Hammerfall are entering Andy La Rocque's (King Diamond) Sonic Train Studios in Varberg, Sweden today to continue recording their eighth full-length album. The record is planned to be released on February, 20th, 2009 and will include an instrumental written by the group's latest addition, guitarist Pontus Norgren (The Poodles, Talisman, Great King Rat), and a song entitled One Of A Kind, which was written as a collaboration between Hammerfall guitarist Oscar Dronjak and In Flames axeman Jesper Strömblad (who was a member of Hammerfall in the band's earliest incarnation).'

Source:	nuclearblast.de
Band profile:	HammerFall

HammerFall has now begun recording their seventh studio album. Starting Monday, August 18th, you will be able to follow the 8-10 week process in the form of a video blog, on the band's Myspace. Check back for an exclusive inside look.

First video diary can be found here
Its in Swedish but with English subtitles.

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Source:	blog.myspace.com
Band profile:	HammerFall

Pontus Norgren from The Poodles will be replacing Stefan Elmgren, who left Hammerfall in early April to focus on his new career as a pilot. "Pontus is a fantastic guitar player with musical roots in Accept and neo-classical metal," commented Hammerfall drummer Anders Johansson. "I have known him for many years. I know how he works as a musician and as a person."

"I like Hammerfall. I think they have amazing stage shows and I like their songs, so when I heard they were looking for a guitar player I thought I'd give it a try." says Pontus. "Playing in The Poodles has been a wonderful experience in many ways, but I have always liked a little heavier music and have felt at times that this wasn't the right kind of forum for the music I'd most like to play. It's simply time to move on."

"Replacing Stefan is not easy; he has a very characteristic way of playing and is a great guitarist." Explains singer Joacim Cans, "But Pontus will add a different style than Stefan since they are two quite different persons. I'm looking forward to see how we will mesh as a band during the coming months!"

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	HammerFall

After 11 years, Stefan Elmgren decided to leave HammerFall. Stefan's message for fans upon leaving the band:

"I have decided to leave Hammerfall, the reason is that I have been offered a job as a pilot within an airline. My interest in aviation has been growing very strong, and now I feel its time for me to take a step and be a pilot on a professional level. We have been discussing the possibility of combining the work with HF and both me and the rest of the band realized that it would be very hard indeed.

It has been a great journey with lots of great memories that I will carry with me for the rest of my life, I would like to give a big thanks to all the wonderful fans, its has truly been a pleasure to meet and perform for you all during these 11 years.

I still love to play the guitar so you might hear from me again someday somehow. I would like to wish who ever is taking my place and the rest of the band good luck in the future.

Take care everybody!! Stefan Elmgren"

No replacement has been announced yet.

Two video reports by the leaving guitarist talking about his new job and departure are posted at this location.

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Source:	blog.myspace.com
Band profile:	HammerFall

Swedish Power metallers Hammerfall have released the video for their new single 'Last Man Standing' on Nuclear Blast Europe YouTube at this location (or by clicking here for a direct link to this video).

'Last Man Standing' comes off the band's two-CD "best-of" set called "Steel Meets Steel - Ten Years of Glory" due on October 12 through Nuclear Blast Records.

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Source:	youtube.com
Band profile:	HammerFall

HammerFall has once again entered Mi Sueno Studios on Tenerife, to record some songs for the "Best of" album coming out in October. Follow their progress online at this location.

And according to a posting on that MySpace blog, "We're celebrating our ten-year anniversary as a record-releasing band in 2007, remember? We spent seven weeks or so here five years ago, recording "Crimson Thunder", and a fortnight for the mix of "Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken", so it was a great pleasure to once again walk into the arms and home of the Deris (Andi - Helloween singer) family."

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Source:	hammerfall.net
Band profile:	HammerFall

The waiting and speculation is over, Magnus has been replaced. The new guy should be no stranger to any HammerFall fan: (re)enter Fredrik Larsson, original member of the band and fugutive for the past decade.

"I am very happy and excited to be back! I have known the guys for more than ten years and we have kept in touch all the time, so it is not as if I come in a complete stranger. We played a few songs together last weekend, and it felt like 1997 was just a couple of weeks ago", says Fredrik about coming back into the fold.
Oscar had these comments: "Fredrik brings structure to the rhythm section and I think you will definitely hear and feel the difference when we play live". "He plays with a pick, for one, and has a great groove and timing, all of which will make HammerFall sound better than we ever have before,"
Anders remarked, and Stefan chimed in: "We are all very psyched about this and can't wait to get on the road again." "Fredrik recorded Glory To The Brave with us, so he's definitely a part of the family. It's great to have him back!", Joacim exclaimed.

