DragonForce

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This article is about the band. For the Saturn/PlayStation 2 strategy game, see Dragon Force.
DragonForce

DragonForce are a British power metal band formed in 1999.

History

DragonForce was formed in 1998 from the remnants of the band Demoniac under the name of DragonHeart, but they changed their name to DragonForce before releasing any commercial albums due to possible issues with Brazilian band Dragonheart. Their career began with the publishing of their early songs on the first incarnation of MP3.com, claiming the top of the site's heavy metal charts. The hit song "Valley of the Damned" reached over 500,000 downloads in the first few months. Two of the original members, Steve Williams and Steve Scott, left the band to form the power metal outfit Power Quest. Sam Totman also started a side project called Shadow Warriors featuring himself and ZP Theart. Sam has confirmed many times that Herman Li was not involved with Shadow Warriors.

The band's first successful song was "Starfire" from their debut album, Valley of the Damned. It was most noted because it starts off with a piano intro, which is atypical among DragonForce songs. DragonForce have released four studio albums and toured extensively while supporting Helloween, W.A.S.P. and Iron Maiden. Their 2005 tour in support of the Sonic Firestorm album included support from Angra and Mendeed during their passage through the UK. On October 28, 2005 bassist Adrian Lambert announced his departure from the band in order to focus more time on raising his young son[1] Less than a month after Lambert's departure, on November 23, 2005, DragonForce were signed to Roadrunner Records in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Australia and New Zealand, who released their third studio album, Inhuman Rampage on January 9, 2006. Lambert was replaced in 2006 by Frédéric Leclercq, who was made an official member after a performance on tour.

The song "Through the Fire and Flames" is featured in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and is generally considered to be the hardest track in the Guitar Hero series[2]. The developers used the song to demonstrate the game at E3. After Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was released, the band's music sales increased dramatically.[3] Their song being featured in the game has successfully placed the band into mainstream performances.

A new DragonForce album, titled Ultra Beatdown was released on August 26, 2008. This will be followed by an extensive North American tour through October with Turisas and then followed by a tour of Australia and the UK.

July 4th saw the release of DragonForce's first single from the new album, "Heroes of Our Time", released only on their MySpace page; however, it is also available on iTunes. The video for it was released on the band's official YouTube channel on July 9.

Musical style

DragonForce's musical style includes:

  • Emphasis on fast, twin-guitar harmonies in speed metal styles.
  • Lyrics of a fantastical or epic nature, with a hopeful and optimistic attitude, often with recurring themes and lyrical phrases in multiple songs
  • Lyrics which emphasize comradeship and hope
  • Use of multi-tracked backing vocals
  • Use of keyboards throughout songs
  • Video game-influenced melodies and noises

Although the band takes their musicianship seriously, they do not embody the themes in their music. In an interview with Metal Hammer, guitarist Herman Li has stated "Oh no, it's completely serious, we have fun doing it...".[4] DragonForce's influences are drawn from various kinds of metal such as melodic styles of rock, and in particular video games such as Wonder Boy in Monster World, and the Final Fantasy series,[5] with lyrics comparable to themes present in fantasy games. Also, on some tour dates the band has actually come onstage to the Donkey Kong Theme.

The band have frequently referred to their style not just as power metal, but as extreme power metal. Herman Li commented on descriptions of the band's style in an interview with Guitar World: "'Nintendo metal', 'extreme power metal', 'Bon Jovi on speed', 'Journey meets Slayer', ... people are always coming up with weird labels for us."[6] The band has often been labelled speed metal[7][8][9] due to the fast tempos present in their songs, but always as a supplement to other types of metal descriptors.

Tours

  • Valley of the Damned Tour 2003
  • Valley of the Damned/Sonic Firestorm Promotional Tour 2004
  • Sonic Firestorm Over Europe Tour
  • Sonic Firestorm Tour 2005
  • Meet the Sonic Firestorm Tour 2005
  • Sonic Firestorm in North America Tour 2005
  • Inhuman Rampage Tour - The First Strike
  • Inhuman Rampage World Tour 2006
  • Ozzfest 2006 Tour
  • Inhuman Rampage Over North America Tour
  • Inhuman Rampage Across Europe Tour
  • Inhuman Rampage Tour - The Second Strike
  • Inhuman Rampage World Tour 2007
  • No Fear Music Tour 2007
  • Inhuman Rampage World Tour 2007
  • The Black Crusade European Tour
  • Rockstar Energy Mayhem Tour 2008
  • North America Ultra Beatdown 2008

Band members

Current members

Former members

  • Adrian Lambert - Bass guitar, backing vocals (2004-2005)
  • Didier Almouzni - Drums, backing vocals (1999-2003)
  • Diccon Harper - Bass guitar, backing vocals (2001-2003)
  • Steve Williams - Keyboards, backing vocals (1999-2000)
  • Steve Scott - Bass guitar, backing vocals (1999-2000)

Discography

Main article: DragonForce discography

Template:Sound sample box align right

Soldiers of the Wasteland (sample)
A brief sample of the sixth track on the Sonic Firestorm CD.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

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Studio albums

References

  1. ^ Metal Hammer, November 2006, pg 40 "DragonForce interview"
  2. ^ Saltzman, Mitchell (2007-10-19). "The Hardest Guitar Hero Song Ever?". GWN.com. Retrieved 2007-10-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Snider, Mike (2008-02-14). "Band's sales are feeling the 'Guitar Hero' effect". usatoday.com. Retrieved 2008-02-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Metal Hammer, November 2006, pg 35 "DragonForce interview"
  5. ^ Metal-Temple.com Herman Li (Interview)
  6. ^ Guitar World, Holiday 2006, pg 72 "Hotter Then Hell"
  7. ^ http://www.pe.com/entertainment/stories/PE_Ent_Guide_D_soundtracks.204707.html
  8. ^ Entertainment - Juan Gabriel to play the Pond
  9. ^ Friday 07/07/06 Ozzfest 2006, Main Stage @ The Cricket Pavilion, Phoenix Arizona - GIGWISE

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to DragonForce.
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