Hammerfall's strength has never been their wide musical variety, neither their excessive instrumentalism. They have never delved heavily into any of the varied genres of metal, nor have they (as is more the current trend) hired an orchestra to accompany them on their merry way. Their strength lies in what others consider to be a weaker part of the metal genre. For this album; Hammerfall have stuck to what they do best - pure, heavy, metal. Simplistic riffs, a pounding beat and genre-typical vocals are what Hammerfall stand for. Unfortunately, five albums down the line, this does get a bit generic. But it is still great fun.

The album opens with a double whammy of Secrets and the single from the album Blood Bound. Both are typical of Hammerfall's contracted sense of epic metal drama - the first using the traditional "Choir Aaah" setting on Hammerfall's mini-keyboard to create an air of mystique - and the second describes a simple bond of blood between the band and their followers through their music. Most of the album tracks follow in this vein. Simple 'epic' heavy metal you can shake your head to.

There are a few stand-out tracks. The expected single metal ballad is present in Never Ever. Not at all like its All Saints namesake, yet neither a worthy match for their awesome Glory To The Brave (quite simply one of the greatest metal tracks ever produced), it still holds the listeners attention by being 'slower than the other tracks', and features yet another stunning guitar line and acoustic accompaniment from Mr Stefan Elmgren.

The album does try to conclude on a different level, by sandwiching Take The Black between Imperial (a seemingly pointless, but nice nonetheless acoustic instrumental) and Knights Of The 21st Century. Knights is the 12 minute finale to Chapter V and does at least show signs of Hammerfall developing a new angle. Perhaps a little tongue-in-cheek, they take their 'epic vision' to a new level, with a full-blooded introduction by a friend of the band ("from the very depth of hell, Mr. Conrad "Cronos" Lant"), followed by a display of their hardest and heaviest riffs for the album. All in all, the album is another display of Hammerfall's power and energy that (I am told) transfers beautifully to their live shows, so although it may not be the most imaginative of albums, it'll still sound awesome live.

If metal was still of a simpler age, with none of this arty-farty messing around that so many bands have popularised (and - indeed - do very well), then I would be heralding yet another storming success from the gods of metal - Hammerfall. However - sadly - there are more interesting albums out there. Although I do believe that if Hammerfall tried something a little different, they would do it very well, with lots of fun involved.

All things aside, this is still an album I love to shake my head to!

Standout Tracks:  Secrets, Knights of the 21st Century, Never Ever.

Overall Score:   6 /10