Gloryhammer music transcends time, space, other worlds with storytelling lyrics

At first glance, a Gloryhammer set may look and sound similar to many other European power metal bands with a sense of energy that lead singer Sozos Michael describes as “relentless.” But upon further examination, one would soon discover the fantasy sci-fi world built on the shoulders of the group.

The continuous narrative found within Gloryhammer’s music and live shows has been persisting since the band’s founding in 2010 and the release of their debut album, “Tales from the Kingdom of Fife,” in 2013.

Gloryhammer was founded by the frontman and lead vocalist of fellow metal band Alestorm, Christopher Bowes, although he has not performed with the band in recent years. In a similar vein to Alestorm’s pirate themes, Bowes wrote most of Gloryhammer’s material with a narrative centered around the character Angus McFife.

According to Michael, the concept of Angus McFife was born when Bowes simply heard of an actual Scottish man with the same name. Being from Scotland himself, Bowes found the name “ridiculously Scottish” and felt the need to create such a character.

Over the course of 15 years and four records, this main protagonist and his allies have fought against the antagonist wizard Zargothrax in a battle of good versus evil that transcends space and time. Each album continues the storyline with a new plot and set of challenges the hero must overcome, ranging from an army of undead unicorns, robots, space battles and wormholes – plus a laser-shooting dinosaur, for good measure.

“The first album started as a standard story with comedic undertones where the hero saves the princess and defeats the wizard,” Michael said. “It eventually got more and more unhinged and wild as the years went on.”

Gloryhammer’s process begins with a “bucket of ideas” that each member and instrumentalist gradually contributes to. Over time they simply pick and choose from said metaphorical bucket, deciding what musical ideas work well together, and eventually meld them into song. Once the sonic side of the equation is solved, they continue to piece together the narrative.

“Depending on what’s going on with the song, what the mood of the song is, we’ll kind of brainstorm and say, ‘OK, wouldn’t it be fun if this happened and this happened,’” Michael said.

The band is currently in this process as they are writing their next album. Gloryhammer doesn’t quite have an exact timeframe on when the record will be released but are trying as hard as they can to make sure it happens sometime next year.

A taste of the record was released in May with the single, “On a Quest for Aberdeen,” which follows Angus McFife’s descendent, Angus McFife the Fifth, as he fights flying goblins during the search for the fortress of Aberdeen.

“We wanted to give it, not a generic kind of feel, but give the story a feel where it can fit anywhere on the album,” Michael said. “We’re still piecing together what happens around that song for what will eventually become the fifth album of Gloryhammer.”

Although Michael will quickly point out that, yes, the songs and ongoing storyline are quite comedic in nature, the investment in the narrative and its more serious moments can easily keep the listener on the edge of their seats.

“The big picture is always kind of ridiculous and over the top, but in moment to moment, it feels like, ‘Oh, this is life and death, what are the heroes going to do?’” Michael said. “But actually, the heroes are fighting a bunch of goblins on the moon.”

The story has led to quite the entertaining live show. Each band member incorporates their character while performing live, including costumes and certain stage choices. As lead singer and frontman, Michael receives the honor of performing as the hero Angus McFife himself.

Gloryhammer will be bringing their unique flair and live show to the Knitting Factory when they open for Alestorm and their own founder on Tuesday.

“It’s basically a very condensed, very intense Broadway musical experience where there’s people in costumes on stage and they are being very serious about very silly things while playing the craziest neo-classical, symphonic power metal you’ve ever heard,” Michael said.