Grand Magus, Hammer of the North: Those Who Walk Against the Wind
Posted in Reviews on March 4th, 2011 by JJ KoczanSwedish trio Grand Magus are a long, long way from where they started out 12 years ago. The doom of their earliest demos and 2001 self-titled debut is long gone, as over time and the course of their four subsequent albums, vocalist/guitarist Janne “JB” Christofferson, bassist Fox Skinner (bonus points for awesome name) and drummer Sebastian “Seb” Sippola – who came aboard between 2005’s Wolf’s Return and 2008’s Iron Will – have evolved into a genuine beast of epic metal. Not power metal, at least not in terms of the dramatic elements that genre designation carries with it, but still definitively epic, taking cues from Judas Priest and the best of the British New Wave and blending lyrical themes from Scandinavian paganism to concoct a sound almost completely their own. On their latest and fifth offering, Hammer of the North (released physically in Europe last year on Roadrunner and in the US digitally via the same label at the end of January), Grand Magus make yet another step in their charted progression. The US version of the album collects 11 tracks to cover 52:32, and though it’s not without its filler, the level of songwriting across the board is stellar and the performances throughout harness the hair-raising power of heavy metal as only the greatest of practitioners can.
The production, it’s worth noting, is unrepentantly modern. Though the underground metal climate in the US has largely turned against digital recording methods – in ideology if not always in practice – in Europe, Grand Magus has genuine mainstream viability, and as such it makes sense for Hammer of the North to be produced as it is. The album begins with one of its several memorable tracks, “I, The Jury,” on which the trio starts in barn-burning fashion. Sippola proves as he did on Iron Will that he’s a fantastic drummer, changing at a moment’s notice into half-time grooves and keeping the footwork both tasteful and exciting (even if his drums are probably triggered), and Christofferson elicits a solo from the ether that enhances the song, rather than coming off as forced. “Hammer of the North,” which follows, brings out some of the heathen lyricism and anti-Christian thematics – “We trample the cross” – but these aren’t overdone either, and it’s clear that Hammer of the North is going to be a classy affair throughout. Grand Magus, in fashion true to the first part of their name, have set a stately tone, and are firmly in command of their sound. The quiet outro of the title-track and chanting lead-in for “Black Sails” – an understated Viking ode that only gets better with volume – makes for a smooth transition, but make no mistake, Hammer of the North is very much song-based. It’s not like Grand Magus sat down and wrote it all as one piece, and ultimately it’s because of the strength of its individual parts that the whole stands out.
That’s not to say it carries a feel like it was written for radio hits or something like that. Even in the more metal-friendly European musical climate, I don’t know how huge this stuff is in terms of sales – at least as compares to the more swoopy-haired, breakdown-laden “hardcore” that seems to have taken over the universe in the last several years – but Grand Magus’ natural strength is undoubtedly in writing traditional verse/chorus structures. Both “Black Sails” and “Mountains be My Throne” are straightforward and unpretentious, but filled with a kind of stylistic grandeur that sets them apart from other works of classic metal. Credit for this has to go to Christofferson, who is probably one of the best working vocalists in heavy metal today. Backed by Skinner, the singing on Hammer of the North is the source of some of its greatest appeal, and even on the head-down forward-drive of “Northern Star,” they find room for a fantastic chorus. There’s layering throughout in the voices, as with the guitar – the solo of “Northern Star” being a rare misstep both in terms of production and execution – but they’re not quite at Blind Guardian levels yet. Again, classy. All of Hammer of the North has a metallic sheen, and it works greatly to the songs’ benefit.