The legendary Swedish metal band have helped to shape an entire genre. Although HammerFall veer more towards power metal, they’ve had an indelible influence on the Gothenburg sound; the strain of melodic death metal from their hometown. Despite forming way back in 1993, HammerFall have never touched down on Australian soil. That’s about to change with one – yes, just one – show in Australia, at 170 Russell on Tuesday October 13.
“It’s a real honour to finally be able to visit Australia, both to visit Melbourne and also to play there,” says vocalist Joacim Cans. “Over the years we’ve gotten so much mail from angry metal heads saying, ‘Hey guys, you really need to drag your lazy arse down here, because there’s a great metal movement going on’.”
The tyranny of distance has been a critical factor in keeping the band away for so long. “It’s so far away,” says Cans. “We’ve never been anywhere close. And also, getting there is so damn expensive. But now we’re going to be in Japan and we thought, ‘Let’s just do this.’ Hopefully people will show up and make this a memorable show and give us a reason to come back and tour the whole country.”
Australian fans are so excited about this rare opportunity that they’re travelling from all over the country for the Melbourne gig. “I feel very honoured that they really want to see it and go through all that hassle to travel,” Cans says. “I think everyone attending the show has seen us play live on YouTube or on a DVD, so they know that HammerFall is a very energetic live band. And if people come there to have fun, it’s going to be even more fun because it’s always contagious. The reactions from the fans are huge and it reflects the way we are performing on stage. It’s a lot of give-and-take, and a HammerFall show is like a big sing-along karaoke sort of show. We always invite the audience to be a part of our show.
“Now, for many reasons we can’t come with the drawbridge and the big stage set, but this is just the first show, and if this works out then hopefully we’ll be able to return some day.”
Cans’ vocals are powerful yet controlled, and still crystal clear after two decades of wailing metal anthems. It’s no accident that his voice has endured, mind you. In his early 20s, he spent a year studying vocal technique at Musicians Institute in Hollywood.
“What it gave me was the tools to be as good as I wanted to be,” he says. “You really need to invest a lot of time and effort yourself, because even if you have a good teacher, it’s your own hard work that will make a difference in the end. So I think I did over 100 live performances at school that year, and that gave me so much experience when it was time for HammerFall to go on that first tour. We’d never played outside of Gothenburg, but at least I had over 100 performances in my backbone so I knew how to take on the crowd, how to talk in between the songs a little bit, and also how to keep my voice in shape.
“That was the really important thing when it was time to do these bigger tours, festivals with 11 dates in a row and things like that. I met so many singers who had to cancel shows because the voice was worn out. And luckily, knock on wood, I’ve never had to cancel shows because of that.”
BY PETER HODGSON
