Hammerheart hails from Slovakia and they are my first encounter with Slovakian music. In the past I have heard about Slovakian bands such as Metalinda and Tublatanka but never had the chance to listen to them. 

Hammerheart was formed back in 1994 and have released two demos and they have participated on a compilation called “The Grimoire of Exalted Deeds # 2” from 1999. Hammerheart is a four piece consisting of Ian Glorian (Guitar), Shisho (Bass), Mario Zvara (Drums) and main songwriter Denis Belacik (Vocal and Guitar). 

This first full-length from Hammerheart contains eight tracks, they play straightforward heavy metal with all the trademarks of Iron Maiden. Especially the first track “Back from Serenity” has a strong Iron Maiden feeling to it, the rest of the album is heavily inspired by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and are loaded with twin guitar duels (Hell yeah).

It is all topped by the excellent vocals from Denis Belacik, he reminds me of Volker Walsemann from Poverty’s No Crime. It’s too difficult to pick out the best track on the album because they are all great pieces of heavy metal, hopefully Hammerheart will be picked up by a label in the near future.

Support this great band.