Kalapács is the third band of legendary Hungarian heavy metal singer József Kalapács. He formed the band with guitarist Lajos Sárközi after both of them left Omen, much like Kalapács had originally formed that band with László Nagyfi after both of them had left Pokolgép. While both Pokolgép and Omen had gotten better after his departure, József Kalapács finally found the band that works best with his rough-edged, battle-hardened voice here. They needed a few albums to find their sound, eventually settling on a nice mix of early Priesty traditional heavy metal with shades of contemporary power metal.

Unlike most bands that carry the name of one band member, Kalapács is actually a real band, having had the same line-up since 2000, only adding third guitarist Máté Nagy to the ranks recently while Sárközi was battling health issues. Also, the band members all contribute to the songwriting, their signature styles all bringing a different set of pieces to the puzzle that is the Kalapács sound. The recommended tracks will reveal that I have a fairly strong preference for Sárközi’s melodically strong contributions, but the sheer volume of quality material coming from drummer Zsolt Beloberk is nothing short of admirable.

Out of all the bands covered in Tools for Discovery, Kalapács might just be the one with the most obvious turning point in terms of the quality of its discography. While none of the Kalapács releases are outright bad, their earliest albums tend to be overlong and stuck in a samey mid-tempo rut, though the best songs often make them somewhat worthwhile. It isn’t until the band started adding touches of power metal to their straightforward Priest-meets-Accept style around 2008’s ‘Mitosz’ that Kalapács really hits its stride.

13. Az Első Merénylet (2000)

Even though ‘Az Első Merénylet’ is technically the band’s debut, it’s not really a Kalapács release like the others. Sure, the album cover carries the band logo and József Kalapács sings on it, but what it really is, is a collection of re-recorded songs from his days fronting Pokolgép, recorded with what was essentially the full line-up of Ossian. There were two sides to the early Pokolgép material, and the notably more boring mid-tempo side is unfortunately very well-represented on ‘Az Első Merénylet’. Sometimes the material sounds really good, until it doesn’t, and then the album becomes a bit of a slog to get through. It’s not just the lack of variation in tempos – though the faster songs do bring a bit of relief – it’s also that nearly everything is in the same key. Not the most entertaining album.

Recommended tracks: ‘Gladiátorok’, ‘Sebességláz’, ‘Maszk’

12. Totem (2003)

Plenty of bands would kill for an album as good as ‘Totem’, but once you know what Kalapács is capable of, it becomes mildly disappointing. József Kalapács hadn’t quite gotten rid of the AC/DC as viewed through the lens of Judas Priest and Accept sound that he had been pursuing since his earliest days in Pokolgép yet. That was always the least interesting part of that band, and it is once again here. ‘Totem’ is enjoyable enough, but it takes until the eighth track before there finally is a song that I would classify as more than simply good. The album just can’t seem to get out of the mid-tempo rut it gets stuck in fairly early on, and the band didn’t quite have the melodic sophistication yet to keep that interesting for a full fifty minutes.

Recommended tracks: ‘Nyomom a Gázt’, ‘Bűnöm a Rock’, ‘Őszintén’

11. Életreítélt (2006)

Part of me wants to like ‘Életreítélt’ more than I actually do. The melodic touches in the first two songs initially give the impression that the band had learned from the mistakes of its predecessors by at least adding some melodic variation to a largely mid-tempo collection of songs. It’s just sad to see how quickly they unlearn that very same lesson. For an album this long – ‘Életreítélt’ is fifty-six minutes long, though it feels substantially longer – there simply isn’t enough variation. Even slightly changing the song order could already have done wonders, as the two songs that most overtly deviate from the norm – the power ballad ‘Igaz Úton Járj’ and the speedy headbanger ‘Én Arkatam Így’ – appear back-to-back. The album’s back half is considerably better than its first half, but as a whole, it plods along at a samey tempo far too long.

