"I try not to lose the excitement of what we're doing, which is living our dream."

Oscar Fredrick Dronjak - guitarist, backing vocalist, main songwriter and sole remaining original member of HammerFall - presents "Threshold". This sixth full-length studio album by the Swedish true metal leaders' entered the official charts in its homeland straight at number 1!

Vassil Varbanov: Hello Oscar, how are you doing?

Oscar Dronjak: Pretty good, thanks!

V. V.: What are you up to now?

O. D.: Right now we're doing promotion for the album and just waiting for it to be released. A single is gonna come out in a couple of weeks, and a month later we'll have the full-length CD, so that's basically what we're doing - waiting for it.

V. V.: Please tell us more about "Threshold", because even your record label Nuclear Blast has not published any information about it yet.

O. D.: Then you should check our website, hammerfall.net, where I put a lot of updates and stuff regarding the sound and progress of the recordings. I guess our new album is not going to be disappointing to anybody who likes HammerFall from before. It's based on the same foundation, so to speak, but I do think it represents HammerFall of 2006 instead of 1997, for example. It's got a lot of the energy from the previous albums, especially from the debut, "Glory to the Brave" (1997). However, it's much better produced than its predecessors. It's heavier, a little bit faster than "Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken" (2005)... a little more mature, I think, and more complete than the previous albums.

V. V.: You mentioned your 1997 debut offering. We can say that back in those years classic metal stormed back to power because of bands like HammerFall. Now, a decade later, what's the metal vibe around the world, according to you?

O. D.: It's very different. Now it's much more widespread, you don't have just the die-hard fans, but fans from all kinds of social groups and positions in life. Now melodic heavy metal is growing stronger even in the UK and the USA, it's gaining ground there. Heavy metal is alive and well now.

V. V.: Nowadays, a decade after the start, how do you feel being part of HammerFall? Are you tired or you're even more excited than before?

O. D.: Ten years ago we didn't have any experience. We enjoyed everything and did whatever we did just for fun, because it was new to us. You grow as a person, and ten years is a long period of time for anybody who's inВ his 30's - that's a third of my life, after all - and I have definitely grown a lot, as well as the others from the band. I've learned to appreciate some things more, I've learned to be more patient, but I try not to lose the excitement of what we're doing, which is living our dream.

V. V.: Did you manage to find a balance?

O. D.: Yes, absolutely. I think that's something we all strive to do and we succeeded.

V. V.: So what's next for you after the release of "Threshold"?

O. D.: We won't do any shows this year. We are going to record some new songs for a 2007 release - not new HammerFall tracks, but cover versions. That's basically what we'll be doing until Christmas, and then, right after New Year, we start touring.

V. V.: What kind of cover versions shall you record?

O. D.: We haven't really decided yet. It's gonna be a few songs from some of our favourite 80's bands.

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock