Former members, and other stuff:
Joacim Cans - Lead vocals Name: Anders Joacim Cans Born: 1970 Height: 185 cm, 6'1ft Function in the band: Lead vocals, songwriter Best records: Demon - "The unexpected guest", Riot - "Fire down under" , Warlord - "Canons of Destruction" Best Movies: The Evil Dead Trilogy and Jean de Florette Authors: John Fante, Charles Bukowski, Nicolas Luard Influences: As a vocalist: Geoff Tate, Eric Adams, Max Bacon As a songwriter: Dave Hill and Malcolm Spooner Occupations besides music: Not much at all, at day he works in a record store and the at night he works with the band. Some unsucessful tries to do some workout, but the time is scarce. If he ever gets some spare time, he goes to the movies, goes for a beer or spends some time with his nephews. Family: Single Favourite drink: Milk and Coke Favourite food: China food, pizza and poultry. Philosophy of life: Nothing is impossible if the will is strong enough! and Why let it wait until tomorrow, if you can do it today! Some musical history: Joacim started to take the singing seriously in 1991, when he and two members of the band Luciferon started the band Highlander. They played true HeavySpeedPower Metal and put a lot of emphasis on the live shows. In 1993, Joacim moved to Hollywood and studied vocals at the Misician's Institute. He studied together with Jeff Scott Soto and Mike Campbell. In 1995 he joined the band Mrs. Hippie and recorded a track to a Kiss tribute CD. That band split up and Joacim joined Hammerfall. Nowadays he considers that he enjoys challanges. He writes everything from Metal to Swedish pop music. Some personal history: Joacim was born in Sweden, more precisely Mora, and lived there for the first 14 years of his life. In 1984 he moved to the (almost) beautiful city of Gothenburg, where you can still find him today. Before he discovered his musical talents he was in the National Swimming Team of Sweden. When he marginally failed to be selected to the European championships, de decided to do somenthing completely different. He has had many various jobs, teacher substitute and waiter are some to be mentioned. What Joacim wishes to do in 10 years time: Living at the countryside together with "the love of his life", breeding kids, writing music and enjoing life. Magnus Rosén - Bass Guitar Name: Klas Magnus Rosén Year of birth: 1963 Height: 179 Instrument: Bass and backing vocals Fave record(s): There are so many good records that have been released...Hard to pick one. Fave movie: Pink Panther, Falty Towers Fave author: Ef Schumacher Influences: None directly. But all music influenced Magnus in some way Currently the best record: None right now Other than music: Magnus hangs out on caffées, thinks a lot, talks on the phone etc... Family: Single Fave drink: Coffee Fave food: Swedish and Japanese food, however, no raw sushi Motto: Personal and spiritual development Musical history: Magnus recorded his first record when he was 16 and after that he has recorded everything from 50s-influenced and Funk to Heavy Metal. He has done the most differentiated projects, everything from playing as a trubadour in a small hotel to travelling to Paris with an American vocalist and doing TV-shows while living in a Castle, enjoying the aristochrat life. He has been playing in quite a few bands like Billionaires Boy's Club, Keegan, Spotnics, Von Rosen, Kung Sune and many more. He has worked with a lot of skillfull musicians as for example Mark Boals, Anders Johansson and Jörg Fischer. Now he is the new bass player in HammerFall since a couple of weeks, replacing Fredrik Larsson. Ten yeas from now: He will play so his fingers bleed.(literarly) Oscar Dronjak - Guitars, backing vocals Name: Oscar Fredrick Dronjak Year of birth: 1972 Height: 192 (without high heels) Instrument: Guitar, backing vocals Fave record(s): Judas Priest "Painkiller", Europe "Out Of This World" and everything with Udo Dirkschneider on vocals. Fave movie: The Punisher, Blazing Saddles, Jurassic Park Fave author: Stephen King and Dean R. Koontz. Influences: Playingwise, I admire Wolf Hoffman, who probably is the best guitar player/song writer I know. Others include Randy Rhodes, Yngwie Malmsteen and Ritchie Blackmore. As for the songwriting, I lean heavily on the heavy, bombastic avalanche of Accept/U.D.O. and majestic riffing of Helloween, Judas Priest and Stormwitch. Currently the best record: Nothing in my collection ever gets old! Other than music: Professional wrestling! Preferably the World Wresting Federation, but ECW and WCW will suffice as well! A couple of years ago, I published a wrestling fanzine here in Sweden called "Wrestlingens Giganter". I kept it up for a year, and it was a lot of fun! Apart from wrestling, which in all honesty doesn’t occupy much of my time, I like to watch television and partying with my friends. Being able to be outdoors in the summer is also very dear to me. Family: Single Fave drink: Marinella/Cider (1/3 Marinella, 2/3 Cider) Yummee! Fave food: Burgers and fries Motto: Always do what feels right to YOU! Live your life to the max! I’d hate to grow old and have nothing to show from my years on earth. But most important of all: strive to be content with