DragonForce
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DragonForce-members.jpg
DragonForce is a power metal band from London, United Kingdom.
They play an upbeat and positive style, and exemplify some of the defining characteristics of the power, speed and melodic metal genres, including:
- Very fast, up tempo songs
- Highly technical guitarwork
- Fantasy Lyrics and "epic" melodies
- Soaring vocals and some subtle choirs/harmonies
On their first album, Valley of the Damned, the band played an extremely epic-sounding, yet surprisingly fast and technical Melodic Power Metal. However, on their second release, Sonic Firestorm, the band integrated even more advanced guitar techniques and with the arrival of ex-Bal-Sagoth drummer Dave Mackintosh, for the first time in history of Power Metal, we could see the classic Death Metal drumming technique known as "blast beat" merging with the already over-the-top Power Metal antics. This new fusion created a genre fronted by DragonForce (and actually solely played by), called Extreme Power Metal.
The band's music is favoured by many around the world, especially those who enjoy the sometimes "over-the-top" and self-admitted cheesy lyrics which Dragonforce sing. They claim that their music is not produced to be wholly serious, but to have a good time. They have stated that they base their music on fantasy-related materials such as "Wonderboy in Monster World", a game for the Sega Megadrive console. Obvious streaks of epic-sounding "almost-orchestral" tones can be heard all throughout their music, especially in their first album, and reminds some of The Lord of the Rings soundtrack's type of ecic symphonic melodies.
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Biography
The band originally formed under the name of DragonHeart, but changed their name to DragonForce before releasing any commercial albums due to possible trademark issues. They began their career by publishing their songs on the first incarnation of MP3.com, and for years stood on the top of the metal charts. They have subsequently enjoyed increasing popularity, publishing two albums and touring extensivly, their most recent tour included fellow power metal band Angra in support.
Current line-up
- ZP Theart - Lead Vocals
- Herman Li - Lead/Rhythm Guitars & Backing Vocals
- Sam Totman - Lead/Rhythm Guitars & Backing Vocals
- Adrian Lambert - Bass & Backing Vocals
- Vadim Pruzhanov - Keyboards & Backing Vocals
- Dave Mackintosh - Drums & Backing Vocals
Former members
- Didier Almouzni - Drums
- Diccon Harper - Bass
Discography
- Valley of the Damned (Demo) (2000)
- Valley of the Damned (2003)
- Sonic Firestorm (2004)
External links
- Official DragonForce website (http://www.dragonforce.com)
- Official DragonForce discussion forum (http://forum.dragonforce.com)pl:DragonForce