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

Hammerfall has now entered the studio to record their sixth album. The location and producer chosen are the same as last time, Lundgård Studios in Denmark and Charlie Bauerfeind respectively. The session will continue for two months, during which time eleven tracks will be laid down.

As usual, Oscar will write a studio diary. It will be posted on the myspace blog initially, and on this site as well eventually. Check it out at:

http://blog.myspace.com/hammerfall

Source:	hammerfall.net
Band profile:	HammerFall

Hammerfall guitarist Oscar Dronjak has posted the following message on his official blog: "We have once again spent three days in the rehearsal room, playing through the now nine songs finished for the album. I can't remember feeling this good about the material before a recording, ever. Especially not for the last album, then I was very unsure about how things would turn out. This time, the feeling is the complete opposite.

Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Dark Wings, Dark Words", "Carved In Stone", "Titan", "Shadow Empire", "Threshold" and "Rebel Inside".

Source : http://www.myspace.com/hammerfall

Band profile:

HammerFall

Now you have an exclusive chance to see the new video of HammerFall's "Blood Bound" song, the song will be released as a single on 28th of January.
And the new album, "Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken" will be out in March.

The link for the lowstreem video is:

http://www.aftonbladet.se/atv/player.html?catID=29&clipID=51

Source:	Sound Pollution Newsletter!
Band profile:	HammerFall

As promised, elesewhere on the site you will find the cover to our upcoming single "Blood Bound", to be released worldwide at the end of January. Now, onto the details about the album. Here's the complete and final tracklist:

Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken

1. Secrets
2. Blood Bound
3. Fury Of The Wild
4. Hammer Of Justice
5. Never, Ever
6. Born To Rule
7. The Templar Flame
8. Imperial
9. Take The Black
10. Knights Of The 21st Century

I'll try to describe its contents for you. The production is ten times more powerful than last time, and there's more energy in the performance than we've ever managed to get in a studio before. Playingwise, we have grown a lot; this is a much more coherent unit than on any other HF release. The songs, then, are as diverse as you have come to expect of us, and with a few twists and turns to keep your attention 100% throughout. Some, like "Hammer Of Justice" and "Born To Rule" are classic HammerFall songs, whereas others, like "Secrets" and the epic "Knights Of The 21st Century" contain stuff we've not really done before. There you have it, "Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken" in a nutshell. I feel very strongly for this release, a feeling only growing by time, it seems. I can't begin to tell you how pleased I am with the outcome of this session, and I know the others agree. It's like we're on the brink of something big.

Anyway, onto the next item: the very special guest on the recording. He is a bloke from England - Newcastle, I believe - who gave me goosebumps from listening to his powerful voice in the Eighties, who is the grandfather of the black metal movement and a true icon in extreme metal today. I am of course talking about none other than the high priest himself, Mr. Conrad "Cronos" Lant from Venom! We have collaborated with a lot of musicians in the past, many of them who has had a more direct influence on our sound than him, but the unexpectedness and sheer coolness of this goes beyond everything. I simply never even played with the thought of the mighty Cronos appearing on a release of ours. It was unthinkable! But the passages in the lyrics wich suited his talents magnificently, the aura he brings to the record-closing track is a vital part of its dynamics. In short: thank you, Conrad, for injecting the song with what it needed to reach previously unscaled HF heights!

More news: another show has been confirmed, in Slovenia. HammerFall will appear at Metal Camp in Tolmin, on June 24th. The festival also features bands like Primal Fear, Danzig, Sentenced and Destruction. Find out more at: http://www.rockthenation.at/metalcamp_2004/webpage/at/uvodna.htm

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HammerFall

From the Nuclear Blast website:

"Guitarist Oscar Dronjak announced the first Hammerfall live show 2005 on the
band's official website: It's Bloodstock 2005 in Derby, England, on September 2nd, and will be Hammerfall's second appearance in the UK ever.
"This makes me feel especially happy, as I was pretty much solely responsible
for us not making it to last year's festival (the motorcycle accident, remember?)" Oscar
writes in his statement. "This time, I promise you, there will be no cancellation."

