Reviews: Unleashed, Hammerall, Wonders, Jim Peterik & World Stage (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Hammerfall – Renegade 2.0 (Nuclear Blast)

Renegade was the third album from the Swedish Templars Of Steel Hammerfall. It was their breakthrough release and set them on a path of keeping the flame of classic European heavy/power metal right the way through nu-metal and beyond. 20 years later (21 due to the pandemic) the band have released this epically expanded anniversary edition that has been remastered by producer Fredrik Nordström with modern technology. It gives the record a bigger depth of sound than the original but seeing as these are not re-recordings or re-interpretations, the music is pretty much exactly as it was back in 2000. Since this release only founding guitarist Oscar Dronjak and singer Joacim Cans remain but this record is something that long term fans can dive back into. 

Re-experiencing some of the classic tracks here such as Templars Of Steel, Always Will Be, Let The Hammer Fall and the title track. Mainly it’s to reminisce how good the record actually is. As the music is the same (with newer production) there’s little I can do in terms of reviewing it, as if you liked it the first time you’ll like it now, but there’s a whole host of extras included that make it worth purchasing if you haven’t already got the record. (If not shame). Other than that it makes for an entertaining little history lesson and anniversary while we wait for new album proper. Musically an 8 but as a re-release it doesn’t really add much so that’s a 6 giving Renegade 2.0. 7/10

Wonders – Fragments Of Wonder (Limb Music)

Not content with releasing high quality progressive, melodic metal in Even Flow, brothers Giorgio (drums) and Pietro Paolo Lunesu (guitar) have formed a new band with the multi-talented Bob Katsionis. This Mediterranean collaboration has borne, be beautiful rich and ripe musical fruit that is the band Wonders and the debut album Fragments Of Wonder. Although the title is a little bit of a misnomer as these are more than fragments, this is a fully formed project that is just different enough from Even Flow to stand out against the brothers day jobs. Here they up the progressive flourishes, never relying too heavily on long run times or lots of instrumentals but there’s a technicality to the tracks Pietro Paolo’s guitars and Bob’s keys playing off each other like the classic Stratovarius twosome of Timo Tolkki and Jens Johansson, who seem to be major influence on this project.

If you listen to Indigo World you’ll think that it is a lost Stratovarius song, while the title track feels like a more recent offering from the legendary Finns. As usual Katsionis does a brilliant job on production making the album bright and gutsy, allowing the performances to breathe as well as constructing the orchestrations in the background to bring cinematic feel to the anthemic Freedom, which also sounds the most like Even Flow. It’s not a two man show though as Giorgio’s drumming is incredibly dexterous linking to some rapid gallops with bassist Luca Negro on to Beyond Redemption, while followers of the Italian metal scene will recognise the powerful pipes of Marco Pastorino of Temperance behind the mic.

His voice is brilliant and ideal for the project especially on the more emotional numbers such as Where The Sun Doesn’t Shine. The founding trio have collaborated brilliantly here finding the right people for the job and writing an album that feels as if it was just for me. I love this kind of music and Wonders take the best parts of Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica and Fates Warning to make something that is quality music from start to finish. Come and witness the Wonders. 9/10 

 Jim Peterik & World Stage - Tigress - Women Who Rock The World (Frontiers Music Srl)