Review Summary: The songs that are good are really good, but unfortunately they are overshadowed by the not so good songs.
This one is a bit hard to review. Either you're underestimating it because you're used to Quorthon's older material, or you're not a metalhead and therefore haven't heard of Quorthon and are not likely to ever fall upon his releases, even less so his solo projects. So if you're a metalhead who wants to be "true" and stick to metal only, this is not for you. If you're a fan of rock in general, this will probably suit you and if you, like me, just happen to love everything that Quorthon has ever done because you're that much of a fan, you are most likely going to find some really good material on this double album.
The epic style that Quorthon took on with Hammerheart is actually pretty prominent. It's just not metal, it's rock. Songs like Deep, When Our Day Is Through and Cherrybutt & Firefly are some examples. Then there are the backbone of the albums that make up most space, like I've Had It Coming My Way and Roller Coaster that are pure alternative rock songs. There's two very mellow songs, Fade Away and Just The Same that includes a guitar and Quorthon's voice only. These are some interesting numbers if you don't mind to listen to some mellow material instead of Equimanthorn and Dies Irae. You Just Got To Live (which was played on Quorthon's funeral) closes the album on a positive note. Nothing like "Holocaust.
All in all, it's a good album if you're into Alternate Rock, or like me just happen to love Quorthon's work in general and some songs are really well written, although not very complicated and there are certainly some "fillers" (at least that what it sounds like to my ears) that's more or less the songs "Purity Of Essence" has to offer which is really a shame if you ask me because I'm not a big fan of the songs that basically makes the album what it is. The most interesting tracks though are Deep, When Our Day Is Through, Cherrybutt & Firefly, Fade Away, Just The Same and You Just Got To Live, that's MY opinion, other people might think that the "fillers" as I refer them to are the actual jewels on the album. I don't know. Overall the album has got plenty of fillers and not many jewels, if any. The songs that are good are really good and the songs that are not, are just not and those songs sets the tone for the album and overshadow the good tunes. Therefore it's not worth more than 2,5, 3 at most.