More concerts are going to be announced within the next months.

In addition, work on the new Hammerfall album (due in March 2005) is progressing very well.
For more information, check out Oscar's studio diary, also to be
found on www.hammerfall.net".

Source:	nuclearblast.de
Band profile:	HammerFall

After different reports like the steel horse accident of Oscar Dronjak and the new solo albums of Joacim Cans and Magnus Rosen, the focus is set finally on HAMMERFALL again. This time, the Swedish crusaders have chosen a quiet place in the middle of Denmark to record their follow-up to the successful Crimson Thunder, with star producer Charlie Bauernfeind. Oscar Dronjak has already released some songs titles off the new CD: "The Templar Flame", "Born To Rule" and "Fury Of The Wild".

"We will certainly outdo all our previous albums and get one step closer to the immortality of Heavy Metal"; the guitarist announces and will surely keep his word.

Band profile:

HammerFall

Swedish power metallers Hammerfall entered Lundgaard Studios in Denmark with producer Charlie Bauernfeind (Blind Guardian, Gamma Ray, Rage) on Saturday (Sep. 4, thats today) to begin recording their new album, probably done on March 7, 2005 through Nuclear Blast Records. A single will be released on January 31. Songtitles set to appear on the follow-up to 2002's "Crimson Thunder" include "The Templar Flame", "Born to Rule" and "Fury of the Wild".

"After finishing the songwriting and rehearsing the material over the last week, I can honestly say I'm very, very excited!" guitarist Oscar Dronjak writes on the group's web site. "The feelings I get from the songs so far are heavy, metal, and HAMMERFALL. ;-) Seriously, I think everyone will recognize the band in the new songs, but I do think some of them tend to be a bit heavier than we have done before. You will see (hear...) eventually, as will we."

Band profile:

HammerFall

After the different personal projects and issues, the members of Hammerfall focus again on the band for the recording of a new album. The recording will be done in Denmark with producer Charlie Bauerfeind, the release of the album is already planned on 07/03/2005. Also, they plan to release a single in January, Oscar Dronjak revealed some names of the songs of the new album: "The Templar Flame", "Born To Rule" and "Fury Of The Wild".

Band profile:

HammerFall

Audio clips of HAMMERFALL singer Joacim Cans talking about each track on his upcoming solo album, "Beyond the Gates", have been posted online at this location: http://208.203.139.81/cans/btg/liners.shtml

"Beyond The Gates" is scheduled for release on April 19 through Sanctuary Records. The album was recorded between November 2003 and February 2004 at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden, Frankie's Hideaway in the U.S. and House of Music Studios in Germany, and was mixed and mastered at Twilight Studios in Germany. The recording lineup on the CD was as follows: Cans (vocals), Mat Sinner (bass, SINNER), "Metal" Mike Chlasciak (guitars, ex-HALFORD, PAINMUSEUM), Stefan Elmgren (guitars, HAMMERFALL) and Mark Zonder (drums, FATES WARNING). The album track "Fields of Yesterday" can be downloaded in MP3 format at this location: http://208.203.139.81/downloads/Cans@www.noiserecords.com-Fields_Of_Yesterday.mp3

Band profile:

HammerFall

GAMMA RAY's Kai Hansen, HAMMERFALL's Joacim Cans, PRIMAL FEAR's Tom Naumann and GODIVA's Mitch Koonz are among the musicians tentatively scheduled to partake in an "all-star" jam at the 20th anniversary party for the Rockfabrik Ludwigsburg (Germany). The jam, which is slated to take place this Sunday, December 28, will reportedly include selections from HELLOWEEN and HAMMERFALL, among others.

