When I was a wee lad, one of my first loves in the NWOBHM that I ever came across was the band Saxon, and to this very day it is still one of my favorite heavy metal bands. Saxon has remained significantly strong for the last 40-50 years of their entire existence, and in fact, they got even stronger once Brian Tatler of Diamond Head joined the band as the replacement guitarist for Paul Quinn, contributing a plethora of fresh new ideas that would fire up the engine of their upcoming 26th album "Hell, Fire And Damnation". After I listened to the new album and reviewed it with honor and dignity, I got the opportunity to do an interview with none other than Biff Byford via Zoom, which took place on January 11th, a bit more than a week before the album's official release worldwide. We had a wonderful chat for about 25 minutes, where we discussed a lot about the upcoming album, but we also mentioned other things along the way like Brian Tatler's triumphant trial by fire as the band's new guitarist, the guest appearance of Brian Blessed as the narrator on the opening track 'The Prophecy' and even the Amon Amarth song 'Saxons And Vikings' which included Biff Byford, Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt as guest musicians. Please join me on this magnificent journey of Hell, Fire and Damnation, and I truly hope that you will enjoy this wonderful conversation that I had with none other than the man himself, Biff Byford.

Vladimir

Welcome to the MetalBite interview, Biff. I am so glad that you're here. How are you doing?

Thank you! It's good to be there! I am good, thank you. I am travelling actually, but I am doing a bit of interviewing while I am travelling, so that's good.

So, you've got a lot of spare time to do interviews in the meanwhile?

Yeah, I am doing quite a lot of interviewing with the new album coming out.

"Hell, Fire And Damnation" is just one week away from being officially released, the excitement is just growing and the first impressions from critics are very positive. How was the band's overall journey while working on this album?

Well, yeah, people so far seem very pleased with the album. It's a monster really, at least from my standpoint we've unleashed the beast. But yeah, we are pretty pleased with it actually, we've worked quite hard, we wanted to get it ready for our touring schedule which starts in March.

Did you guys have any crucial tasks that you wanted to accomplish in the making of the album? I mean, you've said it yourself that this is a quite monstrous album that you made.

No, there was no real task really. Same with Carpe Diem, I was looking for great riffs to start the ball rolling and then Brian came along with a couple of good guitar riffs as well, it worked out pretty good. I wrote a few songs with Brian, a few songs with Douglas, and a couple of songs with Nibbs. I don't think we had any tasks; I mean our goals were to write great songs, that was the main goal of the album, to try and write the perfect song, which you never can, but at least you can try.

Yeah, of course every band has to try that with every new album that comes out. This album is a follow up to "Carpe Diem" from two years prior, one can clearly tell that this new album is much more elevated in terms of the overall songwriting and the band's performance in general. Would you say that this new album is a significant improvement over "Carpe Diem"?

I think it is, I once have thought that we couldn't have done it actually, but I think it is an improvement, definitely. I think the songs are stronger and more focused, and the sound of the album is pretty awesome actually. We recorded the drums in the big cinema halls, the guitars in our studio at home, and then the vocals. Then we went to Andy Sneap's studio and finished it all off. It was done very quickly for an album like this that sounds so great. I think we were all very motivated and very focused, but so was Andy, but I do think something special happened in the writing of this album.

What this album really does is that it feels like a big anthology of epic tales told through heavy metal music, you've got a lot going on with the biblical themes to Marie Antoinette, Kubla Khan, The Battle of Hastings and even the Salem witch trials. It's got a very strong storytelling quality to it and it's definitely one of the greatest aspects of this album. What really inspired you to use all of these themes at once and to put them all together in this one album?

Well, I was a bit worried that it might turn into a history lesson. We always made historic songs, the last album Carpe Diem ('Seize The Day') it's about Roman invasion of England, and we always had an interest in history, but I think on this album we've brought it all together and I just thought "yeah, why not do it really", let's see what people think obviously, and everybody seems to like it so we did a good thing.

Were there any kind of particular sources of inspiration that kind of got to you when you were working on these songs?

Just history in general. Whether it is something in Roswell, which is about the conspiracy theory of the UFO crash, which again is history. I mean, these things interest me, and obviously interest millions of other people as well.

Yeah, that is very awesome indeed. But, does any song from this new album stand out to you for any particular reason, be it the lyrics, riffs or something else entirely?

