Threshold; The Fire Burns Forever; Rebel Inside; Natural High; Dark Wings, Dark Words; Howlin’ With The ‘Pac; Shadow Empire; Carved in Stone; Reign of the Hammer; Genocide; Titan.  

'Threshold' is the latest effort from the Swedish Power / Fantasy / Warrior Metal veterans and a quick scan through the titles and the Steve Jackson / Ian Livingstone style cover will give you a pretty fair idea of what to expect. The lyrics are straight from the Dungeons & Dragons mould and the music has all of the trademarks and clichés associated with this genre. Manowar and Helloween appear to be a strong influence and you can expect to hear lots of thunderous rhythms, twin guitar riffs and soaring vocals. Singer Joachim Cans is a vocalist of some ability and has considerable range and it’s somewhat unfortunate, therefore, that he has to sing some of the most appalling lyrics I have ever heard:- 

“The taste of blood and sweet revenge / It keeps hammering in my head / The urge to kill is getting stronger / I'm south of heaven north of hell, my final place to dwell” (from ‘Natural High’)  

 “We rule the dark and we do as we please / There's no way to stop us, no time to catch some z´s” (from ‘Howlin with the Pac’) 

The whole thing left me pretty unimpressed I’m afraid to say, although clearly some people still have an interest in this sort of thing and the album appears to have been well received by the faithful. With battle anthems such as 'Shadow Empire' and 'Reign Of The Hammer' the band are very much preaching to the converted. And if there is a highlight then it is probably the medieval-esque power ballad ‘Dark Wings, Dark Words’ which comes across as something Ronnie James Dio might have written on an off day. And if, like me, you are wondering just what sort of person listens to an album like this in 2006 then it can't be very difficult to spot a Hammerfall fan - the fact that they will be wielding an imaginary broadsword whilst clutching a dog-eared copy of 'Lord Of The Rings' should be a dead giveaway. 

Not for those with a passing interest.

Let us know your views on 'Threshold'

Track List

Threshold
The Fire Burns Forever
Rebel Inside
Natural High
Dark Wings, Dark Words
Howlin' With The 'Pac
Shadow Empire
Carved In Stone
Reign Of The Hammer
Genocide
Titan

Line Up

Joacim Cans - vocals
Oscar Dronjak - guitar
Stefan Elmgren - guitar
Magnus Rosen - bass
Anders Johansson - drums