Band profile:

Gamma Ray

Former HALFORD/current PAINMUSEUM guitarist "Metal" Mike Chlasciak has issued the following update on his recent activities:

"Two days ago I returned from the very, very ? and I mean very ? metal city of Gothenburg, Sweden where I recorded my guitars for the debut album from HAMMERFALL's Joacim Cans. The album is CANS 'Beyond The Gates' and should be out in April of 2004. I joined forces with Joacim on this what I feel will really be a much-talked-about album. High-quality songs on the entire album. I did guitars with Stefan Elmgren, also from HAMMERFALL. We did the tracking at the famed Studio Fredman (DIMMU BORGIR, ARCH ENEMY) and that was an experience in its own right. Basically at that studio, well ... you hear metal 24/7 !! I must say I did not hear one clean note my all 10 days there ? now, that is metal!! All 10 days I drank like a fish and ultimately met one of my guitar influences, Andy LaRocque . It was nice to escape the 'biz' of this all and just play guitar non-stop for 10 days, the reason why I got into this in the first place. Also caught up with some Internet friends like Wojtek from LUCIFERION, Gus G and all. That place in just awesome and reminded me of my childhood in Poland. www.joacimcans.com

"While there, I also did a guest solo on the new album from Fredrik Nordström's vicious band DREAM EVIL. I did an insane guitar trade of section with Gus G. (also in FIREWIND). Total tasteless, self-indulgent guitar shred that was wonderful to record. DREAM EVIL guys are killer and have one of the best drummers in metal: Snowy Shaw . That CD should be out in '04 on Century Media.

"Carrying on ... I will be doing two guest DJ spots on 'Metal Mania' NJ's WDHA 105.5 FM with Matt Murray. The shows will air 12/26 and 1/2. On 1/2 we'll do a year in review segment. www.wdhafm.com

"Year 2004 will be also picking up with my 'Flurry Of Black Notes' Pt. II guitar clinic appearances across the East Coast. After that its straight to the set up for the debut from PAINMUSEUM, followed by touring.

"Also myself, Tim and Bobby from PAINMUSEUM wish everyone a safe New Year, stay METAL - reject the rest. We'll see you in 2004. This time on the road everyone!!!!!!"

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HammerFall

HAMMERFALL guitarist Oscar Dronjak has posted the following message on the band's official web site:

"A couple of days ago, Joacim ' girlfriend gave birth to a healthy, little baby girl! She is the first child born under the Templar banner, and congratulations from the whole band is in order, of course!

"Injury update: The physical rehabilitation continues. As I have been allowed to work with weights, the process have been speeded up, and I don't really have any problems with day-to-day life anymore. Nevertheless, we are looking at a delay in the songwriting process and subsequent album recording and release. Normally, if we were to follow our an-album-every-two-years routine, we would have between three and five songs ready by now. We have none. This will most likely lead to a delay in schedule by about four-to-six months. You should see a new HAMMERFALL studio album in early 2005, by the looks of it. This also gives us time to give the songs the proper attention they need and deserve in order to avoid rushing anything and making sure they are 100% HAMMERFALL worthy when recording them.

"Site news: We will totally revamp this web page again, and this time it's not an empty promise! During the holidays, we will move the site to another server (the address will remain www.hammerfall.net). For this we have hired Fredrik Kreem, who currently is managing InFlames.com, FullStrike.net, SwedishMetal.net and others, and he will be our new webmaster and site caretaker. The design will be completely new and developed by Fredrik and the band, to ensure a look in accordance with what the Templars of Heavy Metal expects. I will continue to do the news section myself, and this time we will update the updates, so to speak, meaning that they will have some new features. The site should have plenty of new stuff for you as well, and we will try to make it a bit lighter in size so that all you modem users won't have to wait for an eternity for the page to download with each new click (been there, hated that). The brand new design should be up in the beginning of the New Year, but we don't want to set a date just yet. Let's wait and see where we end up during the next couple of weeks. That's all for now. Oh, almost forgot, Merry Christmas to all you metal fans out there, hope you get many LOUD gifts!"

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Band profile:

HammerFall