I like 'Madam Guillotine', I think it's very good. The riffs are fantastic, and I think the chorus is very Alice Cooper-ish, so I am very pleased how that song turned out, I quite like that.

We can't leave out one of the most crucial factors that contributed a lot to this album, and that is Brian Tatler, Diamond Head guitarist, who joined the band's lineup last year. Did Brian manage to bring anything new to the table upon joining Saxon?

Yeah, he co-wrote three songs with me, so yeah, he wrote 3 guitar riffs for the band. I basically just asked him out of the blue "Have you got any ideas that you're not using?" and he went "Yeah, I got some ideas", so he sent them to me and I wrote 'Hell, Fire And Damnation' song, which turned out pretty great.

So, if this album turns out to be a massive success, then I think Brian Tatler would deserve to get a "pay rise" in the band for doing a good job *chuckles*.

Yeah, he'll definitely get a pay rise. The fans like it because you know Paul is a legend, and Brian is a legend, and everyone knows him from the Metallica connection, definitely. I think he's such a great replacement for Paul, but I don't think that he'll ever replace Paul really, I think Brian has his own thing, he's definitely a "riff meister". I think he works well for Saxon.

How does he feel about being a part of a band such as Saxon? I mean, both Diamond Head and Saxon are considered two very big names in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, so does he feel more comfortable working with you guys than he does with Diamond Head?

I think you'll have to ask him that, but he's very happy to be in Saxon and play bigger shows, and obviously he's really excited being involved in writing the album because we didn't ask him to write the album, we only asked him to go on tour with us, but he had some good ideas so I used them, so it's really exciting going on tour and play some songs that you had a hand in writing.

What I also wanted to talk about the new album that really struck me is the cover art, which was done by the Hungarian artist and Bornholm vocalist Péter Sallai. I think his artistic skills truly managed to convey the album's musical quality and atmosphere through the artwork. How did you guys come down to the decision to hire him to visually represent the essence of your new album?

I sent out some ideas that I had with the title of the artwork. I wanted it to signify the battle of good and evil, it's very sort of "Bible, religion and the prophecy", so I just wanted something a bit like the William Blake type stuff like "Paradise Lost". So, we sent out a sort of brief to all the artists that we wanted to use, and he came back with that one within four days, and we were like "yeah, that's brilliant, I like that one". So yeah, the artwork is great.

That's awesome to hear. I guess he's also a longtime Saxon fan considering the fact that he understands the source material and also the importance of working with a band such as you guys.

Yeah, and he has also done all the artwork for us, but we didn't use it. We haven't worked with him before, but yeah, he did a fantastic job. His visualization of what I wanted was great actually.

Can we expect to get some sort of special box set of "Hell, Fire And Damnation" with a booklet that contains all those unused artworks in the future?

Yeah, that would be great. There are box sets of the album, but that would be a good idea.

Ironically, when I listened to your album for the first time, I didn't immediately notice that you guys had the guest appearance of the famed English actor Brian Blessed as the narrator on the opening track 'The Prophecy', which was quite a marvellous move you pulled there. How was it working with such a fantastic actor that is Brian Blessed?

Well, it was great, we've known him for quite a while actually, he's friends with the band. He comes to see us sometimes, when we play at festivals in England. I just sent him a message saying "I got some words and some music, would you like to do the prologue to 'The Prophecy'for us?", so he said "yeah". I think doing that was very 1980-ish with the "spoken word", so I wanted to bring a bit of that 1980's flavour back, and it worked pretty well actually. Like I said, everything fell into place, very special for this album.

As you said he's a longtime friend of the band, did he ever say what album does he like the most out of the entire Saxon discography?

Well, probably Wheels Of Steel I would think.

That's awesome, that's a very classic album. I didn't even expect that Brian Blessed would like such music, I mean he's a very classy actor and he's over 80 years old, which is fantastic.

A lot of actors are into rock 'n roll though, it's the old thing that "all singers want to be actors and all actors want to be singers". So, we've got quite a lot of actors in show business, people that are into the band, it's a very peculiar thing.

Since I already mentioned the 'Battle Of Hastings/1066', you also did a song with Amon Amarth 'Saxons And Vikings' from two years back and even the music video was released 4 weeks ago. What is the story behind you working with Amon Amarth on that song and how was the overall experience?

