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Thursday, March 14, 2013

Gloryhammer – Angus McFife

Christopher Bowes, the frontman of the pirate metal band Alestorm, is making new music with his side project Gloryhammer. The band plays very honest and epic power metal, and Bowes himself can be found behind the keyboards this time.

Their first album, Tales from the Kingdom of Fife, is to be released on March 29th. It is a concept album with a story set in medieval Scotland with fantasy elements – well, yes, such classic power metal themes as dragons, battles, wizards and magic. Since such stories need an epic hero, Angus McFife is wielding his weapons in the name of glory.

And the first video, Angus McFife, is quite promising. In spite of being a fan of Alestorm, I hadn't really been looking forward to Gloryhammer's releases – mostly because I had forgotten to pay enough attention. Well, Gloryhammer is an entirely different project anyway, but it seems that Chris Bowes has a lot more to give to the metal scene than just piratey folk and power metal. Gloryhammer is symphonic and impressive – and certainly gave a good first impression! Thomas Winkler is also singing like a siren and contributing quite a lot of power to metal in this act, being a very fine choice for a vocalist.

While some can probably find the lyrical themes quite cheesy and comical, the song is still particularly catchy! And the video – it's not too comical or ridiculous, it's actually warm (and I am not only referring to the color scheme with a yellowish sky) and cosy – something you should see for yourself.