Recommended tracks: ‘Én Arkatam Így’, ‘Mindig Lázadó’, ‘Utolsó Járat a Pokol Felé’

10. Keresztes Háború (2005)

Upon first listen, I thought ‘Keresztes Háború’ corrects a lot of the mistakes of its predecessor ‘Totem’. The production is a little tighter, the peaks are higher, and there is notably more variation here. Having said that, the two faster songs – opener ‘Megszállott’ and ‘Önmagad Vagy’ – and two unexpectedly great ballads – the strong power ballad ‘Idöd Lejár’ and the mostly acoustic closing track ‘Nem Ereszthet el Már’ – are doing a lot of the heavy lifting there. The remaining thirty-five or so minutes are mainly taken up by samey mid-tempo tracks. Again, it’s better than ‘Totem’, because there is more quality riffing, and those into mid-eighties Accept may find something to enjoy here, but to my ears, it’s too much ‘Balls to the Wall’ and not enough ‘Fast as a Shark’.

Recommended tracks: ‘Megszállott’, ‘Nem Ereszthet el Már’, ‘Idöd Lejár’

9. Ösztön (2002)

It truly is remarkable how much better the first proper Kalapács album succeeds at what the following three albums tried to do. ‘Ösztön’ isn’t even that much different, as it also mainly consists of mid-tempo heavy metal that sounds as if it came straight from the pre-power metal era. It just does a few subtle things differently, and they make a big difference. First off, there is much more variation in the tempos of the mid-paced songs, proving for once that there isn’t just one moderate tempo. Secondly, even the Priest-inspired meat-and-potatoes stuff is more melodically sophisticated. The album isn’t flawless; at over an hour, it is far too long, and three of the last four songs could have been cut. But it is quite telling that it doesn’t feel as long as the three – shorter – albums that followed.

Recommended tracks: ‘Nem Az a Harc’, ‘A Hold és a Nap’, ‘Lángolj!’

8. Kalapács (1996)

Technically, ‘Kalapács’ pre-dates the band by a few years, and it is very clear that apart from József Kalapács, this is not the same band. But the Kalapács name is on the cover, so it’s here. The singer tries his hand at a style of hard rock akin to what Aerosmith, Guns ‘n’ Roses and Whitesnake did around 1990, with a few hints of later nineties alternative rock. The album contains a few awkward productional choices, and the drums are so obviously programmed that you cannot un-hear it, but ‘Kalapács’ is chock-full of the variation that the early Kalapács – the band – stuff and the Omen albums released around that time sorely lack. With actual horns instead of the canned ones and a proper drummer, this fun hard rock album could have even been one or two spots higher.

Recommended tracks: ‘Ne Várj!’, ‘Hello, Kösz a Cirkuszt’, ‘Trágária’

7. Mítosz (2008)

‘Mítosz’ is the first Kalapács album that is better than just good. Maybe it helps that the album has an overarching theme, that being Hungarian history and folktales. What is more relevant to the sound of the album, however, is the fact that the band leans much heavier into the power metal aspects of their sound than before. It gives Kalapács as a whole a more contemporary, energetic style, and it frankly makes József Kalapács sound better than he ever has. ‘Mítosz’ is not perfect. It takes a little too long to get going, and really, it takes too long in general. An hour is excessive for heavy metal this straightforward. There is a lot of music to enjoy within that hour, though, and the album is the first step toward finding the signature Kalapács sound.

Recommended tracks: ‘Ősi Törvény’, ‘Csatadal’, ‘A Sólymok Fészke’

6. Örökfekete (2018)

After the somewhat theatrical ‘Enigma’, ‘Örökfekete’ is largely a more conventional Kalapács album, focusing on uncomplicated riffs and catchy songs first and foremost. If there is something like a median Kalapács album, this one would probably be it. One thing I like a lot about ‘Örökfekete’ is the relatively large number of guitar harmonies; I’m not sure if there is any Kalapács album that has quite as many of them. This is always a welcome development, but the songs that house them largely are just short of catching fire. Possibly, this is because nearly the entire album consists of mid-tempo stompers. One or two faster monsters or an additional ballad – the acoustic closer ‘Ha Kevés Minden Szó’ is actually really good – could have improved the album. As it stands, though, ‘Örökfekete’ is just an enjoyable mid-tier Kalapács release.