Well, we've known Amon Amarth for quite a long time, I think we met them when they played their very first festival. Johan did a song with me called 'Predator' for the album Thunderbolt. They wrote a song called 'Saxons And Vikings', and who are you gonna ask? *chuckles* You're not gonna ask anybody else, are you? Because, we are Saxons, and they are Vikings, it's a no brainer really. I don't think it would have worked if you asked the singer of Sabaton, because they are called Sabaton, not Saxon. It's a good idea he had. And it was good fun up into the coast somewhere in the eastern part of Europe, we shot the music video for two days, it was good fun actually. I think while co-writing that song with them, it inspired me to write the '1066' song, because it's the next big piece of history after that one.

Yeah, basically since you made a song for yourselves like they did, not only did you make history in terms of what you did musically, but you also repeated history in terms of what happened back then in 1066.

Yeah, the thing with 'Saxons And Vikings' I think it's probably set in a year 900, and the Saxons beat the Vikings then. A bit later on, the Normans beat the Saxons, so it's a bit of a backwards and forwards thing going on.

Okay, so the last question I'd like to ask you is how do you personally feel about this album? I mean, how would you rank this album with some of Saxon's classic discography from the 80's? Do you think it's on par with some of the beloved albums of that era?

Yeah, I think this album is up there, definitely. We got it all packaged, the artwork, the songs, the sounds, I think it's up there in our Top 5/Top 6 albums definitely, but that's just my opinion.

That's great, I am very glad to hear it. It does really have a lot of quality to it. The one thing that I really admire about you guys is that you are veterans and a lot of bands around your age are not so inspired to write new stuff, they always feel under pressure. What kind of goal do you have when you work on music, how do you keep yourself inspired and what advice would you give to other bands?

Well, a lot of it comes from my motivation to write great lyrics and write great melodies. I think you just have to be motivated, because we always start with a great guitar riff, I think it's one of the keys to Saxon's longevity for the last 10 albums. I always like to start writing with a great guitar riff. Sometimes, we'll start with a chorus that I sing, but most of the time, it's a great guitar riff, and then you write the melody and the verse, or maybe the chorus. We're bringing the songs from a very firm basis, if you know what I mean.

Okay, thank you so much for doing this interview, Biff. I am really looking forward to catch Saxon live on tour someday and experience "Hell, Fire And Damnation" in its full glory. Are there any final words you'd like to say before we wrap this up?

I hope everybody likes the album, it's out on January 19th. Give it a listen, and keep faith! I hope that I'll see you people on tour somewhere!

Sweden's Opeth have really made huge progress in the metal world over the last few years. From coming out of relative obscurity with the commercial success of their 2001 release "Blackwater Park" to the current success of their two new albums "Deliverance" and "Damnation," they have now taken their place as one of the most well known and respected current extreme metal bands with their now famous unique blend of folk music, melody and heaviness. I was lucky enough to catch up with guitarist Peter Lindgren just prior to Opeth hitting the stage at the Metro Theatre in Sydney, Australia on 13.04.03.

Mike 'XCase'

Congratulations on two new albums. "Deliverance" and "Damnation."

Thanks very much.

Opeth have always been known for their diversity on each album, what made you choose to release two separate albums instead of including both sounds on one?

Well originally we were going to record I guess what you would call a normal Opeth heavy album; there was never any plans for anything else. Then Mike had all these extra riffs that we wanted to use but we weren't sure what to do with them. It was actually a friend of ours who suggested we release two albums, I guess we liked the idea and decided to go with it.

Are the two styles now too different to be together on one album in the future?

Oh no, not at all. We really can't keep releasing two albums at once you know? This isn't going to be an ongoing thing with us. I suppose "Deliverance" is the more classic Opeth album with both heavy and light parts, its just this time there aren't so many light sections because we put them on another record. Releasing two albums at once is just an idea for now; we don't plan on doing it again.

Tell me about your writing process; was it different this time around?

Not really. Mike pretty much writes everything [laughs]. I mean if any of us come up with something and it's good we'll use it, but he's the main songwriter I guess. He has a little studio setup in his house, so often he'll get down the basic idea and show it to us and then we'll record the drums bass and guitars. It's good writing this way because once we have the basic idea down, we can really start working with it and experimenting with it before we go into the studio.

"Deliverance" has been the bands best selling album to date, what do you put this down to?

Has it? [Laughs]

That's what it says on my press release!