yourself! In the end, that’s all that matters! Musical history:Started guitar playing at the age of fourteen, and shortly thereafter put together my first band, the Hippie Killers! Moved on to Striker, playing heavy metal covers mixed with my first experience with writing songs (naturally in the same vein). Founded death metal act Desecrator, later Ceremonial Oath, where I functioned as song writer, vocalist and part time lead guitarist. Recorded one album, the conceptual "The Book Of Truth", but quit the band due to musical differences before it was released. The early stages of HammerFall then saw the dawn of light. Shortly thereafter, I broke my right arm playing soccer. When I had recovered, a new death metal experience was waiting for me, by the name of Crystal Age. Crystal Age took off well for a start, including a mini-tour in Poland, an appearance on the Metallica tribute album "Metal Militia", and a full length record deal. "Far Beyond Divine Horizons", another concept album, was recorded in April of 1995, but not released until the fall of 1996, due to reasons beyond our control. By then, the interest among us was long since gone, and HammerFall was in full swing. The band quickly dissolved. Life history: Born and raised in Mölndal, a town just outside of Gothenburg. Still reside there, but not for very long. Worked as a number of things, most recently as a teacher on a college level. Taken courses in history, archeology and the ancient Greek and Roman cultures at Göteborgs Universitet for some years. This is probably where I’ll return when I stop playing (which won’t be for a LONG while!). Ten years from now: I have no idea what I’ll be doing, but I know one thing; I will be content with my life and what I have achived! Stefan Elmgren - Guitars Name: Stefan Elmgren Year of birth: 1974 Height: 172 Instrument: Guitars Fave record(s): Everything that Iron Maiden has done between "The Number of the Beast" and "Seventh son of a Seventh son. Fave movie: Aliens II Fave author:Walt Disney Influences: Yngwie Malmsteen and Gary Moore Currently the best record: Helloween's "The Time of the Oath" and some techno stuff Other than music: Music takes all Stefan's time Family: Single Fave drink: Cider Fave food: Pizza Motto: Be satisfied with your job, earn money the way you enjoy it most! Musical history: Started guitar playing at the age of thirteen. At the age of 18, Stefan moved to Hollywood where he studied at the G.I.T.(Guitar Institute of Technology). There he had the great opportunities to play together with band members from Yngwie Malmsteen's band, MSG e.t.c. In 1995 he moved back to Sweden and started to play with Joacim Cans in the band Highlander. Highlander broke up and at the turn of the year 96-97 Stefan started to play in HammerFall. Ten yeas from now: Stefan will travel all over the world and playing shows at big Arenas with HammerFall. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Interview from The KOFFIN #21 (1997) *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- And now for our interview with HAMMERFALL's Oscar Dronjak..... THE KOFFIN: What inspired you guys to record the awesome "Glory to the Brave" album? OSCAR DRONJAK: We're all major fans of this music and that's why we chose to start playing in the first place. I have no answer for why the result became as it is. We just did the best we could. TK: You just finished a tour with Gamma Ray and Jag Panzer. How did that go? OD: I think that went well beyond our expectations. It was absolutely amazing. On some nights, the audiences were singing along, not only in the choruses but in the verses. They knew everything better than we did, almost. That was absolutely great. TK: And did you get along well personally with the other bands? OD: Yeah. We shared the bus with Jag Panzer. They were absolutely great guys, so that went very well. Not even one single [negative] thing happened during the four weeks that we shared the bus with them. When you're on tour, you live people for the whole day, almost 24 hours a day. I was expecting that something would happen, with people arguing or whatever, but not one thing happened. I had the time of my life, actually. TK: Is there going to be more touring for this album? OD: We're planning to go with Venom and Overkill and some other bands in December of this year. Then we're planning to maybe do some smaller shows on our own in Belgium or Holland or something. We didn't go there much on the last tour. TK: On the tour that you just finished, what was your set like? OD: We had 40 minutes. Out of the nine songs from the album, we had to cut two, "Stone Cold" and "I Believe". We cut "I Believe" naturally because we played the other ballad. TK: What exactly are the connections between HammerFall and In Flames, and I guess in the past there was a connection to Dark Tranquillity. And you've got guys who are in In Flames, how does that work out? OD: Well, this is kind of complicated, but from this year on it's not very complicated anymore. We started out in 93 as a project. I was sort of the instigator, along with Jesper [Stromblad] from In Flames. He brought along the bass player at that time, and we had two members from Dark