German Heavy Metal Feudalists Hammer King are set to release their sixth studio album on March 22nd entitled König und Kaiser. The band’s frontman Titan Fox took the time to talk with Metal Express Radio about their upcoming album, their upcoming tour with Warkings, his hopes to play Iceland, and more. Check out the chat below!
Metal Express Radio: Your band, Hammer King, are set to release their new album entitled König und Kaiser on March 22nd, what can you tell fans about the upcoming release?
Fox: We are very happy with the album as it feels very fresh to us. In the past, we had some albums where we had a bit more of an overly intellectual approach – not so much this time. It is a classic and very powerful heavy metal record stuffed with great riffs and very infectious choruses. We can’t wait to play the material live!
MER: How was the writing and recording process having this being your band’s sixth album?
Fox: In June 2023, we heard through the grapevine that Warkings wanted to take us on their 2024 tour. So we were asked if we could provide an album for a late March ’24 release, which is not much time considering we had to deliver the finished product by the end of October to be able to secure vinyl production. We had zero songs by that time, but got together and wrote 15 tracks within 7 weeks. One of the tracks never really worked and the other songs, we crafted in groups of two or three musicians at the same time, rarely with all four – which made us quicker. Whoever had missed a session brought fresh ears to the next session. Therefore, we were incredibly quick and entered the studio by September. The studio time was also shorter than ever before, but we felt no rush or pressure here, we just enjoyed banging out 14 new tracks – out of which we put 10 songs on the album and 2 on the different bonus sections. It’s a fresh and spontaneous album, very much from our guts and our hearts. We are very happy with the result!
MER: You’ve released two singles from the album so far, what kind of feedback have you been able to receive?
Fox: They both have been received really well. We are happy to see that the fans are more and more into the King’s music as we have been relatively present in the eye of the public since 2021 now and now we seem to have established ourselves. The same can be said about the press reactions. It is good to see so many familiar faces again every time we do an album and there are so many helpful and dedicated people out there.
MER: Coming up, you have a European tour with your label mates Warkings, what are your expectations on the upcoming tour?
Fox: The Warkings tour has been a dream of ours and now it’s becoming reality. Warkings are a band with a very similar sound and therefore we will have an audience that is already very much into our style. Furthermore, the presales are amazing and we have many packed our even sold-out places. We will give fans our best to win them all over!
MER: What do you see as plans for you and your band after the tour with Warkings?
Fox: We will have the summer festivals coming up, Rock Harz with 25000 attendees being the biggest one this year. Around that, there are already ten single club shows booked and we hope that our agency Extra-Tours will send us on the road again in autumn.
MER: Who do you hope to tour with and why?
Fox: If there was a dream headliner to open for, that would be Powerwolf. As with Warkings, we would have an audience that follows exactly our brand of heavy metal and the Wolves are a very, very huge band now. It would be an amazing environment to promote Hammer King. Let’s see if this will happen one day!
MER: Is there anywhere you hope to play live and why?
Fox: We are live beasts and therefore I can’t name any specific place as we simply lust for any place to play! Exotic countries, such as Iceland or the Faröer Islands would be special as they are very rarely toured at all. But otherwise, let’s go all over Europe first, then both American continents.
MER: How would you describe the Metal scene in Germany?
Fox: I think seeing AC/DC playing 11 out of only 24 shows in our relatively small Germany, gives the impression that rock and metal are very popular here and the market is rich. Of course, we have the same issues as other countries: people sell out an expensive AC/DC or Rammstein tour within seconds and the clubs are struggling to draw any audience. But still, I believe that our scene is very much alive and kicking.
MER: Since forming in 2015, what have been some of your favorite memories with the band?
Fox: There are many. Writing the first songs ever to feature the name of the Hammer King in the title was a life changer, recording the first album, working with Powerwolf’s Charles Greywolf for the first time, having the first record deal for Hammer King, going to Napalm, doing the first show after the Covid-thing, signing with Extra-Tours, doing Summer Breeze and Rock Harz for the first time. The list goes on and on…
MER: Out of your band’s six albums, what is one you would suggest to a new fan and why?
Fox: That’s a tricky one. It’s hard not to pick the latest one as for us it is fresh and we are really very proud of it, but if I were to choose another album from our catalogue, it might be the self-titled 2021 release. It contains 10 songs out of which we have performed 9 in our shows. That’s a bit of proof, right?
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