HAMMERFALL Frontman On 'Built To Last': 'I Never Sang As High As I Did On This Album'

Spark TV, which is part of the Czech monthly magazine Spark, recently conducted an interview with vocalist Joacim Cans and guitarist Pontus Norgren of Swedish metallers HAMMERFALL. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked what the most difficult song was to sing on HAMMEFALL‘s upcoming tenth studio album, “Built To Last”, Joacim said: “It’s ‘The Sacred Vow’, the lyric video that we released. Because the chorus was not supposed to be sung by me; we decided only to do it with a choir because it’s so damn high, you can’t really sing up there. But in the studio, I was in such great shape that day; it felt like I was breathing helium and I was on cocaine and crystal meth and everything at the same time.”

He continued: “I always try to renew myself when it comes to composing the vocal melodies. ‘Okay, how should I approach this part? Ah, maybe I should actually go up even higher this time,’ which I did in a couple of songs; I never sang as high as I did on this album.

“I think there are a lot of new elements [on this new record]. But the most important thing of all [is that there] is still a lot of energy, and even though we are [in our] mid-40s, it sounds like a young, hungry band.”

“Built To Last” will be released on November 4 via Austria’s Napalm Records.

The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Bring It!
02. Hammer High
03. The Sacred Vow
04. Dethrone And Defy
05. Twilight Princess
06. Stormbreaker
07. Built To Last
08. The Star Of Home
09. New Breed
10. Second To None

HAMMERFALL will embark on a European tour in early 2017. The trek, dubbed “Built To Tour”, will kick off on January 12 in Bremen, Germany.

“It’s been a hectic time juggling the remaining shows of the tour with songwriting and, ultimately, recording, so the name of this venture feels very fitting,” said guitarist Oscar Dronjak. “The ‘World Wide (r)Evolution’ was a resounding success on every level with half of the shows sold out, and we can’t wait to get back on stage again to have a gigantic heavy metal party every night with all our Templar friends!”

Band photo credit: Tallee Savage