Tranquillity as well. As it was a project, we didn't spend much time doing stuff. I wrote a couple of songs, and we played live once a year. TK: When you say "project", you mean it was just for fun? OD: Yeah, because everybody was major heavy metal fans. We wanted to do something with it. Then as the years went on, we had to shift singers. We had Mikael Stanne from Dark Tranquillity on vocals for a long time. When he couldn't appear for a show because they were on tour somewhere, we had to draft in somebody just for that show. As I said, it still wasn't that serious. And we found this guy who is singing with us now, Joacim [Cans], and everything just clicked instantly. TK: Where did you find him? He's amazing. OD: I don't know really. He's been singing on and off for five years or something here in the Gothenburg scene. He hadn't done anything like recorded an album or something like that. This was his first album. So I don't really know. He's just been around. I didn't know him from before. I met him for the first time in April of last year. TK: And he doesn't sound like anybody else. A lot of singers in this genre sound like Michael Kiske or Geoff Tate, but Joacim has his own style and fits your music perfectly. OD: OK, he's going to be very glad to hear that. Yesterday I got a letter from a Swedish fan who asked me if I had any comment because he thought Joacim sounded exactly like the singer from Stratovarius. TK: No, I don't think so. OD: I don't think so either. They're good singers, both of them, though. TK: I wanted to ask you about your Warlord cover. What made you decide to put "Child of the Damned" on the album? It's great! OD: Well, we had two reasons for that. The first reason was that we wanted another song, and "Child of the Damned" fit the HammerFall style very well. Also, it's a tremendous song, it's incredibly good. And the second reason was, since we wanted to make a cover of something, we wanted to do a cover of a band that we really loved. So we decided to do sort of a tribute to Warlord. I don't know how well known they were in the 80s in America, but here in Sweden they were . . . well, there's not very many people that know about them. TK: Yeah, they were always a cult thing here too. OD: That's the same thing. Since we got so much joy out of listening to their music, we wanted to pay something back or whatever. We did whatever we could, and that was record one of their songs. TK: How did you guys get hooked up with Nuclear Blast? OD: We had a deal with a small Dutch label called Vic Records. They were also responsible for releasing my other band, Crystal Age, way back. So that's why I got the connection with him. He wanted to release HammerFall, so we signed a contract with him and recorded the album. Jesper and In Flames were on tour right after we recorded the album, and they gave the tape to somebody in Nuclear Blast. Eventually, it found its way up to the boss, who called us. That's how the connection got started. TK: They seem like a real up and coming label. They seem to have a lot of good bands and to be doing a good job, at least in the States, of getting CDs in stores. OD: Well, that's very good to hear. Because I was kind of afraid that our CD would be very hard to find in the States. TK: No, it isn't. I can go to four or five record stores in the city where I live and see copies of the HammerFall CD on the shelves. OD: That's very good then. TK: The Gothenburg scene. Everybody talks about the melodic death metal bands there: In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and I guess At the Gates were part of that scene as well. Is there much of a power metal scene there? Are there other bands like HammerFall there? OD: No, the thing is that the bands you mentioned are still very strong here. There are very few shows -- I think there was one during the last year or maybe two -- very few shows with any kind of metal music whatsoever. But those bands are the most known bands, so to speak. HammerFall is probably one of the few power/heavy metal bands in Sweden that gets some kind of recognition. TK: Yeah, you guys sound like you're more out of the German power metal tradition than the Swedish tradition. OD: (laughs) Yeah, that's where we get our main influences, from the German scene. Seven or eight of ten bands that we really like and listen to are from Germany. TK: How did the cover art come about? OD: We had another artwork at first which, as I said the album was going to be released on Vic Records, so we made a very simple cover for that release. Then Nuclear Blast wanted to license it and they said they couldn't use that cover because it wasn't good enough, so we had to have a painted cover. I talked to Marschall, the artist, myself and I said that we wanted some sort of knight or a warrior that could symbolize HammerFall, and we wanted it to be in the medieval sort of fantasy setting. He did the rest. TK: It doesn't say on the CD who produced it. Did the band produce it yourselves? OD: Yeah, we did, together with the owner of the studio. I'm satisfied with the sound of the production of it all, but some people have said that it's good, but that it could be much better. We'll have it much