HammerFall in 2005 are tired of copy-paste metal and dead set on pushing things forward while staying true to steel. In this interview they talk about their then-upcoming album Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken—a record with a 12-minute epic closer, King Diamond–flavored harpsichord parts and what they see as their most mature material so far. They dive into the pressure of following up Crimson Thunder, the unexpected creative “benefit” of Oscar’s motorcycle accident break, and the mental struggle of writing songs that lived up to their own legacy.
They also explain why HammerFall will always go all-in on staging: castle backdrops, pyro, drawbridges, moving drum risers and even their own truck, because metal should hit you visually as much as sonically. Between stories of chart-topping success with Renegade and the thrill of shouting “Hello Cleveland!” on their first US tour, this is a snapshot of a band proudly carrying the heavy metal banner into the 2000s
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