Threshold (album)

Threshold is the sixth studio album by Swedish power metal band HammerFall, released on 18 October 2006.^[4] The album entered the Swedish charts at number one, staying on the chart for eight weeks.^[5] It was the band's first number 1 album since Renegade in 2000.^[6] It is currently the last HammerFall studio album with guitarist Stefan Elmgren and bassist Magnus Rosén, as Rosén left the band in 2007 and Elmgren left in 2008.^[7]

Threshold
Studio album by HammerFall
Released	18 October 2006
Recorded	2006, Lundgård Studios, Denmark
Genre	Power metal, heavy metal
Length	50:30
Label	Nuclear Blast
Producer	Charlie Bauerfeind
HammerFall chronology
Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken (2005) Threshold (2006) Steel Meets Steel: Ten Years of Glory (2007)
Singles from Threshold
"The Fire Burns Forever" Released: 6 August – 6 September 2006[1] "Natural High" Released: 22 September 2006[2]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]

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.^[8] The cover artwork was created by Samwise Didier.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Threshold"	Oscar Dronjak, Joacim Cans	4:45
2.	"The Fire Burns Forever"	Dronjak, Cans	3:22
3.	"Rebel Inside"	Dronjak	5:34
4.	"Natural High"	Dronjak, Cans	4:16
5.	"Dark Wings, Dark Words"	Dronjak, Cans	5:02
6.	"Howlin' With the 'Pac"	Dronjak, Cans	4:06
7.	"Shadow Empire"	Dronjak, Cans, Stefan Elmgren	5:15
8.	"Carved in Stone"	Dronjak, Cans	6:13
9.	"Reign of the Hammer"	Elmgren	2:50
10.	"Genocide"	Dronjak, Cans, Elmgren	4:43
11.	"Titan"	Dronjak, Cans	4:24
Total length:			50:30

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.^[9]
• The song "The Fire Burns Forever" was also made into a music video.^[10] The band recorded it with some of the Swedish participants in the European Athletics Championships.^[11]

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 and Nuclear Blast Musicshop. Hammerfall and the athletes also performed "The Fire Burns Forever" at the official opening of the Championships on 6 August in Gothenburg, Sweden.^[11]

Personnel

• Joacim Cans – lead vocals
• Oscar Dronjak – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, keyboards, programming
• Stefan Elmgren – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards, programming
• Magnus Rosén – bass
• Anders Johansson – drums

Backing vocals by Oliver Hartmann, Rolf Köhler, Olaf Zenkbiel, Mats Rendlert, Joacim Lundberg, Markus Sköld, and Johan Aremyr

Chart positions

^[12]

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