HammerFall

The band Hammerfall

HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band assembled in 1993.

Contents

4.1 Albums
4.2 Singles

5 External links

Biography

Hammerfall begun when guitarist Oscar Dronjak quit Ceremonial Oath and invited Jesper Strömbland (from In Flames, also originally a member of Ceremonial Oath) to join him on a new musical project, which he had been idealising for some time; he had already composed the song Steel Meets Steel, for instance. They were later joined by guitarist Niklas Sundin, vocalist Mikael Stanne (from Dark Tranquillity) and bassist Johan Larsson.

Both Dronjak and Strömbland took part in other bands at the time; the relatively unsuccessful Crystal Age from Dronjak and the band which to a great extent influenced Swedish melodic death metal, In Flames, from Strömbland. Thus, HammerFall was relegated to being a side project of them both for years. Their concerts were limited mostly to a local music contest named Rockslaget.

The band had few songs of their own, and played mostly covers from bands such as Pretty Maids, Judas Priest and Alice Cooper. On the early years of the band, Glenn Ljungström (ex-In Flames) and Fredrik Larsson (from Crystal Age) joined the band to replace Niklas Sundin and Johan Larsson, who quit.

In 1996, HammerFall reached the semi-finals of Rockslaget. However, it was soon found that vocalist Mikael Stanne was not going to be able to perform with the band on the semi-finals, hence they began the search for a replacement. Through common friends, they got in contact with Joacim Cans, who agreed to play with them for the night. The concert was a success, despite the fact that judges didn't qualify HammerFall for the finals. By the end of that day, Joacim had already been made an official members of the band.

In order to give more exposure to their work and try for a professional recording deal, a short live performance was recorded and sent to Dutch label Vic Records. The musicians soon received a deal, and spent the whole of the following year writing the album Glory to the Brave. The album was initially released in the Netherlands and obtained positive feedback; it is also worthy of notice that the band's mascot - the knight Hector - first appeared on the cover of this album.

As HammerFall grew, the time available for members of the band to dedicate to other projects became limited. Jesper and Glenn were committed to In Flames and Fredrik was committed to the thrash metal band Beyond, thus the band's line-up soon underwent changes. Stefan Elmgren and Patrik Räfling assumed the guitars, and Fredrik decided to remain in the band until a replacement for him was found. This happened in May of the following year, when bassist Magnus Rosén joined the band.

In early 1997, German label Nuclear Blast approached HammerFall with a contract for an European release deal which included four albums. The deal was accepted and the band proceeded to record their first two music videos - HammerFall and Glory to the Brave. After the release of a promotional single, the album was released throughout Europe. The results were quite unexpected, even after the intense marketing campaign made by Nuclear Blast. The album reached position number 38 on the German Music Chart on the week of its release, something which had never before been achieved by a debut heavy metal music album.

Siding with bands Gamma Ray, Jag Panzer, Lake of Tears and Raven, several tours through the European continent ensued. The concert on Wacken Open Air was performed to a crowd of over ten thousand people.

Towards the end of 1997, Glory to the Brave was released on Japan and the USA. Sales of the album reached a hundred thousand copies. HammerFall was also indicated for the Swedish Grammy award, on the Best Hard Rock act category.

In February of 1998, the recording of Legacy of Kings began. This album was once more written by Joacim, Oscar and Jesper, who despite having quit the band still took part in the proccess, in order to keep the same general mood of their first album. The album was produced by Fredrik Nordström (from Dream Evil) and Oscar, with the help of Joacim. The band took a total of a month and half on studio.

HammerFall made some expressive concerts before the release of Legacy of Kings, playing in festivals together with bands such as Alice Cooper, Rammstein, Deep Purple, Dream Theatre, Saxon and Stratovarius.

Their first world tour took place in October of 1998. During the shows in Sweden, Joacim Cans caught a serious throat infection, which made it impossible for him to sing. Shortly afterwards, Magnus Rosén was afflicted by the same disease, and after him the whole of HammerFall's support crew became sick. The members of the band played for as long as possible, and then were forced to postpone or cancel a few dates. During their passage through South America, Hammerfall took a short break to visit the Brazilian beaches, but soon resumed their tour.

