Warthur Symphonic power metal heroes GloryHammer debuted with this album proving the value of learning to walk before you try to run. Whilst they cranked up the symphonic aspect of their sound, went for an even more bizarre and silly storyline, and generally turned everything up to 11 for their followup, Space 1992, on Tales From the Kingdom of Fife they prove themselves to be perfectly competent purveyors of comparatively straight-ahead symphonic-tinged power metal (if with somewhat tongue-in-cheek lyrics) in the vein of Rhapsody/Rhapsody of Fire, with perhaps a few pinches of influence from elsewhere. (Some of the spookier bits of narration put me in mind of Bal-Sagoth.)

It's all good fun - but it doesn't stand out from the power metal pack, in part because the parody is so deliberate that they hit more or less all the same points other symphonic power metal fans do. Worth getting if you're sold on GloryHammer and want to dig into the roots of their sound (and the Angus McFife mythology), but I'd say Space 1992 is the better introduction to what they're all about. For me, the joke's palled a bit; there's just a bit of an air of insincerity to the whole thing which makes it less fun than bands who do this sort of thing and actually buy in fully.

adg211288 Tales from the Kingdom of Fife is the debut full-length album from Scottish power metal act Gloryhammer. The band features among their number Christopher Bowes, frontman of folk-power metal pirates Alestorm, although in Gloryhammer he only takes on the role of keyboardist, with Thomas Winkler (Emerald) handling the vocals. Tales from the Kingdom of Fife is a concept album revolving around an alternate history Scotland, a land in which dragons and magic exist.

Sounds like your typical cheesy power metal effort on paper doesn’t it? In all fairness it is just that, especially lyrically, with song titles including The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee, Silent Tears of Frozen Princess and The Epic Rage of Furious Thunder. I suspect though that Gloryhammer’s full on endorsement of power metal clichés may well be at least part of the intent behind the album. The music itself however isn’t the most over the top I’ve heard from a symphonic-inclined power metal act, which is the particular niche of the genre that Gloryhammer falls into. It is definitely quite the epic sound though, as well as catchy. Most important though is that Gloryhammer have created a fun album in Tales from the Kingdom of Fife.

Nothing particularly breaks the mould here, but the album makes me smile and in all honestly some of the results that Gloryhammer have come up with instantly strike me as superior to some of the more serious power metal albums out there. The songs are all good but are quite across the board with a couple coming over as being good but filler songs (Silent Tears of Frozen Princess, Hail to Crail), and a couple having a really addictive quality that I know is going to keep me coming back to them over the rest of the album (The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee, Angus McFife). The rest are somewhere in between, with Quest for the Hammer of Glory being the best of the rest. The band has a great energy, and Thomas Winkler’s performance in particular is excellent.

Part of the reason that power metal as a genre often gets disparaged by metal fans are the very tendencies that Gloryhammer has in abundance on Tales from the Kingdom of Fife. While for Gloryhammer this is all a part of the appeal of their music it does mean that the album is a definite no go area for anyone who can’t take their metal in such a light-hearted, comical, and indeed happy manner. For those of us without a permanent frown on our faces though Tales from the Kingdom of Fife is a great power metal album, and deserves a score to recognise it as such.

83/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org/gloryhammer-tales-from-the-kingdom-of-fife-t2878.html))