better on the next album, of course. I don't know really. I think it boils down to this. We knew what we wanted to have in the end. Everybody had recorded albums before, or almost everybody. That's one of the major reasons that the sound became as we wanted it. TK: Why does Jesper play drums? OD: We didn't have a drummer when we started the band. That's the only reason. He's not actually playing the drums on the album. It says "extra credits" or something at the end, and the name is Patrick Rafling, he's doing all the drums on the album. He's also a member -- yeah, I have to point out something which I forgot earlier. Even though we had In Flames members when we recorded the album, we wanted to have everybody commit 100% to HammerFall. They didn't want to do that, Jesper and Glenn [Ljungstrom, guitars] and Fredrik [Larsson, bass]. So that left Joacim and me left to find new members for them. So from April or May on, HammerFall is a total HammerFall band, if you know what I mean. We don't have any other side projects or anything, because that would be impossible. TK: Oh, really? So there are new members? OD: Yes. On the album, Patrick Rafling, as I said, played the drums, and he is now the drummer of the band since then. We replaced the guitarist with Stefan Elmgren, he's also mentioned in the book. And we have a new bass player as well. He's a little bit older than us, and he's done a lot of different stuff. He's been in the U.S. for a couple of years, stuff like that. His most famous thing is the Billionaire's Boys Club. TK: So everybody now is 100% HammerFall? OD: Yes, we wouldn't and we couldn't have it any other way because so much is happening now. We have to be able to say that everybody can do this or that at that time without asking them first if they have any previous engagements, or whatever. So that's very good. We are a real band, so to speak. TK: Have you started writing songs for a new album? What's next for you guys? OD: Well, we have a couple of songs. The next thing we're going to do is get into the songwriting more. A couple songs are always in progress. You know, you find a riff or lick or whatever and start putting stuff together and you have half a song, but it's never finished. So that's what we're going to do now, to finish the songs we have and write some new ones in order to be able to record the new album, not soon, but maybe May or something like that of next year. That's what we are aiming for right now, anyway. TK: That gives me something to look forward to. How do you respond to people who say that music like what you play is 80s music or its dated music, its music from the past? OD: If they say that, well, they can think whatever they want. If they think that, then I don't care about their opinion because they're not important to me then. We're just doing something that we really love. We're playing the music that for us is the only music to play and it's as simple as that. If people love it, great, if they don't, I don't care. TK: Is there anything else that we haven't covered that you'd like to say to readers of TheKoffin? OD: If people are looking for a heavy metal band or a power metal band that play music from their hearts and with melody -- because that's what I think is lacking in today's music, a lot of melody -- then I think they're going to like HammerFall. We stand up for what we believe in, anyway. We deserve to be checked out at least. You don't have to like us. ~Interview by Kit Ekman~ -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Here's an interview with Joacim Cans that has been made by me and the questions are by Christos T. Vlamis from the Greek metal magazine Seventh Sign. Thanks brother! ------------------------------------------- Seventh Sign: -Your debut album has been out in stores for almost one and a half month > now. How have the press and the metal fans reacted with this release? > Joacim: The album was released the 26:th of june, and in it´s short existens there have been great respons from both fans and the press. We got the 38:th possition on the German chart after 2 weeks of sales (right now 53), that´s the best chart entry a metalband ever have had with it´s debut album. All the reviews in european press have been great, exept for the Brittish.(Terrorizer not included) I´m very surprised that there are so many true metallers out there that love this true form of metal. SS: Hammerfall is rather a new band. Could you tell me a few things about its history? J: In 1993 Oscar Dronjak and Jesper Strömblad started HammerFall as a project beside their "real" bands. They got together once a year to contribute at a local music competition. Since the beginning there´ve been some member changes due to commitments in other bands like In Flames, Dark Tranquillity and Crystal Age. In 1996 HammerFall reached the semi-finals at the competition and needed a replacement for the vocalist, at that time Michael Stanne (Dark Tranq..), that had to go on tour with his band. I was called in, and since that day i´ve been true to the Templars of HammerFall. The gig was recorded on video and sent to VIC Records in Holland who offered us a deal for the soon to be recorded "Glory to the