HAMMERFALL Taps Producer JAMES MICHAEL For New Album

November 12, 2010

In just two weeks, Swedish melodic metallers HAMMERFALL will enter the studio to record the follow-up to 2009's "No Sacrifice, No Victory". The songwriting is almost finished, and guitarist Oscar Dronjak reveals: "The new material contains a lot of fresh ways to look at the musical ideas, we're trying to preserve the essence of what HAMMERFALL is while at the same time updating the execution and approach. Definitely heavier and less straight forward than the previous albums, yet remaining true to what we believe heavy metal is all about."

HAMMERFALL decided to work with a new producer on the new CD, which is significant since the last four albums have been produced by Charlie Bauerfeind. The choice fell on James Michael, who recently worked with MÖTLEY CRÜE, SCORPIONS, MEAT LOAF and others. James Michael comments: “We are about to make a fantastic album. The band is firing on all cylinders and I am excited to be part of this project."

Oscar Dronjak explains: "Working with James Michael is going to be very, very exciting. The two MÖTLEY CRÜE albums James has been involved in (songwriter on "New Tattoo" and songwriter/producer on "Saints Of Los Angeles") are great, and easily stack up against the classic albums of the '80s. That, and the fact that HAMMERFALL have used the same producer (Charlie Bauerfeind) since 2002 has me very psyched about this collaboration, it will automatically bring a freshness to the proceedings! A lot of what HAMMERFALL was got refined when we started working with Charlie, and I'm sure we'll get a similar kind of reaction here. Sort of like a kick in the ass, to get going in the right direction.”

Vocalist Joacim Cans adds another important aspect: "I see James Michael as one of my favorite singers of today and his work with SIXX: A.M. is simply fantastic. Not only is the album one of the best ever made production-wise, but James also delivers a vocal performance that most singers today are not capable of. James will be the perfect co-producer for us and I really think he will be able to get me up a notch in the vocal department."

The as-yet-untitled new HAMMERFALL record will be released in Europe on May 20, 2011.

Photo credit: Caroline Rosmark

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