''Threshold'' is the sixth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band

HammerFall HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band from Gothenburg. The band was formed in 1993 by ex- Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak. History Early days (1993–1996) HammerFall was formed when rhythm guitarist Oscar Dronjak quit Cere ...

, released on 18 October 2006. The album entered the Swedish charts at number one, staying on the chart for eight weeks. It was the band's first number 1 album since ''Renegade'' in 2000. It is currently the last HammerFall studio album with guitarist

Stefan Elmgren Stefan Elmgren (born 17 May 1974) is the former guitarist of the Swedish power metal band HammerFall from 1997 to 2008. History Before becoming a member of HammerFall, he was the guitarist in the band Highlander. Elmgren has also worked with his s ...

and bassist

Magnus Rosén Klas Magnus Rosén is a Swedish musician, born 1963 in Gothenburg. He was the bassist of Swedish band HammerFall from 1997 to 2007. Magnus Rosén started to play bass when he was 15 years old. after playing bass for three years he went on his fir ...

, as Rosén left the band in 2007 and Elmgren left in 2008.
The cover artwork was created by

Samwise Didier Sam "Samwise" Didier (born 1971) is an American artist. He serves as senior art director at Blizzard Entertainment, having been with the company since 1991. As the art director for the flagship games of the '' Warcraft'', ''StarCraft'', and ''D ...

. The guitar solo of "Howlin' with the 'Pac" is essentially a reworked version of the one from "Hearts on Fire". As with several songs on the previous album, the song "Dark Wings, Dark Words" is inspired by

A Song of Ice and Fire ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. He began the first volume of the series, '' A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and it was published in 1996. Martin, who in ...

Track listing

Music videos

*The song "Natural High" was made into a music video depicting Hector the Knight battling vampires in a decrepit castle; he managed to kill most of the vampires with his hammer, but one of them escapes, leaving Hector by himself. The video itself is a montage alternating between the band and the action, which is shot in live-action and complemented with CGI. *The song "The Fire Burns Forever" was also made into a music video. The band recorded it with some of the Swedish participants in the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for m ...

Single "The Fire Burns Forever"

"The Fire Burns Forever" was also released as a single and only available as a download between 6 August and 6 September 2006, exclusively at the

ITunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

and

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

Musicshop. Hammerfall and the athletes also performed "The Fire Burns Forever" at the official opening of the Championships on 6 August in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Personnel

Joacim Cans Joacim Cans (born 19 February 1970 in Mora) is a Swedish singer, best known as the lead vocalist of heavy metal band HammerFall. He is the only member aside from founder and guitarist Oscar Dronjak to appear on all of the band's albums. Cans ...

– lead vocals *

Oscar Dronjak Oscar Fredrick Dronjak (born 20 January 1972) is a Swedish guitarist and founder of the heavy metal band HammerFall. Prior to the success of HammerFall, he also played and released albums with the death metal acts Ceremonial Oath and Crystal Ag ...

– guitars, backing vocals, keyboards. programming *

– guitars, backing vocals, keyboards, programming *

– bass * Anders Johansson – drums Backing vocals by

Oliver Hartmann Oliver Hartmann (born 28 June 1970 in Rüsselsheim, West Germany) is a German metal vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and producer who performed in various acts, either as guitarist, solo or choir singer. He is best known for his role as vocalis ...

Rolf Köhler Rolf Köhler (24 May 1951 – 16 September 2007) was a German singer, musician, and record producer. Career Köhler initially achieved commercial success performing under the pseudonym Marc de Ville in the late 1970s. As Marc de Ville, he recor ...

, Olaf Zenkbiel, Mats Rendlert, Joacim Lundberg, Markus Sköld, and Johan Aremyr

Chart positions

* Sweden: #1 * Germany: #15 * Austria: #30 * Switzerland: #32 * France: #192

References

External links

Lyrics at Darklyrics

Official band website

Album information
2006 albums HammerFall albums Nuclear Blast albums Albums produced by Charlie Bauerfeind {{2000s-power-metal-album-stub