Writing under the influence of Hammerfall

So, this being the first blog written here, I figured that writing about one of the things that created the Space Outlaws wasn't such a bad idea, no?

And yes, you read right: the Swedish metal band Hammerfall has influenced me far more than maybe I should admit.
True, what was initially needed for the Space Outlaws was the wonderful combination Ed, Edd n Eddy and Warhammer 40.000. And my wicked imagination. But, the story lacked purpose and the certain "je ne sais qoui" (which is French for "I dunno what is missing, but something is!") until roundabout summer 2000. Before that, if I recall correctly, I had managed to write the two first series of the Space Outlaws and anyone who has read them, will probably agree with me that the third one was much better, not only in terms of grammar (I was 14 at the time) but also in the way the universe got fleshed out. And another feeling or rather sense of wonder had entered it. At least that is my personal opinion.
It was during the summer of 2000 that I started writing the third, and as I naïvely thought, the last of the Space Outlaws series. And about the same time Hammerfall, a heavy metal band from my hometown, released their third album: Renegade. Having recently been converted to the cause of metal, I bought the album, as the music video for the title track was played in Swedish TV quite frequently, that in itself something noteworthy, as it did not happen that often that metal bands got so much recognition.

There was just something with the way Hammerfall wrote their songs that spoke directly to me. And as can be noted, a big chunk of the Space Outlaw stuff I wrote after the summer 2000, has a heavy influence of just the Renegade album.
And how could I not be influenced by titles and songs like Templars of Steel, Renegade, The Champion, Legend Reborn and The Way of the Warrior? I had found that special something that was missing from my Space Outlaw stories. I found a "purpose" with them.
And that purpose was to capture the feelin Hammerfall had in their music, of adventure and big battles, in writing. But also of a struggle without end. True, this sounds like something I can find in the Wh40k universe, and mostly it is, but there was this sense of wonder that just wasn't there, that Hammerfall's music possessed.
I know this sounds exceedingly intangible and abstract, but it is hard to pin down exactly what I was looking for and what I found in Hammerfall's music. It was just that "je ne sais qoui".

Anyway, their music started to influence my writing, and maybe it is most obvious in Tracks of the Wolf. Much of what happened in the early chapters was entirely ripped from the lyrics of several Hammerfall songs. Even the first chapter has a Hammerfall title: Legend Reborn. And the more I wrote, the more I felt that I had found this feeling I was after. And it was confirmed by the people who wrote to me about it, the few that did. Maybe not the Hammerfall feeling, but that they were getting a great story with great adventure and great heroes. I know that sounded very weird, but hopefully the point comes across.

It was after I wrote Number of the ED, a story entirely based on the Battle for Armageddon board game which also had the Hammerfall feeling to it, but much darker (a bit like Hammerfall's own development from Renegade to Crimson Thunder) and just after starting on Tracks of the Wolf that MaxJordan/Adam Baker contacted me about writing a potential fourth series of Space Outlaws. I read his synopsis and agreed on a collaboration between us, as I am a bit protective of the Outlaws.
However, as I wrote the fiurth series, known as Iron Men, and despite it having titles derived from heavy metal songs and each chapter starting with a qoutation from a famous heavy metal song, the feeling, that "Hammerfall feeling" started to seep out of the stories. Truth be told, it was Adam's service that some inkling of the original Outlaws remained, in terms of feeling. I had gotten a very gothic outlook on life since I started writing the Outlaws in early 2000. Thankfully, Adam steered me up at least in some manner.

However, I didn't realise what had happened until I went to a Hammerfall concert in January 2007. Standing there, in Scandinavium hockey hall, I was forcefully reminded of what the Space Outlaws was, and is, all about. I can write deeper meaning into them, which is what had happened, the stories had gotten too deep; and at the same time give people the time of their life when they read. And accompany this with the best art I can give.

The Outlaws are there to entertain, and always have been. At the same time, I want to feel I do what I like with them. I have to be honest with myself.

What this has to do with Hammerfall? They work in exactly the same way: they aim to entertain people with something they like.

Hopefully this rather peculiar first attempt at a Space Outlaws' essay has shed some sort of light. Dunno yet what the next will be about.