[Laughs] Well I know it's been our fastest selling album, but if that's true then that's very cool! Why? I don't know really. Every album that we have released so far has sold more than the last. The biggest jump we made was with "Blackwater Park," there was something about that album that many people seemed to like and it really pushed us forward a lot compared to where we were when we released "Still Life". We've also been touring a lot more. Up until now we were never what I'd call a touring band, but with every album we played more and more shows in more and more countries and it paid off cause each album would sell better than the last. We did the most touring we have ever done for "Blackwater Park" so I guess that could be the reason why "Deliverance" is doing so well.

Congratulations on winning the Hard Rock category at the Swedish Grammy's. Do you think support is gaining worldwide for more extreme metal?

Oh cool thanks. I think things always go in cycles. I mean in the 80's metal was huge, I mean bands like Poison and Motley Crue were selling millions of albums, then things kinda died in the early 90's with grunge and music like that. I mean that was still kinda heavy but it wasn't the same and metal went underground. But recently the music in the charts and on the radio has been getting heavier and heavier again. I mean I don't really like nu metal all that much, but they are helping the more extreme bands by exposing the fans to heavier music. I guess a lot of people hear the nu metal on the radio and then they get a bit bored so they look for something heavier and find bands like Opeth. It's all helping to bring metal back out from the underground.

This is your first time to Australia, how has the audience reaction been so far? What were you expecting?

It's been amazing. I mean we knew that we had a fan base down here because we had sold records, but the shows have been crazy. Just the other night we played a show in Melbourne and it was incredible. Martin [points at Martin who smiles] our drummer said that he thinks it is one of his top 5 Opeth shows we have ever done. The reaction was amazing. I think we have sold out 2 or 3 of our shows so far, it's been really great, we are really blown away.

Have you had a chance to see any of Australia yet?

We've seen some airports and hotels yeah [laughs]. Not really, it's been a very tight schedule since we arrived. We did get one day off in Brisbane which was nice, we had a look around the place and [shows me his arm] I got a bit sun burnt [laughs]

Sun burnt? But it's so cold right now!

Cold? Are you kidding? [Laughs] This is like summer to us! It's so nice! When we left Sweden to come here it was like -6° and snowing. That's actually not that common at this time of year because it's meant to be getting warmer but it happens, so the weather here is a really nice change for us!

You are about to commence a big Us tour with Lacuna Coil. How is the support for Opeth and metal in general over there?

Yeah, well it's not a huge one, more like a continuation of the tour we did there earlier in the year to cover the places we didn't get a chance to play last time. Well the support is great over there, the US is our biggest market and we get to play some great shows there so I'm looking forward to it. Playing with Lacuna Coil will be great.

Do you do any work on new material while on tour?

Ahh, not really. I mean sometimes one of us might come up with something and we try to remember it, but we don't bring any kind of recording equipment with us so anything we were to work on would probably get forgotten anyway so we tend not to. Most of our writing happens at home when we have the time we want to put into it.

The Swedish metal scene is now viewed as at the forefront of extreme metal worldwide at the moment. What do you put this down to?

Well Sweden has always been big in Europe I suppose, I mean bands like Entombed have been big in the death metal scene for a long time, but that's mainly in Europe I guess. To be honest I don't really know. I man Sweden has a population of about 9 million I think and Norway is like half that so its not like we have a lot of people either. I think because metal is big here and especially in Europe a lot of people get into it and it's a chain reaction. But to be honest I really don't know. [Laughs]

What are you listening to at the moment?

Well what I listen to on tour is different to what I listen to at home. I'm listening to a lot of old singer/songwriter music from the 60's and 70's, more folk stuff. But because most of that is on vinyl I can't listen to it while I'm on tour so, it's usually more current music. I've been listening to a lot of The Porcupine Tree and Bjork recently. Umm... I'm not sure what else.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I just want to say that this tour we are doing now is for "Deliverance" and not for "Damnation". Of course we will be playing a lot of older songs too, but we are not including any material from "Damnation" on this tour. We are planning on doing a separate tour for that record. So tonight is going to be heavy! [Laughs]

Thanks very much for your time Peter, have a great show tonight and best of luck with the rest of the tour and the new records!

No problems, thank you!

With brutal honesty, Joacim Cans unveils the behind-the-scenes of the creation of Hammerfall's new album, "Avenge The Fallen". The vocalist explores the pandemic's influence on the creative process, highlighting the importance of resilience and the search for meaning in uncertain times. Additionally, Cans shares insights into the messages behind the lyrics, which range from the importance of individual freedom to the need for strong and inspiring leaders. The musician also reflects on the band's career, its challenges, and its achievements over the years.