brave"album. So Jesper, Oscar and myself spent the whole summer of 1996 writing songs for our debut album. We spent 16 successful days at Studio Fredman. We had some more member changes after the album was recored, for the same reasons as above, when we decided to put 100 % into the band and make it the only priority. Stefan Elmgren and Magnus Rose´n joined the band and now the circle can´t be broken ! Nuclear Blast got a pre-tape and immediately offered us a 4-album deal, got a licens deal for "Glory to the brave" and decided to make HammerFall a full top priority, and then the album was released and we all lived happily ever after !? > SS: In what way a power metal singer do you think is different than a vocalist in a death or black metal band? J: I think you need a well balanced technique for both styles to last for a long period of time. It doesn´t matter what style youré in, there is always a need for some basic training. As a metal vocalist you really have to have a good technique and a well developed music ear to control the various ranges. Metal vocals is more true to fundamentel singing. I would´nt call black metal vocals for singing, it´s not ! They have developed a specific style for their type of music that fits very well , i just love Dimmu Borgir. But I would wear out my voice in 10 sec. if i tried the growling style !, it´s very hard ! SS: Your music brings the listener back to the glorious days of the 80's as it features a lot similarities with classic heavy metal bands like JUDAS PRIEST, MANOWAR, HELLOWEEN and WARLORD. Do you believe that this makes HAMMERFALL to lack of any originality? Do you believe that you can offer something innovative with your music in the 90's? J: I think you can call HammerFall the offspring of the 80´s. We´ve taken the best parts of the bands we loved in the 80´s and added them together in the 90´s, in our own way. We gave new blood to a dying genre´ There is nothing new with this style but still it´s not a rip off of any band. Some people may say that we lack originality but they don´t understand what true metal is all about ! > SS: Judging by the cover song included in your first release you must be fans of Warlord. What is your opinion about them and did you choose to > cover this specific song from this specific band? Have you listened to Lordian Guard, the band which has been formed by ex-Warlord guitarist > Bill Tsamis? What things should a promising band watch out for, in order to avoid being disbanded when everything shows that they have the perspectives to be succesful just like Warlord did? J: Conc. Warlord. YES ! I´m a very big fan of Warlord, and i think that they were one of the best but one of the most underrated metal bands originating from the early 80´s. I think they were ahead of their time with their briliant connection of true metal and progressiv style. Mark Zonder alias "THUNDERCHILD" is my favourite drummer of that decade and Bill Tsamis gets the price for best songwriter. Both me and Oscar wanted to bring Warlord into the light again with our recording of "Child of the damned", that specific song i also way to good to be left unheard for the true metal fans of today ! We´ve also planned to record another Warlord song for the next album., which one?..it´s still a secret. J: Conc. Lordian Guard. No i haven´t had the privilage to hear them yet, seem to be hard to get. I never knew what happened to Warlord, they just disappeard from the metal scene. In order to preserve a good relationship within a band you really need to listen to the say of each and every bandmember in order to achiev a perfect harmony. Always have everything settled within the band conc. royalties and stuff like that BEFORE you enter the studio and before you´ll get any success to avoid big problems in the future. SS: If we close our eyes and stretch out our hands where will Hamerfall lead us to? Which is at last this promised land that you refer to in your song "The Dragon Lies Bleeding"? J: HammerFall will take you into an entertaining world of fantasy far away from the daily gloominess and seriousness. All the songs on "Glory to the brave" are written to amuse the listener, exept for the ballads that have a more serious undertone, but still amusing. J: Conc. The Promised Land. A better place that you will go to, when the dragon´s been defeated. Fight proud and you shall be rewarded! SS: In a time where technology is progressing even faster than the speed of light and people are trapped in a constant pursue of material goods can people dream about glorious battles and heroic acts? J: The imagination has no limits if you´re willing to explore it. I think there is a big interest in Arthurian and mediveal history where people can join that times heroes into courages acts , brave crusades and dream away and become a knight in shining armour. You can live like a knight in the 20:th centuary without wearing armour. Share their values about life and how to treat the people around you. SS: Who is responsible for the music and who for the lyrics in the band? J: Oscar and Jesper did all the instrumental parts and then i added all the vocalparts and lyrics under some supervision by Oscar. SS: Why have you chosen