### Hammerfall: No sacrifice, no victory

#### 05/03/10 || HailandKill

One is compelled to utter “holy shit” upon realizing Hammerfall haven’t run out of ideas this far into their careers. With Edguy pledging allegiance to AOR and Rhapsody down the toilet, the throne is pretty much up for grabs between these guys and… uh, Dream Evil? How about Heavenly? Those were a coupla hot lesbians on the cover of the Frenchmen’s newest album… As for Kamelot, way too ghey bro.

Power struggles aside, “No Sacrifice, No Victory” is a balanced outing that enjoys its fair share of mallet swinging material and cornier junk. Opener “Any Means Necessary” falls under the former despite its cartoonish backing vocals. The next track “Life Is Now” is its opposite; so lively, so wholesome, its unmetalness will make the blood drain from your face. It’s the kind of fruity anthem that wouldn’t do too bad in a compilation album featuring Miley Cyrus, that slut from High School Musical (Vanessa Hudgens is it?), and the Jonas Brothers. Hammerfall should seriously consider doing OSTs for Disney then; you can hear the potential. In fact, this album should’ve come with a label oft used on boxes of Lego: For Ages 12 And Up.

If you happen to be cinematically inclined, you’ll remember the phrase “To Punish And Enslave” from the first Transformers movie; it was printed on the door of the decepticon police car that chased Shia Laboof (spelling?). Hammerfall watched it too, liked what they saw, and now use the phrase for a song title. Not to worry as the lyrics aren’t remotely connected to Transformers.

Boring shyte prevails smack dab at the middle of the album, first with staid and effeminate speed metal on the satanic “Legion” that’s followed by an odious Scorpions-esque power ballad. Worsening matters is the trite “Hallowed Be My Name” chugging for a good three minutes until an energetic instrumental track relieves our tortured ears.

Redemption comes on the chest thumping title track and its epic sibling, “Bring the Hammer Down.” Unfortunately, Hammerfall flush the good stuff down the gutter once more with the hard charging “One Of A Kind” and a brainless cover of “My Sharona.” Jesus fucken Christ, this is a weird album.

Surprise, surprise, though, HailandKill finds no fault in the band’s performance chops-wise. More than a decade since their crusade began, these ironbound knights do kindergarten metal to perfection.

- Information
- Released: 2009
- Label: Nuclear Blast
- Website: www.hammerfall.net
- Band
- Joacim Cans: vocals
- Oscar Dronjak: guitars
- Pontus Norgren: guitars
- Fredrik Larsson: bass
- Anders Johansson: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Any Means Necessary
- 02. Life Is Now
- 03. To Punish And Enslave
- 04. Legion
- 05. Between Two Worlds
- 06. Hallowed Be My Name
- 07. Something For The Ages
- 08. No Sacrifice, No Victory
- 09. Bring The Hammer Down
- 10. One Of A Kind
- 11. My Sharona (cover)