Hammerfall is a Swedish power metal band assembled in 1993.

Biography

Hammerfall was formed when guitarist Oscar Dronjak quit Ceremonial Oath and asked Jesper Strömbland (from In Flames, also originally a member of Ceremonial Oath) to join him, in order for them to start a band which he had already been planning for some time. Songs such as Steel Meets Steel were already composed, for instance. They were later joined by guitarist Niklas Sundin, vocalist Mikael Stanne (from Dark Tranquillity) and bassist Johan Larsson. Both of the founders had also created parallel bands; the relatively unsucessful Crystal Age from Dronjak and the band which influenced much of Swedish melodic death metal, In Flames from Strömbland.

The band was much of a side project during a couple of years. They had few songs composed by them, and played mainly covers from bands such as Pretty Maids, Judas Priest and Alice Cooper. Eventually Glenn Ljungström (ex-In Flames) and Fredrik Larsson (from Crystal Age) joined the band to replace Niklas and Johan, who quit. They played mainly at a local music contest named Rockslaget.

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

A short live performace was recorded some time later and sent to Dutch label Vic Records. Soon, HammerFall got its first professional deal, and spent the whole of the following year writting the CD Glory to the Brave.

After the release of the CD the band had began its professional career, and their time for side-projects would become much more limited. Thus, the line-up of the band had to change, since Jesper and Glenn were heavily commited to In Flames and Fredrik had the trash metal band Beyond (now called None) as his main project. Patrik Räfling and Stefan Elmgren then assumed the guitars and Fredrik decided to remain on the band until a replacement for him could be found.

In early 1997 German label Nuclear Blast approached the band by the end end of that year and offered then a deal which included a Europe-wide release of four albums. After the deal with Nuclear Blast, HammerFall proceeded to record their first music videos: HammerFall and Glory To The Brave. A promotional single was also released.

In May, a replacement for Fredrik was finally found. Magnus Rosén (ex-Keegan ) assumed the bass, and thus completed the vintage formation of HammerFall.

The album proceeded to be released throughout Europe, and the results were unexpected, even after the heavy marketing campaing made by Nuclear Blast. The album reahed position number 38 on the German Music Chart on its first week, a feat which had never before been archieved by a debut metal album.

Several tours through the continent followed, with the band Raven , Gamma Ray, Jag Panzer and Lake of Tears. One of these shows - on Wacken Open Air - was performed to a crowd of over ten thousand fans.

Towards the end of 1997, Glory to the Brave was released to Japan and the USA, and sales of the album soon 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 helped them, in order to keep the same spirit 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 stuidio.

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

Line-up

• Joacim Cans - Vocals
• Oscar Dronjak - Guitar
• Stefan Elmgren - Guitar
• Magnus Rosén - Bass
• Anders Johansson - Drummer

Discography

Albums

• Glory to the Brave (1997)
• Legacy of Kings (1998)
• Renegade (2000)
• Crimson Thunder (2002)
• One Crimson Night (2003)
• Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken (2005)

Singles

• Blood Bound
• Hearts On Fire
• Always Will Be
• Renegade
• I Want Out
• Heeding The Call
• Glory To The Brave

External links

• HammerFall's official website