Dragonhammer

"Time for Expiation"

Dragonhammer is back with their second release since the highly acclaimed release and debut “The Blood of The Dragon” which came out via Scarlet back in 2001.

The album received lots of well deserved reviews all over the world. And according to the enclosed press kit especially in such selective countries like Germany and Japan. I’m not sure if the selectiveness is connected to Dragonhammers genre or heavy metal/hard rock in general.

But the press kit gave me the impression that good reviews are harder to obtain in those 2 countries. I don’t know if there’s anything about it, but never mind; the words are not mine, and I don’t need to explain them at all. Dragonhammer is a 4-piece outfit from Italy. They play traditional powermetal – convincing, true to the genre and without any flaws and glitches.

The melodic/symphonic atmosphere that only a keyboard can create, seem to have a major role in the universe of Dragonhammer. At least, the keyboard is very present in all songs. It gives the album an expression that is very classic and typical for the genre.

Dragonhammer play with a high level of authority and technicality, but somehow I can’t escape the thought, that I’ve heard the music before somewhere……………..!

Dragonhammer is a promising and interesting band to listen to, but they don’t touch me in a major way. There’s too much average and too little surprise about the whole thing.

Maybe they’re too traditional?

http://www.dragonhammer.com/

http://www.scarletrecords.it

TIME FOR EXPIATION
2004 Scarlet Records