By the end of that tour, drummer Patrik Räfling left the band, and Anders Johansson - a friend of Magnus Rosén - joined as a touring musician. In the beggining of 1999 he was made into a permanent member of the band. Anders had previously worked with guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen on Rising Force and on a number of other projects; he is the brother of Jens Johansson from Stratovarius.

After a long series of concerts, the band returned to Sweden in order to spend time with their families and begin writing songs for their next album. HammerFall made arrangements for this album to be recorded by Michael Wagener, who had previously produced bands such as Accept, Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne. The recording took eight weeks, and the album was entitled Renegade. The switch from producer Fredrik Nordström to Wagener was met with skepticism from the media in general. However, after the release, critics were mostly positive, even though there was a consensus that the band's sound was remarkably different. A music video was created for the song Renegade, and reached the top of the Swedish parade; the same soon happened with the album itself, which reached gold status, with over forty thousand copies sold.

The band's second world tour began in January of 2001. Concerts from this tour counted with a replica version of the album's cover on stage, which was set up as a castle in ruins, from which the musicians entered the stage. In total, the tour included close to sixty shows.

The band then began producing a DVD entitled The Templar Renegade Crusades, which included video footage from recording sessions, live concerts, tour backstages and encounters with fans. The footage ranged from the recording sessions of Legacy of Kings' to the gold album party which took place in November of 2001.

Preparations for their fourth album - Crimson Thunder - began, and arrangements were made for recording sessions to take place in both JM Studios, from Charlie Bauerfeind and on studios Wisseloord - in the Netherlands, for the drums - and studios Blind Guardian - in Germany, for the bass.

By the end of the recording sessions - 2002 - a listening session for the press was held. The reactions were overall quite positive, and most seemed to perceive the album as a change for the better from Renegade. A single for the song Hearts on Fire was released six weeks prior to the album's release and remained for weeks on the number one spot on the parades of some European countries.

The recording of a music video for the song Hearts on Fire was scheduled for August of that year, but the band's plans had to be held back for a week. This was due to the fact that one night, while Joacim was drinking with his girlfriend in a rock club he had been frequenting for over a decade, he was attacked by an unidentified person who hit him in the the head with a beer glass and hastly escaped. Joacim became instantly unconscious and had to be taken to a hospital, in which he underwent plastic surgery and rested for a couple of days. As soon as it became medically possible, he joined the band to record the music video.

In order to promote the release of the band's album in North America, touring with Dio ensued during November and December of 2002. Subsequently, the manager of the band disappeared taking the entirety of the tour's revenue with him. The tour, however, was very successful, and afterwards went to Europe. Changes were made to the band's stage setting, and many investiments were made on fireworks and on the presence of the mascot Hector on stage. The scenery of the cover from the single Hearts on Fire was also reproduced and added to the performaces. The tour progressed to Japan and then to South America, the band's favourite region for touring. HammerFall was present on festivals in Germnay, Spain and the Czech Republic, playing with bands such as Iron Maiden, Slayer, Twisted Sister, U.D.O. and Stratovarius.

HammerFall's tour was brought to a sudden end, when Oscar Dronjak suffered a motorcycle accident, breaking his left arm and sustaining several minor injuries.

They were then left with little choice choice other than that of taking a break. Joacim began work on his solo album and had his first child, Stefan dedicated himself to getting a pilot license, Magnus and Anders continued working on their side projects and Oscar simply focused on recovering. Together with a group of specialists, he was able to recover to his full capacities. He then joined Anders, Joacim, Stefan, bands Helloween, Gamma Ray and Pretty Maids - amongst others - and played in the celebration of the 20 years of the German rock club Rockfabrik.

The compilation album and DVD One Cimson Night was released in February of 2003, and after two years of hiatus the band released Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken, which was followed by an European and American tour.