HammerFall: biography

        The foundation

    The band was formed by Oscar Dronjak and Jesper Strömblad in 1993, after they had quit the death metal act Ceremonial Oath. Since this idea had been existing in the mind of Oscar for a while, the name, general direction and some music (such as "Steel Meets Steel") were already there. Jesper and Oscar decided that HammerFall had to be forwarded on a project level, since both wanted to keep on with their other, freshly started, bands, In Flames and Crystal Age respectively. They enlisted the help of fellow metallers Niklas Sundin (guitar) and Mikael Stanne (vocals) of Dark Tranquillity, and Johan Larsson (bass guitar).

        The formative years

    The goal was to get together a couple of times each year, rehearsing to particitpate in the locar music competition called "Rockslaget". Time went on, and Niklas and Johan were replaced by Glenn Ljungström (In Flames) and Fredrik Larsson (Crystal Age). Apart from the HammerFall tunes "Steel Meets Steel" and "HammerFall", the band performed the Pretty Maids classic "Red, Hot and Heavy" as well as the Alice Cooper 1987 metal icon "Freedom".

        The turning point

    Fast forward to 1996. For the first time, HammerFall advanced to the semi-finals of "Rockslaget" with "Steel Meets Steel", "Unchained" and the Judas Priest anthem "Breaking The Law". Amidst the celebration, it was discovered that vocalist Mikael was going to be on tour with Dark Tranquillity at the time for the semi-finals. Hence, a new singer had to be brought in for this gig. After a bit of research, the name Joacim Cans came up. A phone call later, and they were in business. The cooperation with Joacim proved to be a success, and he was immediately sworn in as a permanent member of the HF clan. Though entering a strong performance in the competition, HammerFall never reached the finals; the band was edged out in the last minute by the judges, who perhaps feared the imminent and unavoidable rise of Heavy Metal once again to international prominence. However, a two-track live performance was recorded and sent on video tape to Roel van Reijmersdal of the Dutch label Vic Records. He marvelled over its contents and immediately offered HammerFall a deal. Consequently, the summer and fall of this, the olympic year, was spent writing, rehearsing and perfecting the soon-to-be debut album, already entitled "Glory To The Brave".

        The recording session

    The songs recorded during sixteen fabulous november days were: "The Metal Age", "Unchained", "HammerFall", "Child Of The Damned", "Steel Meets Steel", "The Dragon Lies Bleeding", "I Believe", "Stone Cold" and "Glory To The Brave". All are original HammerFall tracks except "Child Of The Damned", which was the band's tribute to the far too unnoticed metal masters Warlord. The lyrics deal with topics ranging from sword wielding warriors and the travelling of dimensions, to paying homage to Heavy Metal and the losing of beloved ones. They are designed to complement the music and at the same time tell a story; simply to entertain the listener.

        The rollercoaster ride begins

    In january of 1997, the German label Nuclear Blast approached Vic Records and HammerFall, showing great interest. This encounter resulted in a licensed release of their debut CD and a four-album deal for the band, starting with the next record. In order to be able to give HammerFall no less than 100 %, a few line-up changes became necessary. Jesper and Glenn decided to continue full time with In Flames, and they were replaced by Patrik Räfling (who actually plays the drums on the album) and Stefan Elmgren, both members of Joacim's previous band Highlander. Oscar's and Fredrik's Crystal Age had ceased to exist a long time ago, but Fredrik also had another commitment: the thrash metal group Beyond, now called None. He decided to stick around long enough for the HammerFall to find a replacement, though.

        The release preparations

    Nuclear Blast wanted to launch HammerFall heavily onto the world, and in order to do that, they needed a visual aspect beside the musical. Therefore, two videos were recorded in the beginning of May 1997, to the songs "HammerFall" and "Glory To The Brave". The making of the videos took place in and outside the small Swedish town Mora, and was created and supervised by Alfen Productions.

A promotion single with the tracks "Glory To The Brave" (radio/video edit), "HammerFall", "I Believe" and "The Dragon Lies Bleeding" was printed and distributed throughout the world. On the sleeve, it was falsely printed "Stone Cold" as the fourth song. This was a mistake, as the song appearing on the CD is in fact "The Dragon Lies Bleeding".

To do the music justice, the legendary great Andreas Marschall (Running Wild, Blind Guardian, U.D.O.) was asked to paint the full length album cover. He came up with the finished version a little over a week before his initial contact with the band, giving the HammerFall concept its finishing touches.

The month of May also saw the HammerFall line-up completed, when Magnus Rosén joined on bass guitar. He is most famous for his work with Billionaires Boys Club and Keegan. Magnus is an extremely skilled bass bender and has proven to be a valuable addition to the rhythm section. As hard as it seemed to be to replace Fredrik, the HammerFall line-up finally seems to be complete!

        Seeying the light

    Looking ahead, the future of HammerFall looks bright and promising. "Glory To The Brave" will be celebrated by a release party in Gothenburg, where the band will play on stage for the first time with the complete line-up. The month of July will be spent preparing for the upcoming Eurpoean tour together with Raven and Tank, by doing some minor shows in the Gothenburg area. This is designed to get to know each other on stage, and to perfect whatever problems that may arise. There is also talks of HammerFall opening for metal masters Gamma Ray in September. This tour is supposed to last four weeks and take the package through most of Europe.

Nuclear Blast America has decided to release the album in August. Also, an agreement has recently been reached with JVC to release "Glory To The Brave" in Japan. If the album does well over there, a tour of the orient is not out of the question.

        And Glory came...

    Finally in late 1998, HammerFall second's CD saw the light. It's called "Legacy of Kings" and it shows a great evolution of the band. Killer riffs combinated with melodic ballads shows that the band is in a great moment. The Heavy-Metal-Fans accepted this album with passion and the band got an important place in the difficult-climbing temple of the Heavy Metal. HammerFall has played in all the important metal festival, with big triumphs wherever they have discharged their music. In Europe's mos important festival, "Wacken Open Air", the audience turned crazy with them

        The Future

    A great future seems to came to HammerFall. They have recorded a CD-single with the guitar-god Kai Hansen and they are recording their third CD (I hope it to be at leat as good as the others). Time shall tell...