to deal specifically with epic themes? J: I think that the subjects we deal with really matches the music well and i´m personally very found of the Arthurian legends and mediveal history. True metal and "epic themes" goes hand in hand, if you know what i mean. SS: Is it hard to be brave in nowadays and why? J: Absolutely not ! If you listen to the voice inside and does what ever feels right for you , without hurting someone else, you are very brave. Even if you´re going against the stream sometimes to achiev what you dream of, do it ! Don´t care what other people say, it´s your life. Live it today, tomorrow i could be to late ! SS: Describe in a few words the story behind each song in your album. J: 1: A visit back to a medieval battlefield where warriors fighting proud to defeat the Castle of Eden from the evil "Dragon". 2: A journey through dimensions to a long forgotten time, about to be reborn. 3: This is the song to the true, brave metal fan that does whatever he feel is right. This song is HAMMERFALL. 4: Things are sometimes even worse than they seem to be. 5: I didn´t write this song as you already know. " Is it better to rule in hell, than it is to serve in heaven ?"....i don´t know ? 6: Follow the Templars into the Crusades in the 11:th centuary, when they defeated the heathens. 7: When mankind opened up their eyes, it was to late. 8: A world in total darkness and a king in chains, gets unexpected help from some real brave men. 9: There´s a hero in everyone and everyone´s a hero for someone. "Nothing on earth stays forever, but none of your deeds were in vain". SS: What kind of music do you like the most? Which are the Cd's that you have been constantly listening this last few months? J: I listen to all kinds of music. It varies from Dimmu Borgir to Swedish Folkmusic but still my heart beats for metal, in metal i find everything i want in music (power, speed, melody, bombastic ballads etc.) I´ve been listening alot to Warlord "And the cannons of..", always, Axel Rudi Pell "Magic", A great album, Symphony X, a real master piece, Dimmu Borgir, the best Black Metal album ever made, Toad the wet sprocket, the best pop/rock band in the world, There is one album i treasure deep in my heart and that´s Demon´s masterpiece "The unexpected guest" that seems to be better everytime i listen to it. Today i bought Fates Warning "A pleasant shade of gray" and i think it was a really good by, Mark Zonder´s on it so it´s worth all the money i spent. SS: How do you view the future of the power metal scene? J: I really think there is a future for all melodic metal. People are getting tired listening to music with only aggression and lack of melodies. The Future Is Metal !!! SS: You have signed in a record company which specializes in death/black metal bands. Do you believe that this will prevent you from getting the promotion you deserve from Nuclear Blast? How are things going with your label so far? J: Speaking of promotion Nuclear Blast have done everything they a capable to do for us and any band at the label. We would´nt be here right now with out Nuclear Blast. They´ve been working hard to get us out on the roads ASAP, where we belong. So far, so good! SS: In the promoting brochure for Glory Of the Brave your record company suggests that you are the first true heavy metal act in its family. Do you believe that power metal represents true metal music? How about death/black/thrash metal? J: What is Power and what is Heavy Metal ? There´s a very thin line between those two styles. And it depends who you talk to. The true Heavy Metal was found in the glory days of the eighties by bands like Iron Maiden, Helloween, Judas Priest, Manowar etc. Power/Heavy Metal is True Metal !!! No, black & death metal is not to be compared with true Heavy Metal. > SS: I would like you to characterize the following bands by using only one word: IRON MAIDEN, HELLOWEEN, WARLORD, JUDAS PRIEST, MANOWAR J: Kings of Metal ! (3 words) True Metallers (2 words) Heroes (1 word) SS: Which countries will you be touring in Europe and will you be the headlining or the support act? How about Greece? J: We will start as a support act for Raven in august in Germany, Switzerland and Holland. That tour includes Wacken Open Air and Pop Komm. i Cologne. In september we will once again tour as a supporting act, this time with "Metal Gods" Gamma Ray for at least one month. I don´t have the touring schedual for that tour yet, but i think we´ll come to Greece. If not with Gamma Ray probably on our own. SS: How about the next Hammerfall release?Has anything been prepared yet? Do you intend to add any progressive elements to your music or the new album will be in the same music style as the first one? J: We´ve just started to write some new stuff for the "next" album and bonus tracks for the Japanese version of "Glory to the brave" (Digi-pack version in europe). We play metal the way it´s suppost to be played, and the way we love it, and will under no circumstances add anything progressive ! SS: Send a message to your constantly increasing Greek metal fans. J: What ever happens always remember this: TRUE METAL NEVER DIES ! -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Links:
