Pontus Norgren from The Poodles will be replacing Stefan Elmgren, who left Hammerfall in early April to focus on his new career as a pilot. "Pontus is a fantastic guitar player with musical roots in Accept and neo-classical metal," commented Hammerfall drummer Anders Johansson. "I have known him for many years. I know how he works as a musician and as a person."

"I like Hammerfall. I think they have amazing stage shows and I like their songs, so when I heard they were looking for a guitar player I thought I'd give it a try." says Pontus. "Playing in The Poodles has been a wonderful experience in many ways, but I have always liked a little heavier music and have felt at times that this wasn't the right kind of forum for the music I'd most like to play. It's simply time to move on."

"Replacing Stefan is not easy; he has a very characteristic way of playing and is a great guitarist." Explains singer Joacim Cans, "But Pontus will add a different style than Stefan since they are two quite different persons. I'm looking forward to see how we will mesh as a band during the coming months!"

Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	HammerFall