|
We Will Rise Stefan Elmgren's Full Strike Spitfire Records, 2002
Buy it online
Reviewed by Lucas Aykroyd
|
Perhaps Stefan Elmgren was thinking of George Harrison when he decided to make his first solo album. Now, it's true that racing through heavy metal licks as the lead guitarist of HammerFall is quite different from the late Beatle's style. And Harrison has the lead in the fame and fortune department. But in the end, as any rock artist will tell you, it all comes down to getting your songs recorded. Harrison contributed one or two per album with the Fab Four. Elmgren, a 27-year-old native of Gothenburg, Sweden, has largely been excluded from the songwriting process in his day job, with vocalist Joacim Cans and rhythm guitarist Oscar Dronjak doing the lion's share. Something had to give. And it has. The pent-up creative energy inside Elmgren has erupted into a powerful debut release with Full Strike, much like the thunderstorm on his album cover. Although Elmgren is still very much part of HammerFall, which will put out its fourth record this fall, We Will Rise shows his ability to mastermind more than just a lickety-split solo. Massive, propulsive guitar riffs highlight the inspirational title track, as well as "Master Of My Soul" and "Force Of The World." Elmgren noodles more between and behind the vocal lines than on HammerFall's Legacy of Kings or Renegade. He serves up some Yngwie Malmsteen-like leads in the instrumental "First Strike." Husky-voiced singer Niclas Johnsson, who co-wrote the album with Elmgren, sometimes makes peculiar melodic decisions in the verse sections. Johnsson's lyrics can take on a cryptic flavor when he's not attacking religious and corporate corruption. (For instance, what is a "mandrake's dream," and who are the "malicious veins who take all the blame"?) But Johnsson delivers one sizzling, anthemic chorus after another. That's enough to expiate any minor sins in this particular genre. Drummer Bjorn Fryklund and bassist Chris "Savage" Goldsmith turn in solid old-school performances. We Will Rise features the same bottom end sound that made Legacy of Kings more sonically satisfying than Renegade, thanks to Fredrik Nordstrom's production input. The uninitiated might easily mistake We Will Rise
for a HammerFall album. It has the same triumphant manner
and melodic intensity. Elmgren's tastes haven't diversified.
You probably won't see him pick up a sitar or put out a
triple album in the near future. But Elmgren gets full marks
for what he's accomplished with Full Strike, and he might
even parlay this into the odd songwriting credit with
HammerFall. | August 2002 |
Tracks
|
|
|
 |
|
