Hammerfall is back with a new record Avenge The Fallen due out August 9, and a new single "Hail To The King" streaming right now.
"This is our 13th album", said Hammerfall vocalist Joacim Cans. "How do you still stay relevant after 13 albums? It's very much like the opening line to the song 'Avenge The Fallen': 'What is the worst, be the one who died, or be the one who survived.' Think about it, because it is a tough question".
He continued: "Do we want to be a band who releases new music just for the sole reason of getting out on the road again or do we want to keep pushing and challenging ourselves? In times where people have less and less attention span, we still think in the form of full length albums. A few good songs don't make a strong album. A strong album comes from an album full a great songs and that's what we're delivering with Avenge The Fallen."
On the single itself, Hammerfall guitarist Oscar Dronjak said he began working on it while on tour with Helloween.
"By the end of the tour, I was getting close to wrapping the song up, so straight after the Los Angeles gig I headed to the bus where I worked like a mad man to get the last pieces together," said Dronjak. "That turned out to be the show where one of my favourite wrestlers, Chris Jericho, came to visit.
"It was also the show where Fredrik met his idol Frank Bello from Anthrax and Joacim met Jay Ruston, producer for Armored Saint, Avatar, Anthrax, Corey Taylor and more and whom after this meeting agreed to produce the vocals for Avenge The Fallen! I missed all that, but I at least got a great song out of it, haha!"
Pre-orders are available here. You can also catch Hammerfall on tour with Kamelot and Ad Infinitum at one of the dates below. Tickets are available here.
4/30 Harrisburg, PA HMAC
5/1 Montclair, NJ Wellmont Theatre
5/3 Columbus, OH The Bluestone
5/4 St/ Louis, MO Delmar Hall
5/6 Fort Worth, TX Tannahill’s
5/7 San Antonio, TX Vibes Event Center
5/9 Albuquerque, NM El Rey Theater
5/10 Tucson, AZ Encore
5/11 Anaheim, CA City National Grove
5/12 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues
5/14 Denver, CO The Summit
5/16 St/ Paul, MN Myth
5/17 Milwaukee, WI Eagles Ballroom/Milwaukee Metal Fest (no Ad Infinitum)
5/18 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
5/20 Pittsburgh, PA Roxian
5/21 Richmond, VA The National
5/23 Cincinnati, OH Bogarts
5/24 Atlanta, GA Heaven Masquerade
5/25 Tampa, FL Jannus Landing
