HAMMERFALL - It's Thunderous At The Top... Page 4
By Martin Popoff

"We didn't invent anything new," reflects Cans, when asked if he knew the secret to the band's fairly wide appeal. "We just took the best bits and parts from the '80s and put it in a blender and out came Hammerfall. You can find many different influences in the music of Hammerfall but you can never say we sound exactly like another band. I think we are reminding people of something positive from the '80s. And a strong side is that every single part of the song, in the songwriting process, is as important as the other. Every melody line should be memorable. I listen to a lot of music. And sometimes you can hear, and it's quite obvious, that they only care about the chorus. The rest is just a way to get there as soon as possible. When I'm working with melodies, I'm trying to get the verse really melodic and then you come into the pre-chorus, and that part is also really important. So the way we build up songs, I think it's easy for people to get into the songs. And also, the way we write the chorus part is like an invitation for the fans to join in. Listening to Hammerfall is like a big party. 'Hey, come on! Sing along with us now!' And that also makes the songs live-friendly, so to speak."

Finally, Cans has joined the small club of musicians who have ever been attacked, simply for doing what they love to do most. In Cans' case it was an unprovoked face-slashing while Cans was enjoying a cold one in a local bar. I've healed up pretty good, actually. Since I was stitched up by a plastic surgeon, you won't notice unless you get pretty close. I'm surprised it happened at all, I would say. Because in the metal community, we should stick together. I mean, we should get united and fight for metal. Doesn't matter if it's black metal, death metal or heavy metal; because we all come from the same roots; it's just different ways. I mean the roots are the '70s and we are all branches from the same tree. I think it's a common problem in this world today that people don't respect each other enough..."