 Marcelo Vieira

It was impossible for me not to view "Avenge The Fallen" as a direct result of the pandemic. Could you tell us how this context influenced the writing of the album?

I mean, this album was, I would say, the pandemic album—that was "Hammer Of Dawn". That album was written during the pandemic, recorded during the pandemic, and we also wanted to tour right after the pandemic. But that messed everything up because we were supposed to do this tour with Helloween for six weeks, and no one was ready for a tour like that. So it just got canceled, rebooked, and spread out over, I think, 60 months. And so this album, "Avenge The Fallen", was mainly written during the tour for "Hammer Of Dawn".

Of course, some of the songs—writing music now for Hammerfall is kind of a constant process. We are not sitting down for six months to write songs for a new album. No, whenever creativity hits, we are ready to start recording all these ideas. And that is how Oscar works nowadays. I know he can come off stage when we played in Los Angeles, for instance, with Helloween. He came off stage, took a shower, went directly to the tour bus, and set up his little recording system and his travel guitar because he had some ideas. So, meanwhile, we were partying our asses off backstage, and he was working on the tour bus because he had some ideas he needed to record.

So, I think, with this album, a lot of songs have the energy and joy of being on tour inside the compositions. There are also songs on this album that kind of came into being—the idea of a song like "Hope Springs Eternal" was born already 15 years ago, but it was not ready, you know, to be recorded. It was not ready to be a song until now. Because Oscar said, "You know what? I think I have something here. Can you listen to it and see if you can do something with it?" He sent it over, I listened to it like two times, and then I pressed record and had an idea. What I sang the very first time—most of that is on the album. It's on that song already.

So, it's kind of funny how things work. Some songs you work on for months, even years. Other songs, you work on for six hours and you're done because the song talks to you. You understand the song. You understand what's best for the song, and what you have to add there. I think the whole process of this album, of the songwriting, was really tough this time because this is album number 13. We have already written over 120 songs together, me and Oscar, so where do you go from there? It's really hard to... I would say it's very easy to write 10 songs that are good, but good is not good enough.

For all intents and purposes, is "Avenge The Fallen" a concept album?

It's not a concept album per se, but it's a concept within my thought pattern about the lyrics—that everything concerns the word "freedom". So, this album has a freedom aspect, focusing on the right to live the life that you want to live and be the person that you want to be. This album might require some contemplation, and it might raise some existential questions for the listener if they're open to it. So, I really advise everyone, when you listen to the album, to try and find the lyrics so you can follow along and really understand because I think this can be something positive for the listener. There's also a second word, and that word is "hope". So, this album is all about freedom and hope.

The album starts with 'Avenge The Fallen' and ends with 'Time Immemorial', two tracks that reference the past. What kind of message do you want to convey by placing these songs at the album's extremities?

I think the music is more important than the lyrical themes when you place the songs on an album because you really want to start with a bang and end with something that leaves the listener wanting more. "Time Immemorial", in my opinion, is a different song, but it's still Hammerfall. This intriguing melody for the chorus is just like a fantastic ending, but it leaves you wanting more, and maybe then you go back and listen from the top.

"Avenge The Fallen" starts with a line that says, "What is the worst? Be the one who died, or be the one who survived?" And if people think about that for a little while, that's some heavy stuff because—is it better to be the very last person alive, or is it better actually to go with your friends? So this is kind of a very... Like I said, it has this aspect of... What should I call it? I can't find the word here—the existential thing. And that song is very... If you think about it, as long as you have a voice, if you're the last person alive of your breed, you have two options: either you live your life, do the best you can, and make a difference, or you just give up. You surrender. And at the end of the day, you probably go kill yourself because being alone, with no one to call, with no friends left, that's tough. That's really, really tough.

Regarding the verse "What is the worst? Be the one who died, or be the one who survived?" did you experience this survivor's guilt during the pandemic?

No, but I have seen people around me go through some really, really hard stuff. This happened over 10 years ago now. It was a car accident—there were four girls in the car, and everyone in the car died in the crash, except for the driver. She was the one who survived, but she couldn't take it because she thought she was the reason all her friends died. So, she decided to commit suicide.

Surviving isn't always a blessing; sometimes, it can also be a curse. That's why this line is so important—it really needs to be thought about. I have another friend; he's 75 years old now, and he said, "I really want to call my friends sometimes and ask for advice, but no one is alive anymore. I have no one to call." That's also some tough stuff.

"My kind won't go down without a fight." Here, you seem to acknowledge that the pandemic highlighted the importance of community. What would you say you learned from the pandemic?

As long as you're alive, as long as you have a voice, you should make yourself heard. If you're the last person left, make a difference. Do good things for people. Life is too short for drama—I learned that in the past couple of years. Why go around being miserable? Help people. Be kind to people. A smile doesn't cost anything. If you smile at a person, say hello, and smile, that can mean so much to them. I would say that is what I have learned in the past couple of years. 

Do you think humanity as a whole learned anything?

Unfortunately, no. Absolutely not. Because it's all about greed, and it's all about making everything good for yourself first. It's always "me, me, me" first, and that is not okay. That is not okay at all.

In a world marked by uncertainties, what is the role of perseverance and determination in achieving goals, as suggested by the title of 'The End Justifies'?

I mean, if a goal is morally important enough—"moral", we have to keep that in mind—if it's morally important enough, any method of achieving it is acceptable, I would say. But, if you have to step on people, if you have to hurt people on your way to achieve your goals, then it's morally incorrect. You shouldn't do it.

For Hammerfall, this song is about the band's journey and the strong bonds we have with our fans—that they will have our backs, and we will have theirs. Always. That's just the way it is.

I think Hammerfall has had a clear vision, and a clear goal from day one of where we want to take the band, and we have kept our eye on the prize the whole time. Not bending for anyone telling us, "Why do you play this form of music? You should play this. Why don't you play grunge?" Because we play the music that we want to play—it's as simple as that. And sometimes you have to—not fight this fight, but you have to take some verbal fights about it because you play "uncool" music. But, hey, we're still here, so someone likes it.

In a world that has experienced restrictions on freedom and increased tensions, what reflections do 'Freedom' and 'Rise Of Evil' bring about the concepts of freedom and evil?

First, for freedom—true freedom is being yourself without anyone's permission. It's kind of like, have we not learned anything from the past? Because, as the song says, "Now, what is this? The future or repeated past? Faith instead of reason—it will never last." In the year 2024, shouldn't we rely on science before faith? I mean, faith is just faith; it's nothing. There's no proof because religion messes up so many things.

I have no problem with people being religious and having something they believe in, but faith cannot be the guiding star in your life. We have to follow reason; we have to go with science at all times. And that is what freedom means to me.

"The Rise Of Evil", that song—actually, if you look at the album artwork, I would say that "Rise of Evil" represents the artwork more than the title track. The song is about taking inspiration from both heaven and hell. You need to have dualities in life because if there's a heaven, there has to be a hell. If there's light, you need to have dark. It's all about dualities.

You should take inspiration from wherever you want but always follow your heart when making the final decision. So, Hector smashes the chains holding him down from both sides—from heaven and hell—because he wants to. It symbolizes Hector's ability to go his own way and to make his own decisions in life. And I think that's something we should all do. Listen to people, and take inspiration from what they say and what they do, but at the end of the day, listen to your heart and make your own decisions.

Speaking of listening to the heart and making your own decisions... the pandemic generated a lot of anger and frustration. Is 'Burn It Down' a channel to express these feelings cathartically?

No, I mean, "Burning Down" is a very powerful song. We always try to write songs that are diverse from each other. A full album needs to have a certain type of songs to be complete. If you were to take away one song from this album, the album would not be complete. It's like a puzzle—if you remove one piece, it will not be steady.

Of course, this is really hard to describe because sometimes the album speaks for itself. If you break things down and ask, "What is this song about?" you'll find that everything links into each other. If you understand what I mean.

The aggression in "Burning Down"—I would say that the word "freedom" is there as well. True freedom is always worth defending, and maybe the end justifies the means in this song. Sometimes, you really need to go in with a blast. You need to be aggressive in order to defend something you truly believe in, and that is freedom. If someone wants to take that away from you, you need to defend it.

'Hail To The King' and 'Hero To All' pay tribute to heroes and figures of leadership. Who are these heroes for you?

To me, it would be anyone who stands up and fights for his own beliefs and fights for others. A hero.

Let's see, I need to pull that up here. "Hail To The King" is a song of hope, where hope is reborn when all else is forlorn. It's kind of like no matter how dark the night may be, the sun will always rise and wipe the darkness away. So, "Hail to the King" represents that. There's always Hector in this matter—our mascot, our guy on the artwork. You know, he is that person, I would say. Everything circles around him, more or less.

