Hammerfall

S

weden's Hammerfall and their debut album Glory to the Brave (1997), with the membership of Joacim Cans (vocals), Oscar Dronjak (guitars/backing vocals), Glenn Ljungstrom (guitars), Fredrik Larsson (bass/backing vocals) and Jesper Stromblad (drums) they achieved many accolades. Although not the first band to be influenced by Helloween, they were nevertheless a major influence to similar European bands since. Although critics complain that this band have stagnated in creativity over the past few years they have, nevertheless, remained popular in Europe.

Their follow-up, Legacy of Kings (1998) saw Patrik Räfling taking over drums, Stefan Elmgren taking over from Ljungstrom, Magnus Rosén taking over from Larsson. Anders Johansson took over fromRäfling forRenegade (2000), Crimson Thunder (2002) and the 2CD live One Crimson Night (2003).

Recently vocalist Joacim Cans was named as vocalist in the reformed Warlord, a band whose influence on HammerFall has been obvious, especially with their rendition of the Warlord classic Child Of The Damned. All the same, Hammerfall remains his main priority, however.