We can see Hammerfall without its typical hammer and Hector for the first time. Why it´s this way and what everything has changed? It´s all theme of interview with singer of Hammerfall – Joakim Cans. 

You entered Hammerfall at quite unusual coincidence. Do you still remember the first time you stand on stage as a member of HammerFall?

My first time was actually….if you look at DVDs and videos we released, there´s  a clip for the very first one – “The First Crusade” when we play the music competition in our hometown – here in Gotheburg. And this competition, this recording gives us a record deal finally. So I remember more than every second from that show because that was the most important moment in history of HammerFall, I would say.

How do you feel to stand with the band when after the one song on this competition, you get the record deal?

Due to the fact that I met Oskar for the first time and we got a lot in common in music, so for every time I went on stage when I was younger, it was like a dream come true because it’s not so easy to get shows around here. Especially a good shows with good PA and monitors. I feel like something magic is going on.

As a band you pass a lot of changes and a lot of progression, but this one that came with new album seems as the biggest one. How do you look on this? What has changed in the band? 

I think it´s … the change is not as big as some people might say. I think the biggest change is the sound that we decided to strip down the overall sound in order to make it bigger and more ... how could I say it … rougher. We decided to remove additional guitars, additional vocals and things like that just to make the sound more alive … and when it comes to the songs, I think some of the songs are a little more complex and the vocals are more present on this album. If you listen it on headphones, the voice is really in your face … and that is what we really try to pursue on this album. To get that feeling. I think that the fact that we don’t have the warrior or the hammer or anything like that on the cover might make the change a little more visible. People might think that the music is more different and it actually is due to the fact, we made so many changes around it.

… so this is the one thing why you got no hammer or warrior on the album cover?

Yeah. It´s … we couldn´t really put Hector there any more cause we didn’t really know what to do with him. I mean … he´s been standing up, sitting down, riding on horse, he´s been fighting, he´s been a statue … ehm … no … he´s been flying the eagle. We sent him on rehab for now on. And I also think that Hector as a character didn´t really blend with the songs … with new twist of HammerFall. We need to do something different.

The final artwork is the second you got. The first was radiation symbol. Why do you changed this symbol for… 

Because the radiation symbol is trademark in music from the band you might answered. We can´t have a trademark for that. We couldn’t use it. But this black cover with the hand is only a slipcase. If you remove the slipcase there is a different cover underneath. You will see…

Who made whole cover artwork for you?

It was made by Patrick Ullaeus the guy from Gotheburg…

What about the music and the lyrics. Who wrote them?

The majority of songs were written by me and Oskar. I wrote one of the songs with Pontus – the second guitar player. One song was co-written by me, Oskar and Fredrik – bass player. I would say that 90 % is from me and Oskar. Like before.

What is your inspiration in doing music? Do you need some special environment or something specific?

I need to be bored … really really bored. I have to got nothing to do, just to let my brain work. When I write music or when I want to come with melodies, I do it all alone in basement, in my studio down there and I need to be alone.

What was inspiration for new album songs?

Nothing really special. The inspiration just came from all what we are in the moment, in our life … both with HammerFall and in my personal life. My mission, especially when it comes with lyrics was to make it more storically. We want to get back to root. The lyrics comes with really great stories …

Can you describe the new album as a whole?

I think it´s very modern and fresh sounding HammerFall. This is the way the 80´s would sound if the 80´s was today.

It is called Infected … what was the infection of this album?

There is a lot of zombie references on this album. We´re all big fans of horror movies and zombie movies. We just needed to do something that feels good. The title comes from the cong “Patient Zero” … you know, the patient zero was the first case in infection. So this is maybe the album zero. First album of new wave of traditional heavy metal. Who knows… 

You released single “One More Time” and you are preparing to do music video for this song. How would it look like?

We´re gonna do it next week and I think I have to wait but I can promise you´re gonna see maybe one or two zombies at least. This would be really different, but really cool video. (Note: Video was released before publishing this interview. You can view it here)

On the last tour, Slovakia as well as other countries could enjoy laser and water show as well as great support bands. What do you prepare for upcoming tour?

We´re gonna focus first of all on summer festivals and then we´ll see what comes next. I think we´re gonna tour Europe at the end of October, in November and in beginning of December so it would be pretty massive tour and of course, Slovakia is in there somewhere. That´s a promise.

What can we expect on these summer festivals? Are any special shows prepared?

I think HammerFall is based on energy and a lot of joy on stage. I think, first of all its gonna be HammerFall with a lot of new tracks and we´re gonna having a time of our lives. I think it´s the music in the end is what counts. If you have good songs, you have good band. We don’t need anything around that. 

When you were recording album, you offered live chats with fans. What was the weirdest communication with fans?

Whooo… I can´t really remember nothing. We got a lot of weird questions mostly for the drummer – for Anders. I can´t really remember any specific question but there was some really weird stuff.

As a solo musician, you released one album in 2004. Can we expect any new stuff from CANS as from your solo project soon?

Not really. I think that is that I have to bury. It takes too much time to write a full album, record it, promote it and play live. So, unfortunately, the answer is no. You can´t expect anything. For now, I am absolutely focused on HammerFall because I really believe in this album, I think we´re gonna have a great tour and hopefully, who knows … we can continue this for next ten years with the smile on our faces…

You were playing in band since your 21, I think. Can you imagine your life without music or without being musician?

Not really. Because it would be really really boring I think. But I think that if I wouldn’t got this, I got something else. I am such a driven person and it doesn’t matter if it is music or what it is, I do my thing. Of course, I would miss the music but in that case, I would be consuming music …

Back to HammerFall … you changed some members in last 2 years. How goes work with these new guys?

It´s fantastic. We got very good atmosphere in the band and Fredrik, the original bass player – it is really nice to get him back. Pontus is very talented guitar playing producer so he really fit tour and band. We got unity we never got before. The band is stronger than ever.

What about the past members. What about relationships with them?

I haven’t seen Magnus for quite some time but Stephan I see. He is working as a pilot. He lives his second dream now. First was to be a rock star and now as a airline pilot. It´s fantastic I think.

We reach the end. What do you want to say to Slovak fans and to our readers in the end of this interview?

Don’t judge the album before you listen to it. I think … many people are very negative because Hector is not on the cover but in the end of the day, it´s only about the music and having fun, so give it a chance and we will see …