- Country: UK
- Style: Power metal
- Label: Napalm Records
- Release date: 31 May 2019
Nobody comes to Gloryhammer for subtlety, and Legends from Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex doesn’t pretend otherwise. Angus McFife, Zargothrax, Hootsmen and laser-powered heroics: the band treat every second of it with a completely straight face. That commitment is the whole joke, and it still works.
“The Siege of Dunkeld (In Hoots We Trust)” kicks the door in with galloping double bass and a chorus built for festival fields, while “Gloryhammer” itself is pure Christopher Bowes keyboard pomp stacked on top of a Helloween-sized hook. “Hootsforce” is the one that gets stuck in your head for days, a shameless singalong that knows exactly how daft it is. Thomas Winkler sounds fantastic throughout, hitting the high stuff with real power rather than pinched falsetto.
It isn’t flawless. The middle stretch, “The Land of Unicorns” and “Legendary Enchanted Jetpack” especially, leans so hard on gag titles that the songwriting blurs together, and a couple of choruses feel like reheated versions of earlier Gloryhammer anthems. But the sprawling closer “The Fires of Ancient Cosmic Destiny” pulls it all back with choirs, tempo shifts and a proper sense of scale. Silly? Absolutely. Fun? Even more so.
Best tracks:
The Siege of Dunkeld (In Hoots We Trust)
Gloryhammer
Hootsforce
The Fires of Ancient Cosmic Destiny
Author’s rating: 7.8/10
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