Tales From The Kingdom Of Fife

Glorryhammer produces catchy symphonic metal rock music built around a campy fantasy/sci-fi storyline. What's not to like?! All 3 of Gloryhammer's albums (to date) are rocking fun listens. Lead singer Thomas Winkler's vocals really help to push these albums over the top.

I've recently discovered this band through youtube, and after listening to this album I had to download it! Gloryhammer is a powermetal band that was formed by the former vocalist of Alestorm. What I especially like about this album is that it's a concept album, telling a tale of epic silliness.Gloryhammer is ment to be very cheesy, and not to be taken seriously. They made this album for people to have fun with, I mean the first song of the album is about the kingdom being attacked by an army of undead unicorns XD! Though despite it's silliness, it's still manages to be awesome as well. One of my favorite songs from the album is "Angus McFife", which has a very catchy chorus. Other songs that are great are the Beginning song "The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee" for it's silly premise like I've said before, but it still manages to sound epic. "Quest for the Hammer of Glory" because it sounds so bad ass and epic, and "Silent Tears of the Frozen Princess" for being a little different by being slow and melodic compared to the rest of the album.This is a fun album to listen to. If you want to listen to an album that will give you a blast, then I definitely recommend this album. It's silly and corny, but it's meant to be. And the production it high quality too, so it's really cheesy, but epic as well.

This was an interesting one. Full disclosure, big Alestorm fan here, so I was excited about this project to begin with. First single and video that was released, I was totally on board and it fit the bill for me. So I had high hopes. Got the special edition of the CD and upon first listen i was underwhelmed. I had read repeated interviews where this was NOT a joke outfit, or as spoofy as Alestorm. Though song titles and lyrics are packed with cheese. But first impression upon listening was that this was good stuff, but there were dozens of bands doing it as well, or some better. I likened it to Hammerfall to someone looking for a comparison. Well, then a funny thing happened as I continued to spin. The songs just would not leave my head. I started liking it all more and more. I realized that despite the fact that there is a glut in the genre, this one stands above. The songs are catchy, speedy, epic. Sing along stuff, stuff I find myself humming in the streets without the tune on. So yeah, this is a win. If you like power metal, grab it. If you like Alestorm, grab it and support it, give it a go. If you like good melodic metal, worth the grab. Ive been playing it on a regular rotation for the last week, and after the first initial listen which left me unenamored, this one REALLY crept up on me. Stellar stuff.

In a sense I think this album was created very tongue in cheek or perhaps as an amusement. It is an over the top fully delivered cliché of "power metal" (a label I despise) in terms of image, lyrics, and musical style. It is an absolute caricature of this genre , dripping in cheesiness. Track 1 is titled "The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee". Really? That's just a funny track title. Or how about the last track, "Epic Rage of Furious Thunder"? I get the sense this band had a lot of laughs when they wrote and recorded this.That said, I think this album is fantastic! All those things I mentioned above are absolutely true but the musical quality stellar. I am NOT an ALESTORM fan but I find this album to be stellar, likely exceeding the expectations of even the band members. If they did this as a joke they should get some surprise success. This is a throwback to the revival of traditional metal we saw in the late 90's. I hear some HAMMERFALL, some (old) STRATOVARIOUS, and some AVANTASIA. It is not at the level of those bands late 90's releases but it's damn good.

Someone said "you heard this before", however, you heard it from some of the most popular power metal bands. Gloryhammer succeeds in taking other bands' style and making it their own.I find this work to be brilliant. It helps listening to this with headphones or a high-end speaker set. The guitar-work is top-notch, and the keyboards have a lot of punch. The vocals, while cheesy, actually require a good amount of technique to sound good. Even though "Fireballs and Lightning are raining from the sky" are hard lyrics to mess up, singing them at that pitch is another challenge. The synthesizer work is superb. I can't believe that I'm saying it, but this is an example of good symphonic metal, even with the over-the-top lyricsIt's surprising that this is Gloryhammer's first album. It sounds like these musicians have been together for a long time, but outside Christopher Bowes, everyone else seems to be an ex-member of a not-as-well-known band. It's a feat by itself finding a set of band members that sound this good

I came upon Gloryhammer last night on YouTube, when I saw the official video for Angus McFife. I was immediately hooked and purchased the CD without hesitation. Because of the AutoRip option on amazon, I was immediately able to enjoy the full album and it was worth every penny. Not only are the compositions beautiful, melodic and complex, Thomas L. Winkler's vocals are the best I've heard since Ronnie James Dio. Every track is masterfully crafted and "The Epic Rage Of Furious Thunder" at 10:33, in length, feels like a war cry. There is no filler here, just epic goodness. Ride unicorns and listen to Gloryhammer, you won't regret it.Track Listing:1. Anstruther's Dark Prophecy2. The Unicorn Invasion Of Dundee3. Angus McFife4. Quest For The Hammer Of Glory5. Magic Dragon6. Silent Tears Of Frozen Princess7. Amulet Of Justice8. Hail To Crail9. Beneath Cowdenbeath10. The Epic Rage Of Furious Thunder11. Wizards!

Really, really good album.If you like your metal with a little bit of fun and that doesn't take itself too seriously then this is the album for you. Even with the fun loving nature of this album it's no slouch in the song department. They are well executed and thoroughly enjoyable.Fans of Alestorm, Edguy, Hammer Fall etc take a punt on this.

To any fans of Alestorm out there, remember that first time you played an Alestorm song... that feeling returns when you put in Gloryhammer for the first time! A great album! I do however have one slight problem and that is I feel there wasn't enough Epicness given to some parts in the songs but that doesn't hold it back! Just remember that Gloryhammer are not taking themselves seriously and you will enjoy this album better than any other power metal album for the year! If you loved Alestorm and are hoping for album 4 then Gloryhammer will keep you sated until then and before long you'll be chanting along to the songs!

Great power metal from the kingdom of fife

This album is just brilliant, and great fun. Full of cheese, great lyrics, instrumental epic, and song called Unicorn Invasion of Dundee is just contribution to this great fun album.If you love cheesy power metal and would like an album to cheer up dreary days, this is the album for you. =]

The start of a great trilogy