DragonForce

About

DragonForce^[1] is a British power metal band from London, England. The band is famous for their lengthy songs, crazy guitar and keyboard solos, and fantasy-themed lyrics. DragonForce has released six studio albums and one live album since 2002.

History

In September 1999, guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman and singer ZP Theart formed the band “Dragonheart”. By the time the band was renamed to “DragonForce” in 2002, the band had increased to six members including bass player Dicon Harper, keyboard player Vadim Pruzhanov and drummer Didier Almouzni.

Inhuman Rampage

Inhuman Rampage is DragonForce’s third studio album and the band’s most popular album to date. It was released worldwide on January 9, 2006 with three singles from the album released later: “Through the Fire and Flames” on August 3, 2006, “Operation Ground and Pound” on January 6, 2007 and “Revolution Deathsquad” in 2007. “Through the Fire and Flames” is still the band’s number one song to this day. The official music video for the track, although shorter than the officially released song, can be found on DragonForce’s YouTube channel. The video has earned more than 63 million views since it was first uploaded back on December 26, 2006. There is a well-known point in the video in which Herman Li snaps one of his guitar strings.

On February 13, 2007, a special edition of Inhuman Rampage was released with the extra track, “Lost Souls in Endless Time”.

Video Game Presence

DragonForce gained a lot of extra popularity in 2007 when their song, “Through the Fire and Flames” was featured as a bonus playable track in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. It became a hit with countless Guitar Hero players for its extreme level of difficulty when played on “Expert” difficulty. There many videos on YouTube of expert players playing the song; some with 100% accuracy. The two videos linked here have earned more 17.9 million views and 5.6 million views each.

“Through the Fire and Flames” is also featured in Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, Brutal Legend, and was also available as downloadable content for the Rock Band franchise. Four other songs were included in the Guitar Hero franchise as well: “Operation Ground and Pound”, “Revolution Deathsquad” and “Heroes of Our Time” are available for download for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Guitar Hero III, and “Fury of the Storm” can be played in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.

A short version of “Heroes of Our Time” was featured in Skate 2, and a full length version can be found in NHL 10.

I Love Bell Peppers!

I love bell peppers! is a YTMND fad featuring Iron Chef's chairman Takeshi Kaga biting proudly and enthusiastically into a bell pepper or other various vegetables/fruits/objects, also having his face replaced by many others faces, mostly from well-known YTMND characters, having a short loop of the scene while the Dragonforce 2004 Fury of the Storm song is playing in the background.

ZP Theart's Departure

On March 8, 2010, DragonForce’s record label (at the time), Roadrunner, announced that ZP Theart parted ways with the band due to “insurmountable differences of musical opinion”, and that auditions would be held to search for a new lead singer. A day later, the band confirmed this news on their website, and provided a link to request an audition. On March 2, 2011, DragonForce announced their new lead singer, Marc Hudson, who performed with the band for the first time later in August 2011. Hudson would be the lead vocalist for the band’s two most recent albums The Power Within (2012) and Maximum Overload (2014).

As it currently stands, the band’s line up is:

• Marc Hudson – Lead Vocals
• Herman Li – Guitar, Backing Vocals
• Sam Totman – Guitar, Backing Vocals
• Frédéric Leclerq – Bass, Backing Vocals
• Vadim Pruzhanov – Keyboard
• Gee Anzalone – Drums

External References