HAMMERFALL drummer Anders Johansson spoke to EspyRock recently about the bands upcoming album Infected in which he states that lead single ‘One More Time’ is one of the worst songs on the album. He continues as to the legal issues brought forward by BIOHAZARD over their artwork and why for the first time in their history their mascot Hector was dropped as he looked like a “sissy”.

EspyRock: The artwork for the album has stirred up a lot of controversy, what is the story behind the legal actions and reception of the Biohazard logo?

Johansson: "Well, again I disagreed with everyone else. But I’m just the drummer. We first had a cover with Hector and I really liked it but for some reason they didn’t and then a bunch of things happened. I remember thinking when I first saw the Biohazard cover 'Oh, no. It looks like the band Biohazard made an album called HammerFall!' Then they added these hands after someone from the Biohazard band freaked out and threatened to sue HammerFall. Luckily the music is good and maybe in the end that will be all right, I think so anyway. Maybe it was time to get rid of the same old stuff as I thought the previous albums all kind of looked the same but in the end hopefully it will be all good.

EspyRock: The departure of your mascot Hector which has caused a little backlash from fans. Why did you decide to remove him?

Johansson: "It was all because they didn’t like the cover with him. They thought he looked like a sissy as we had some guy posing with the helmet, it was a real photo. I liked it though. Maybe they were right…what if Hector looked like a sissy? It’ll be all ok in the end since it’s a strong album.

Read the entire interview here.