Hammerfall - One Crimson Night
Nuclear Blast
True Heavy Metal
Disc 1: 13 songs (59'20) Disc 2: 9 songs (49'22)
Release year: 2003
Hammerfall, Nuclear Blast
Reviewed by Marty
Recorded during a concert in Sweden from the band's recent world tour earlier this year, Hammerfall presents the fans with this, their first live album. A DVD version of this concert is also available. You can say what you want about this band but the fans at the show sure seemed to be enjoying themselves, singing and chanting along with many of their favorite tracks. The sound quality is very good for a live album and the guitars, bass and drums all share a crispness and sonic clarity that you usually don't get unless you're right there at the show.

Opening with Lore Of The Arcane, a short instrumental from the Crimson Thunder album, the band launches into Riders Of The Storm with lots of pyrotechnics going off in the background that you can actually hear. Although a solid song, it's not the best opener and the second track, Heeding The Call, a Hammerfall classic, would've been a much better choice. For the rest of this 2 CD set, the band rips through track after track of all the favorites and covers all their releases quite well. The Glory To The Brave album is revisited with the tracks Stone Cold, Glory To The Brave, Steel Meets Steel, Hammerfall and The Dragon Lies Bleeding whereas Heeding The Call, Legacy Of Kings, At The End Of The Rainbow, Let The Hammer Fall and Stronger Than All represent tracks from the Legacy Of Kings album. From Renegade, the band plays The Way Of The Warrior, Renegade, Templars Of Steel and A Legend Reborn and the latest album, Crimson Thunder is showcased with the tracks, Riders Of The Storm, Hero's Return, The Unforgiving Blade, Crimson Thunder and Hearts On Fire. As with all live concerts, there's always tracks that people feel should've been included or left out etc., but I think that they've done a great job with playing most of their best songs. Three bonus tracks are featured here that are not on the DVD version and were recorded during the band's South American tour in May of this year.

The band sounds great with a crunching heaviness but some of the song endings are a bit sloppy (they should learn from Iron Maiden as to how to end a song with a crushing halt!!). Joacim Cans' voice sounds pretty solid for the most part but he really strains on Glory To The Brave to reach the high notes and the chorus to At The End Of The Rainbow is a bit weak and otherwise ruins what would've been a great version of the song. The whole band seems to struggle with Legacy Of Kings and it really comes off as sounding shaky and lack luster compared to the rest of the album. When you record only one show for a live album, there's always the danger of things like that happening. All the usual live show staples are here as well including a bass solo by Magnus Rosen and a guitar solo by Stefan Elmgren and the ending to the song Hammerfall goes on forever with endless riffing, soloing and drum flurries. All in all, a pretty decent live album that is a sort of a live "greatest hits" package for the band.

I've always been a big fan of this band especially with the Glory To The Brave and Legacy Of Kings albums. I feel that the band faltered a bit with Renegade and although they seem to be more on track with Crimson Thunder, they still haven't been able to match the energy and intensity that they obtained with their first 2 albums. The proof is right here in this live album. The songs from Glory To The Brave and Legacy Of Kings that are on One Crimson Night are the better songs, the ones that receive the most reaction from the crowd and are the tracks where the band sounds the best. I really don't think this band is ever going to be the "metal saviors" that they were thought to be in the beginning. Sure they helped jump start the heavy metal scene in the mid to late 90's but like Manowar, they're probably going to be one of those bands that will always have a strong following but not the leaders or trend-setters they were heralded to be back in the mid to late 90's. Some people love them, others hate them but they are still a solid band and there's always an audience for this style of "True Metal" no matter how "cheesy" the lyrics or song styles are....and I'm still a part of that audience!!!

Killing Songs :
Heeding The Call, Stone Cold, The Unforgiving Blade, Glory To The Brave, Steel Meets Steel, Templars Of Steel and The Dragon Lies Bleeding
Marty quoted no quote
Other albums by Hammerfall that we have reviewed:
Hammerfall - Hammer of Dawn reviewed by Goat and quoted 70 / 100
Hammerfall - Dominion reviewed by Goat and quoted 80 / 100
Hammerfall - (R)Evolution reviewed by Joel and quoted 89 / 100
Hammerfall - Infected reviewed by Goat and quoted 80 / 100
Hammerfall - No Sacrifice, No Victory reviewed by Goat and quoted 80 / 100
To see all 13 reviews click here
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