Magnus Rosén

Magnus Rosén — born in Sweden in 1963 — was the bassist of HammerFall's classic line-up, a member between 1997 and 2007. His presence is an anomaly within the band's repertoire. HammerFall plays traditional heavy metal of direct structure, in which the bass normally performs a supporting function without standing out. Rosén plays differently: he uses a high register, independent melodic lines and high-speed passages, with a virtuoso approach closer to progressive rock than to the format he was working in. That tension between player and repertoire is precisely what makes his spell interesting. On the records he made — Legacy of Kings (1998), Renegade (2000), Crimson Thunder (2002) and Chapter V (2005) — the bass appears in the foreground with a frequency unusual for the genre, and live his presence was part of the show. He left in 2007 to devote himself to his own projects, where the instrumental language he practised had more room. He was replaced by Fredrik Larsson, the band's original bassist, who returned to the role.