What is the importance of having them in challenging times like the ones we've lived through?

True. You need to have strong leaders who are fighting for democracy. Nowadays, we see the total opposite. I think that to unite people, you need to be strong, but you also need to be passionate. You need to have a big heart in order to bring people together. You can't divide people; you can't really force them. What we see nowadays is a lot of weird stuff going on, with internal fights within different countries. That's pretty bad.

I think you should be a good leader, a role model to your people, and practice what you preach.

"Honor" and "valor" are repeated throughout the song 'Hail To The King'. Do you think these concepts became more important during the pandemic? Why?

This is something that we have always been talking about in the music and lyrics of Hammerfall. You should live a noble life; you should be valiant and a role model—a positive person. We always try to deliver that, even if it's a song about a very tough subject. There's always something positive in there; it always has to be.

A song by Hammerfall is like an onion. If you peel it and take one layer off, there's something else underneath. Then you take another layer off. Depending on how deep you want to get into the music and the songs, there's always a second layer, a third layer. But it's also up to you to be open-minded when you listen and when you read the lyrics.

Even in difficult times, hope and the pursuit of dreams are essential. How do 'Hope Springs Eternal' and 'Capture The Dream' translate this message?

We have to separate the songs; we can't really bundle any song together with the others because they're so different. "Hope Springs Eternal" raises a very important question about existence and our time on Earth. If it were not for hope, the human heart would break. We are the only species that needs something to look forward to. If you take away hope from a human being, they will just break down. If there's nothing to hope for, there's nothing in that person's life.

The existential part of the song—and also the mantra we should never forget—is: Learn from hope for tomorrow, but life is right here, right fucking now. Period. People keep forgetting about it. If you mention it, yeah, you know, these are simple words, but still, you keep forgetting. So this mantra is something we should never, ever forget, in my opinion.

"Capture The Dream"—we talked about this a little before—is about always looking inside yourself for the answers. You know best what is good for you. If you want to do something, do it. Go out there, capture your dream, follow the beat of your own heart, and live your life like a champion. But pick your battles wisely because sometimes you run into problems, and you can't battle for everything. Sometimes you need to compromise. So, pick your battles wisely.

What ideas or lessons do you hope fans take away from listening to the album?

I think that they don't need to learn anything specific. As I said, this is kind of a reminder that they should be open-minded and pursue their dreams. If people ask me sometimes, "How long will you do this? How long will you be the singer of Hammerfall?" I would say, "As long as it's fun. If it's not fun, I would actually do something else."

I think that if people listen to this album and understand the freedom aspect and the hope aspect, and they find themselves in a very bad position in life, maybe they should do something else. If you hate your job, find a new one. If you're in a bad relationship, end it and move on. There is something out there for you. Just don't be satisfied with a little; always go for something bigger. Maybe you won't reach the stars, but if you end up on the moon, hey, you're halfway there. At least it's something. 

What is Hammerfall's secret to staying creative and relevant after 13 studio albums?

The joy of playing the music that we want to play and playing the music that we always play—that is heavy metal music to us. It's as close to the truth as we can come. And having fun together, like I said, if you're in a bad place, if you don't like this form of music, you can't fake it. You cannot fake heavy metal. Either you have it, or you don't.

Would you say you've achieved everything you dreamed of in your music career?

Absolutely not. In that case, it could only go down. There are always new territories you want to play in, and there are always venues you want to play. So, no, absolutely not. I have achieved a lot. Let's say if my career were to end tomorrow, I would be happy because I have experienced so many good things in my career. Hey, I couldn't ask for more, but I still have bigger dreams.

What is still missing?

The dream is still to do a world tour where, wherever you go, you play in venues that allow you to come in with your full production. That way, every fan, no matter where they live in the world, will get the same show. That is my dream.

What do you enjoy doing when you're not playing or writing music?

I'm running a lot, and exercising to stay in shape and to be able to perform better and be a better singer and performer. I drink a lot of wine, not as an alcoholic, but I'm actually a trained sommelier, so I'm a wine expert—at least on paper. That is my interest. I also watch TV and hang out with friends, like everyone else, I think.

Can you draw a parallel between this and singing in a metal band?

No, not at all. But I need the running to be able to sing and perform at the level where I am right now.

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Video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUknZAyS9jg