! At moments even three of them, since in some parts Rafael Agostino, normally the keyboardist, also grabbed a guitar and built a mighty wall of sound together with Tiago de Mouro and Tim Kaarkoski. Spirited and fun in front of a fairly full hall, Armored Dawn surely won themselves some new fans with their first gig on our soil.
It’s been a good 7 years since HammerFall last played here. In that time, the band, led by singer Joacim Cans and guitarist Oscar Dronjak, has made two new albums: (r)Evolution came out in 2014, and Built to Last followed two years later. The latter was the focus of this two-year tour, which is just now wrapping up. There was also a lineup change along the way: after almost two decades behind the kit, Anders Johansson was replaced on drums by David Wallin. The jam-packed, sold-out hall at Kino Šiška exploded at the first notes of Hector’s Hymn. The crowd was hungry for a proper, high-quality heavy power metal show, and HammerFall, despite the probable fatigue from touring for so long, delivered exactly that, just as you’d expect from a band with their pedigree! The atmosphere was incredible, and the interaction between Joacim, the rest of the band and the audience fit the long absence from Slovenian stages: like old friends reuniting. The good vibes carried an international crowd (you could hear quite a few Croatians, Austrians and Italians) through the rich discography of the Swedish power metallers, who somehow managed to wriggle out of the grip of their melodeath colleagues in their native Göteborg (let’s not forget that In Flames founder Jesper Strömblad originally drummed for HammerFall, and before that he and Dronjak played together in Ceremonial Oaths) and become one of the pillars of power metal. After a quarter of a century, the band still sits right at the top of the popularity charts. Despite presenting a new album, the Swedes didn’t overdo it with new songs and instead served up a trip through their history, and one of the warmest receptions went to a string of hits from the album Legacy of the Kings. Add Cans’s comic interludes and the signature stage choreography under Dronjak’s direction, and a great show is guaranteed. Wednesday’s gig confirms that interest in heavy metal is far from fading and that its future is secure.
Let the hammer fall!
Setlist
ARMORED DAWN:
1. Bloodstone
2. Chance to Live Again
3. Eyes Behind the Crow
4. Men od Odin
5. Sail Away
6. Gods of Metal
7. Barbarians in Black
8. Beware of the Dragon
HAMMERFALL:
1. Hector’s Hymn
2. Riders of the Storm
3. Renegade
4. Dethrone and Defy
5. Blood Bound
6. Any Means Necessary
7. B.Y.H.
8. Crimson Thunder
9. Threshold
10. Built to Last
11. Last Man Standing
12. Guitar Solo – Pontus Norgren
13. Legacy of Kings Medley
14. Heeding the Call
15. Let the Hammer Fall
—encore—
16. Hammer High
17. Bushido
18. Hearts on Fire
Photo Gallery
