Germany's power metal upstarts Hammer King are back with their third album for Cruz Del Sur, titled Poseidon Will Carry Us Home, a big time improvement over the somewhat lacking King is Rising release from 2016. From the production to the songwriting, this new one is a lot of fun, packed with plenty of headbanging, anthemic metal tunes, such as "The King is a Deadly Machine" (yep, the King is back!), "Battle of Wars", "Where the Hammer Hangs", and the ultra-memorable title cut. Titan Fox is still belting out those overly dramatic upper register shrieks, but it fits well with the chugging 'Iron Maiden' on speed guitar flights from Gino Wilde and the galloping rhythms courtesy of drummer Dolph Macallan & bassist K.K. Basement. Of course, there's still a fair amount of cheese, which you are going to get with basically every European power metal album, but damn if "7 Days and 7 Kings" and "Meatus Majestatis" aren't just brainless heavy metal fun in the end. Some of the instrumental passages will have you scratching your Helloween/Gamma Ray itch, and a track like "Warriors of Angelhill" is a complete throwback to Piece of Mind and Powerslave era Iron Maiden.
Poseidon Will Carry Us Home isn't a power metal album that's going to change the world, but it's highly enjoyable nonetheless and shows some steady growth from Hammer King. Keep the momentum going guys!
Track Listing
1. Poseidon Will Carry Us Home
2. The King is a Deadly Machine
3. Battle of Wars
4. 7 Days and 7 Kings
5. Warriors of Angelhill
6. Where the Hammer Hangs
7. Last Rites
8. Glorious Night of Glory
9. Locust Plague
10. At The Mercy of the Waves
11. We Sail Cape Horn
12. Meatus Majestatis
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