HammerFall began when guitarist Oscar Dronjak quit Ceremonial Oath and invited Jesper Strömblad from In Flames to join him as a drummer on a new band he had been thinking about for a long time. Dronjak had already made the song "Steel Meets Steel", which was included on HammerFall's first album. They were later joined by guitarist Niklas Sundin, bassist Johann Larsson and vocalist Mikael Stanne. When Niklas Sundin and Johann Larsson left HammerFall the next year, Glenn Ljungström and Fredrik Larsson replaced them.