HAMMERFALL Announces Early 2017 'Built To Tour' European Dates

Swedish melodic metallers HAMMERFALL will embark on a European tour in early 2017. The trek, dubbed "Built To Tour", will kick off on January 12 in Bremen, Germany.

"It's been a hectic time juggling the remaining shows of the tour with songwriting and, ultimately, recording, so the name of this venture feels very fitting," says HAMMERFALL guitarist Oscar Dronjak. "The 'World Wide (r)Evolution' was a resounding success on every level with half of the shows sold out, and we can’t wait to get back on stage again to have a gigantic heavy metal party every night with all our Templar friends!"

"Built To Tour" dates:

Jan. 12 - DE - Bremen @ Aladin
Jan. 13 - DE - Oberhausen @ Turbinenhalle 1
Jan. 14 - DE - Bamberg @ Brose Arena
Jan. 16 - NL - Utrecht @ Tivoli Vredenburg
Jan. 17 - BE – Antwerp @ Trix
Jan. 18 - DE - Fulda @ Wartenberg Oval
Jan. 20 - DE - Langen@Frankfurt @ Stadthalle
Jan. 21 - CH - Pratteln @ Z7
Jan. 22 - CH - Pratteln @ Z7
Jan. 25 - DE - Saarbrücken @ Garage
Jan. 26 - DE - Filderstadt @ Filharmonie
Jan. 27 - DE - München @ Backstage
Jan. 28 - DE - Kaufbeuren @ AllKart Halle
Jan. 29 - IT - Mailand @ Live Club
Jan. 31 - HU - Budapest @ Barba Negra
Feb. 01 - AT - Wien @ Arena
Feb. 02 - AT - Graz @ Orpheum
Feb. 03 - CZ - Zlin @ Hala Euronics
Feb. 04 - PL - Warsaw @ Progresja
Feb. 06 - DE - Berlin @ Huxley´s Neue Welt
Feb. 07 - DE - Hamburg @ Große Freiheit 36

HAMMERFALL's as-yet-untitled tenth studio album will be released on November 4 via Austria's Napalm Records.

In a December 2015 interview with Spark TV, Dronjak stated about the songwriting process for HAMMERFALL's next album: "We have been [working on new material] for a couple of months, actually. 'Cause we have always an idea, we wanna release the album at this point and then we do the tour at that point. And then if you have a sort of a release date in mind, you have to start preparing for it really early. And this time there won't be any… 'Cause we tour a lot more this time than we normally do, so there hasn't been this period of rest between end of tour and start of the album recording. So we have to start writing early, basically."

Regarding whether it's "easier" for HAMMERFALL to write new music after "(r)Evolution", Oscar said: "No, it's not easier. '(r)Evolution' was quite easy, because it's been a while, so we had a lot of inspiration that was dying to come out, Whereas now, I find it hard… For me, I always want to be removed from the live situation when I write songs, and it's very difficult when you know that in three weeks you're gonna go out on tour again."

He continued: "I don't think I would be able to do it if I was like I was when I was younger, but now I plan ahead much more. I have to. It's what Joacim has always done, but I've never really cared about it because I didn't have to. But now I have a family and everything I have to take care of, so I think about things like that."

"(r)Evolution" sold around 1,900 copies in the United States in its first week of release.

The band's previous CD, "Infected", opened with around 1,700 units back in 2011. The CD debuted at No. 16 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.