Recommended tracks: ‘A Sötét Oldal’, ‘Jekyll és Hyde’, ‘Jó Legyen’

5. Ezerből Egy (2025)

The one album that Lajos Sárközi could not contribute to due to health issues is quite good, but the melodic depth of his songwriting contributions is definitely missed here. Fortunately, the rest of the band has stepped up its songwriting game, guitarist László Weisz and drummer Szolt Beloberk in particular. The old school, scorching speed metal of the title track is one of the better Kalapács tracks in that particular style. ‘Ezerből Egy’ also has somewhat better pacing than the average Kalapács album, though the very dry production, which puts József Kalapács’ vocals front and center and then some, hurts the album a little. All in all, an admirable, workmanlike effort that many other veteran bands – including a few that are clear inspirations for the band – can learn a lesson or two from.

Recommended tracks: ‘Ezerből Egy’, ‘Útvesztő’, ‘Számüzött’

4. Enigma (2015)

When I first heard ‘Enigma’, it didn’t connect with me at all. Admittedly, going in with the wrong expectations was part of the problem. ‘Enigma’ opts for a slightly more dramatic approach in the songwriting, at the cost of the immediacy that Kalapács usually goes for. The difference is quite subtle, and the album is clearly the work of the same band that released the previous few albums, but it does take a little longer to get into ‘Enigma’. The album doesn’t have highlights as obvious as on most Kalapács albums, but it’s also a bit more consistent as a full listening experience. Lajos Sárközi’s two compositions are absolute masterpieces though. One thing I can’t get over, however, is how much the chorus of the otherwise great ‘Várlak Téged’ sounds like Omen’s ‘Könnyű Szívvel’.

Recommended tracks: ‘Özönvíz’, ‘Enigma’, ‘A Játék, Ha Véget Ér’

3. Világvégre (2020)

‘Világvégre’ adds some much-needed variation to the ‘Örökfekete’ sound, and it ends up being a much better album for it. Compositionally, this is without a doubt one of the greatest Kalapács albums thus far, possibly outshining the next entry. Most of the album’s best material features a slightly more contemporary power metal approach, and in order to fully reach its potential, a production fitting that style would have been desirable. As it stands, the sound is unimaginably dry sometimes, with Zsolt Beloberk’s drums occasionally sounding like a bunch of cardboard boxes. Also, the first three songs are so incredibly good that the songs that follow immediately simply sound weaker by comparison. It does pick up significantly near the end, however, and as a collection of songs, ‘Világvégre’ is genuinely one of the finest works of József Kalapács’ entire career.

Recommended tracks: ‘Nem Adom Alább’, ‘Így Akarom’, ‘Gyönyörű Világ’

2. Poklok és Mennyek Között (2012)

Following up one of the greatest Kalapács albums – spoiler alert – comes with certain expectations, but I think ‘Poklok és Mennyek Között’ does quite a good job at meeting them. It’s not quite as good as good as its predecessor, but that is mainly a case of that album having higher peaks. ‘Poklok és Mennyek Között’ follows a similarly contemporary heavy/power metal sound with a thick bottom end, and the songwriting is great across the board. The overall style is slightly reminiscent of something Brainstorm would do, but Kalapács delivers a more varied and consistently memorable set of riffs and songs than the Germans here. It also just sounds powerful because ‘Poklok és Mennyek Között’ was the best-produced Kalapács album up until that point. Everything sounds clear and boomy, as if the instruments explode out of the speakers.

Recommended tracks: ‘Adrenalin Kvíz’, ‘Ami Igazán Mélyröl Fakad’, ‘Nem Lehetek Eladó’

1. Apokalipszis (2009)

When an album starts with arguably the two best songs you have ever recorded, there is a risk that the rest of the rest feels like a bit of a letdown. That is not what happens on ‘Apokalipszis‘. It takes the careful flirtations with power metal that first appeared on ‘Mitosz’ and blends them perfectly with the more traditional heavy metal leanings of the earlier Kalapács albums. The result is something so melodically varied that even the mid-tempo tracks, which often hold the band back a bit, are great. Even the ballad ‘Kósza Vér’ is one of the better ones József Kalapács ever sang on, possibly the best altogether. ‘Apokalipszis’ just moves from strength to strength, with every song having a few highly memorable moments, and none have me reaching for the skip button. Ever. Genuinely the most consistently fantastic album with József Kalapács on vocals.

Recommended tracks: ‘Sohase Vár’, ‘Mutáns Vagyok’, ‘Gyilkos Tánc’