Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Space Wizard
Gloryhammer
The saga of Angus McFife and the evil chaos wizard Zargothrax rages on in space. Unicorns have never been so badass.
Singing of Swords, sorcery and war on top of music that is equal parts face-melting and gloriously inspiring is a quick way to light a fire in the soul. It’s also the quintessential power metal formula. Often however, this comes with an overhang of being a bit totally ridiculous and terrifically cringe-worthy when the band members take themselves seriously. What is the solution to this? Embracing the cheese and turning it up to eleven seems to be the methodology of the Scottish-swiss project Gloryhammer.
Founded by Christopher Bowes, vocalist of Alestorm, the band’s first release Tales from the Kingdom of Fife was a knowing and loving parody of the excesses of power metal complete with over the top guitar solos and Thomas Winkler’s unique and powerful voice. It was also an absolute joy to listen to. Lyrics like “Fireballs make everybody die” or “The force of unicorns makes Zargothrax fight great” render any attempt to criticise a band like Gloryhammer difficult because you get the distinct impression that you’re totally missing the point.
‘Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Space Wizards’ is set a thousand years after the events of the previous album. This time we follow Angus McFife the 13th, king of the galactic kingdom of fife. In keeping with the tradition of the previous album, the opening track “Rise of the Chaos Space Wizards” is brilliant in that it presents the tone of the album to come unapologetically. Do yourself a favour and check out the video for this song as soon as you can.
It is often the case with tongue-in-cheek bands that releases beyond the first do nothing to add to their sound. Not so with Gloryhammer, with songs like “Legend of the Astral Hammer” that adds some neoclassical flare to the band’s trademark mid-paced stomp or the songs “Victorious Eagle Warfare” and “Universe on Fire” adding some sci-fi style synth to the preceding’s. Not until the end of the album do things start to slip. “Heroes of Dundee” is clearly meant to be an anthem but it falls flat and a lot of built up momentum is lost. Not for long however, as the baton is passed to the ten minute “Apocalypse 1992” and an exciting culmination to the story.
If you need your music to take itself seriously, then Gloryhammer is not for you. If you’re an unrepentant fan of high fantasy or you want to have some fun, check them out. ‘Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Space Wizard’ has some laugh out loud moments coupled with excellent musicianship.
