HAMMERFALL – a thunderous tour start in Hamburg

Swedish heavy metal veterans HammerFall have embarked on a European tour as special guests of Powerwolf. The first show of this roadtrip takes place at the Barclays Arena in Hamburg, and after Wind Rose opened this night of metal in an enthusiastic manner, it’s HammerFall’s turn to take the baton.

The Swedish metal force just released a great new album with “Avenge the Fallen” a few weeks ago and the chance to experience the new material in a live setting is exciting. The five guys start with the title track and it’s very clear that this is going to be a show full of powerful metal with great melodies and a lot of commitment. The start couldn’t be better with Joacim Cans standing on one of the podiums that frame the stage while Oscar Dronjak and Pontus Norgren deliver a lot of riff power. With “The End Justifies” and “Hail to the King” the guys present two more songs from the new album, while tunes like “Let the Hammer Fall” take everyone back to the debut album, released in 1998.

Surprisingly there is a large crowd present tonight that has never attended a HammerFall live show before while the fans of the band are thrilled by classics like “Last Man Standing”, “Renegade” and “Hammer High”. Cans tries to motivate the fans to sing along, but the reserved Hanseatic spirit leads to the fact that the choir is limited to the first third of the hall. However, this doesn’t reduce the fun and entertainment factor of the HammerFall show, because you don’t notice that tonight is the first show of this tour. HammerFall is an experienced band with a line-up that has been playing together for many years. The quintet ignites the metal spirit tonight and plays pretty tight.

With “(We Make) Sweden Rock” we are approaching the end of this set. The metal anthem is a real energizer and sets the stage for the grand finale. When Cans mentions that there are a few minutes left and he could tell a joke, in German, or the band could play another song, the choice goes to another song. It is a roaring version of “Hearts On Fire” from the “Crimson Thunder” album, which is the final chapter of tonight’s energy-spreading show.

The Swedish metal force is a very established band in the metal scene and as on their releases, HammerFall always deliver when they are on stage. Not changing their formula for success and still entertaining all these years shows the passion and commitment of Joacim, Oscar, Pontus, Fredrik and David. HammerFall in 2024, as strong and powerful as ever and a treat for metalheads.