| The
Review |
These guys are like no one else out there right now. Hammers
of Misfortune might sound like a cheesy power metal band -
but they are something quite different. This is the band's
third release - and their proggiest, in my opinion. Hammers
combines male and female vocals, traditional old-school metal
with old-school prog (hammond, great piano, strings). Guitar
has a thrashy sound when it is electric - although acoustic
appears frequently as well as the band likes to change things
up. The technical abilities of the players are astounding
- but they never go too far over the top. I really enjoyed
their first two albums (first one was a crazy concept album
about a bastard who kills his father and then goes crazy over
a magic axe). This one has more keys - primarily GREAT organ
and piano that is constant.
Vocals on the male side are deep and remind me of the
singer from Braindance (how is that for random?) or, to a
certain extent, Type O Negative. The female vocals are not
spectacular - but are still pretty good. One insane instrumental
(Election Day) but the rest alternates between the two singers.
Each track takes you through many twists and turns - and they
always maintain a very dark feel to all of their songs. This
is definitely not the black/death prog metal thing that has
been so prevalent lately. It is more like a progged up version
of Metallica with evil clean vocals. I really hope these guys
catch on - I think they are great. My only complaint is the
album length - at 45 minutes I felt they were just warming
up. If you are interested in these guys - start here and work
your way back through their catalog. Recommended.
Rating: 4 stars
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