Threshold is the sixth studio album by the Swedish heavy metal band HammerFall. It was released in 2006 but on different dates for different countries. On October 18 in Sweden then on October 20 in Europe followed by France and the UK on October 23 and finally in the United States on October 31. The album entered the Swedish charts at number one, staying on the chart for eight weeks. This was the band's first No. 1 since Renegade in 2000. It is currently the last HammerFall studio album with the guitarist Stefan Elmgren and the bass guitarist Magnus Rosén, as Rosén left the band in 2007 and Elmgren left in 2008. The cover artwork was created by Samwise Didier. The guitar solo of "Howlin' with the 'Pac" is essentially a reworked version of the one from "Hearts on Fire". As with several songs on the previous album, the song "Dark Wings, Dark Words" is inspired by A Song of Ice and Fire. The song "Titan" seems to be inspired by the 2000 animated film, Titan A.E..
The song "Natural High" was made into a music video depicting Hector the Knight battling vampires in a decrepit castle; he managed to kill most of the vampires with his hammer, but one of them escapes, leaving Hector by himself. The video itself is a montage alternating between the band and the action, which is shot in live-action and complemented with CGI.
The song "The Fire Burns Forever" was also made into a music video.The band recorded it with some of the Swedish participants in the European Athletics Championships.
"The Fire Burns Forever" was also released as a single and only available as a download between August 6 and September 6 of 2006, exclusively at the iTunes music store and Nuclear Blast Musicshop. Hammerfall and the athletes also performed "The Fire Burns Forever" at the official opening of the Championships on August 6 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
