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One sunny morning in 2013, I arrived at my office to find the entire department clustered around a single screen. At first I thought they were laughing at some of my code like normal, but as I approached I heard the crashing chords of power metal guitars and the rich tones of melodic shouting. "Hey, come and see this!" My boss said. "My brother's joined a new band and they've just released their first song!" (his brother is the one who looks like a Viking warrior playing the bass guitar. I can't pretend I know him - I briefly met him at a party 3 years ago but was too starstruck to say hi, despite still being good mates with his brother) Now I confess, I'm more of an electronic music fan than a metalhead, I haven't really listened to much metal since the early 00's, and despite having been a huge Fear Factory fan BITD I haven't really listened to their stuff for ages. However, I completely fell in love with the Gloryhammer sound. It manages to be completely daft (like, say, Goldie Looking Chain) but also entirely dedicated to its own authenticity. It's silly and it knows it, but it never plays up to its own silliness. And it tells a great story. And, musically, it's brilliant, IMO. And it's accessible - I feel totally comfortable letting my 3yo daughter dance around it it while the videos are playing because there's no swearing, adult references or people without many clothes on. That said, I could easily listen to it and then forget about it. It was good, but didn't get extended playtime, until the first lockdown, and suddenly that uplifting, crazy and totally irrelevant story started to make sense. At the start of the pandemic, I said to my wife that we might see an increase in the fantasy genre across all forms of art, because the world has become so uncertain and so much realism art has lost its relevance. Fantasy exists in its own world where the pandemic doesn't apply, or where it's turned into something more tangible, like a war against good and evil. And here were Gloryhammer, giving me the escape that I needed. This year I have listened to their albums back-to-back and over-and-over while sitting at my desk, singing along to the crazy lyrics and imagining I'm a warrior in the Hootsforce battling the evil sorcerer Zargothrax for Angus McFife and the future of the galaxy. What relevance does this have to my SMT10 build? Well, firstly, because of how much this year has been defined and quite possibly saved by Gloryhammer, but also because the name fits perfectly with my other solid axle monster truck builds of 2020. First was Spellcaster, the TXT-1 named after an early PC text adventure game about wizards and magic; second was the TLT/Axial hybrid that I named Durandal, after a mythical magic sword. And third will be Gloryhammer, the monster truck that Angus McFife himself would drive. Assuming, of course, that Zargothrax challenged him to do battle in the Monster Jam arena. Now, I must confess, I have sort of jumped the gun (or, indeed, the magic hammer), because I wasn't going to post this until I had something useful to show, and all I've built so far is the axles. However my hand has been forced by some unfortunate Axial kit flaws, so I need to get started with a build thread so I can show my progress (or, rather, lack thereof). So - I don't have any graphics, colour scheme or much else to show yet - all I can reveal is that Gloryhammer will be running the JConcepts Ford Raptor 2010 body, Clod-size Tribute wheels and Firestorm tyres, as well as RH Designs 12.5" wheelbase conversion and sway bars, and will be set up in low-slung racing trim rather than tall monster crusher spec.