Source:	hammerfall.net
Band profile:	HammerFall

Hammerfall bassist Magnus Rosén has left the band today (Tuesday 06.03.). An official statement on the band's official website goes as follows:

"Breaking news: The bass player of HammerFall, Magnus Rosén, will not be a part of the band in the future. This is all the information available at the moment, but expect an official statement from the band as soon as possible."

Magnus Rosén became a member of Hammerfall in 1997/1998, around the recordings of "Glory To The Brave".

UPDATED on 8 March 2007:

Here's the official statement from the band members regarding the situation. English:

"Bass player Magnus Rosén has elected to step down from HammerFall to be able to focus on his own projects. While it is surprising, it's not a total shock to us since he has seemed to be unhappy with the situation in the band and on tour for quite a while. We wish him all the best with his future endeavors and turn our attention to the future, immediate and distant.

This will change nothing for us as far as booked gigs and other planned activities are concerned. Rest assured, HammerFall will continue blazing its trail just like before. The process of selecting the right replacement both musically and personally is already set in motion, and we will announce it as soon as a decision is made."

/Joacim, Stefan, Oscar and Anders

Source:	hammerfall.net
Band profile:	HammerFall

Swedish melodic metallers Hammerfall have added dates in U.K. and Ireland to their "At The Threshold Of...Europe 2007" tour. Hammerfall will bring Krokus and the Poodles for the band's first U.K. tour on the following dates:

February 20 - The Electric Ballroom, London
February 21 - The Garage, Glasgow
February 22 - Temple Bar Music Centre, Dublin
February 23 - Bradford Rio, Bradford
February 24 - JB's, Dudley

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Source:	hammerfall.net
Band profile:	HammerFall
Event:	Hammerfall: At The Threshold Of... Europe Tour

Swedish melodic power metallers Hammerfall have cancelled their Finnish headlining shows (originally scheduled for early January) in order to allow singer Joacim Cans enough time to recover from an operation which he is due to undergo in December.
Here goes the statement of the band:
"After a couple of months of serious vocal problems, my doctor finally tracked down the root of all evil. On my right vocal cord he found a polyp that affected both my speaking and singing voice. Lately I have lost almost one octave of my natural (high) range and I can promise you that it's been very frustrating. So, next week it's time for my doctor's magic hands to sharpen the scalpel and do surgery on 'my precious' cords. After the surgery I have to shut up for at least seven days ? gonna be hard! ? followed by some professional vocal training in order to build up the strength again. The tour will start as planned in Denmark on January 18, but unfortunatelly the shows in Finland have been postponed to a later date and all promotional work including me have been cancelled."

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Source:	hammerfall.net
Band profile:	HammerFall
Event:

Power Metal band Hammerfall's record company Nuclear Blast have posted the official video to Hammerfall's new song 'Natural High' online. The song 'Natural High' comes from Hammerfall's upcoming album entitled "Threshold". It's the first official video from the album as well. 'Natural High' is also the first single from the album.
Nuclear Blast's Europe division have also posted a nine minute video interview online. The interview was done during the production of the video.

Click here to watch 'Natural High' video.
Click here to watch the video interview.

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Source:	blabbermouth.net
Band profile:	HammerFall

Swedish power metallers Hammerfall go on the road again in the beginning of next year. More dates will be announced as they get booked, but here's what's confirmed as of now:

