HAMMER KING – Kingdom of the Hammer King
- by Matt Coe
- Posted on 14-07-2015
France’s Hammer King have a penchant for their name sake appearing in the song titles for this debut full-length "Kingdom of the Hammer King". At least half the material has ‘hammer’ or ‘king’ somewhere in there ("I Am the King" and "We Are the Hammer" as example) – coupled with a true metal stance that would make Manowar proud. Factor in a little of that Hammerfall power aspect and we get a 50 minute record that doesn’t really stray far from a lot of both band’s catalogs. Sing a longs abound, easy on the ear choruses, and lyrics that fight for the battle and glory of honor move along in a familiar pattern, making "Aderlass; The Blood of Sacrifice" and "Figure in the Black" neck banging yet quickly forgotten.
True metal from the 1980’s, "Kingdom of the Hammer King" possesses the predictability to win over some, and keep others running away. Count me in more of the latter camp.