adg211288 (Note - I originally reviewed four Hysterica singles as a bulk review, so this one includes my introductory paragraph since its the first one. The reviews should really be read in order of single release to be taken in context)

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Swedish all female heavy metal band Hysterica has been releasing a lot of singles this year in the run-up to the release of their second full-length album, The Art of Metal, which is due out in October. Four are out so far, with three to go before release, so I decided to write a bulk review for the four of them in order to stir up a bit of interest for the album, because if the rest is of the same quality as these, then we’re in for a serious treat!

Force of Metal is the first single from The Art of Metal to be released. So far this is the weakest song of the bunch, but it’s still a superior effort to anything from the group’s already solid debut album Metalwar. At first the song comes across as more of the same from the band, but a more polished more of the same. The improvement of the band as musicians can be heard at once. Since Metalwar the group have swapped one of the guitarists for a keyboardist, and the new sounds add new depth to Hysterica’s music. This is a good song, but having heard this track one cannot help but wonder if the whole album will be like it – lyrically cheesy, much like the first one. However the girls will then prove that The Art of Metal will not be a one trick pony with the next single release...

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scored at 9.2/10)