At The Threshold of... Europe 2007 :
Jan. 18 - Stora Vega - Köpenhamn, DK
Jan. 19 - Scandinavium - Göteborg, SWE
Jan. 20 - Arenan - Stockholm, SWE
Jan. 21 - Rockefeller - Oslo, NOR
Jan. 23 - Docks - Hamburg, GER
Jan. 24 - O13 - Tilburg, NETH
Jan. 25 - Hof Ter Lo - Antwerpen, BEL
Jan. 26 - Stadthalle Langen - Langen, GER
Jan. 27 - Live Music Hall - Köln, GER
Jan. 28 - Turbinenhalle - Oberhausen, GER
Jan. 30 - Halle Gartlage - Osnabrück, GER
Jan. 31 - Filharmonie - Filderstadt, GER
Feb. 02 - Jako Arena - Bamberg, GER
Feb. 03 - All Karthalle - Kaufbeuren, GER
Feb. 04 - Z7 - Pratteln, SWI
Feb. 06 - Elysée Montmartre - Paris, FRA
Feb. 07 - Le Transbordeur - Lyon, FRA
Feb. 09 - Joy Eslava - Madrid, SPA
Feb. 10 - Santana 27 - Bilbao, SPA
Feb. 11 - Razzmatazz - Barcelona, SPA
Feb. 13 - Alcatrazz - Milano, ITA
Feb. 14 - Backstage - München, GER
Feb. 15 - Planet Music - Wien, AUT
Feb. 16 - Petöfi Hall - Budapest, HUN
Feb. 17 - SKC - Belgrad, SER

Hammerfall's upcoming album "Threshold" will be released on 20 October 2006.

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Source:	hammerfall.net
Band profile:	HammerFall

Power Metallers Hammerfall have posted the video for the new song 'The Fire Burns Forever' on their official website. The song is from Hammerfall's upcoming as yet untitled album. The song has been made for use in the 19th European Athletics Championships.

The audio track of the song will be available for download between August 6th and September 6th from Hammerfall record label Nuclear Blast's online store.

Here are the links for the new video download:

http://www.friidrottarna.se/download/The_Fire_Burns_Forever.wmv
http://www.friidrottarna.se/download/The_Fire_Burns_Forever.mov

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Source:	hammerfall.net
Band profile:	HammerFall

Hammerfall recently entered the studio to begin recording the follow-up to 2005's "Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken". The album will be released on October 20 through Nuclear Blast Records, with a single release of the track "Natural High" available on September 22. Other songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Carved In Stone", "Titan", "Dark Wings, Dark Words", "Shadow Empire", "Rebel Inside", "Threshold", "Howlin' With The Pac" and "The Fire Burns Forever".

Guitar player and main songwriter Oscar Dronjak comments: "Our goal was to get as heavy and energetic a production as we had on the previous albums, but to improve it and the performance even more. Musically, we built on the foundation of our previous work and developed the sound, and perhaps brought back some of the speed. Without losing the heaviness and the groove, of course. Hammerfall is, and always will be, a heavy metal band."

Everyone who will visit this year's Earthshaker Fest, set to take place July 21-22 in Kreuth, Germany, will get the chance to listen to one of those new tracks live. Says Oscar: "We will do 'The Fire Burns Forever', the song we recorded a video together with the Swedish athletics a couple of weeks back. As far as I know, it will be available for download during August only, so it will be in promotion for that. We're also going to bust out a few songs we haven't done in a while, just for fun."

Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	HammerFall

Hammerfall guitarist Oscar Dronjak has posted this studio report on the band's MySpace page:

"We had a few beers and watched some stand-up comedy in the form of Eddie Izzard's 'Cricle' until late last night, but I woke up at nine-thirty feeling rested anyway. There were only two songs left for today, the instrumental 'Reign Of The Hammer' and the fast triplet song 'Genocide'. Saving the hardest for last, it was instrumental time now. It's a fairly simple song, and Magnus (Rosen - bass) had learned the stops well before hand. So, by one o'clock, it was triplet time again. Woo-hooo...

Being a first-timer with the pick, he had his work cut out for him, but Magnus came through beautifully. This Hammerfall album is going to sound more Heavy Metal than ever based on the pick factor alone! It sounds so much better, so much tighter, so much more ON it's ridiculous! The track was finished just in time for Magnus and me to make the departure from Lundgård in time to catch the ferry in Fredrikshavn (a three-hour drive, remember?).

It feels like we really have come a long way since last time, this album will be a definite improvement sound - and performance wise (provided that Charlie (Bauerfeind - producer) puts the rest of us through the same rigorous filet he did with the other two, but why shouldn't he?). I just hope the music itself will have improved an equal amount, but it absolutely feels like it. We shall see... Whatever the case, that's it from me for now. We'll return to Denmark on May 31, and I will continue to keep you updated on what's going on down here. Thanks for reading, hope you have found it entertaining and not a complete waste of your time. Cheers!"

Source:	metaleater.com
Band profile:	HammerFall