Sara Hammerzmith

So, a couple of days ago Amaranthe released a new single off their upcoming album, and it so happened to be the opening track off the new album, “Maximalize”.

So, well, where do I begin with this song. It starts very typically Amaranthe, like we heard in songs like “Hunger”, “The Nexus” and “Digital World” to mention a few, and it continues on walking on the borderline between metal and pop, in that perfect way that only Amaranthe can really do. It’s got a toned down yet interesting verse, and a catchy, sticking and fun chorus. Very similar to old opening songs, as far as song structure goes.

While still being a lot on the pop side, it’s not in any way as bad as “That Song” was, and after hearing this I’m looking more and more forward towards the album coming out this Friday. Seriously. I love how they released three completely different songs. Smart move!

// Sara

So, finally, like, two years after I bought this book I finished Oscar Dronjak’s biography “Legenden om HammerFall” – which translates to “HammerFall: The Legend” very simply.

When I finally, after my two year hiatus picked up this book again I could barely put it away. I actually had to save the epilouge to make sure I had something fresh in mind when writing this. That’s how capturing it was. The first couple of chapters covers his childhood and upbringing, but very soon does he start to talk about his musical life and what got him started on the journey, followed by a detailed story about every single era of HammerFall up to after Swedish Outbreak tour (meaning, anything happening after “Infected” is not covered).

What I enjoy so much about this book is his way of writing. It reminds me a little bit about my own writing on this blog – very personal to the point where he says things like “And me, whose of normal height” (He’s about two meters tall) and things like that, which makes it very entertaining at times, as it’s inviting and makes you feel almost like you are there with him, sitting there and talking to him. At times, I had to stop and start listening to some of the bands he wrote about only because he wrote so passionately about them. Reminds me a lot of myself.

I get the feeling that this book is very honest. He admits his mistakes and mess ups, and I don’t talk simply about musical such, but personal – as to how they dealt with Patrik losing his brother while on tour as an example. I liked that. I liked to see a person who writes his own book who criticizes himself and his own actions. Aside that, it’s filled with a lot of fun trivia facts about HammerFall, and it’s very rich – at the end of the book Oscar has listed every single bandmember, every show, every supportband – I like that. I really do. And, you know, this is going to sound extremely cliché and perhaps even forced, but as with any other book you ever read, this has sort of made me think of other things. I’m thinking about when HammerFall worked with Michael Wagener, and he did the same thing to them as he did to Lordi, and as well as many other things. I’ve found myself referring to this book ant quoting it a lot. I guess that says a lot, huh?

So, with that said. I really enjoyed this book and would warmly recommend it to anyone who loves HammerFall.

// Sara