HammerFall began when guitarist Oscar Dronjak quit Ceremonial Oath and invited Jesper Strömblad (from In Flames, also originally a member of Ceremonial Oath) to join him on a new musical project which he had been idealising for some time. Dronjak had already composed the song "Steel Meets Steel", which was later included on HammerFall's debut album. They were later joined by guitarist Niklas Sundin, bassist Johan Larsson and vocalist Mikael Stanne (from Dark Tranquillity). When Niklas Sundin and Johan Larsson quit HammerFall in the following year, Glenn Ljungström (ex-In Flames) and Fredrik Larsson (the bassist for the former Swedish death metal band Dispatched) replaced them.
