A glorious purity courses through Hammerfall's tales of warriors and ancient rites. Though trace amounts of speed metal fury can be detected in their earliest recordings, the Swedish outfit evolved into traditionalists expert in the soaring vocals, pristine lines, and mythological themes of classic heavy metal. No doubt they were an anomaly when first hitting the Scandinavian scene in the '90s, when black metal ruled. Yet Hammerfall were just ahead of their time. As their popularity spread beyond the motherland, they wound up inspiring a new generation of metalheads turning to the “old ways.”