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Post by Admin on Nov 12, 2014 23:50:07 GMT
There’s a moment in the video for “Through the Fire and Flames”, the 2006 Guitar Hero-fueled hit from English power metal group DragonForce, that broadcasts loud and clear what this band will never be. As guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman trade laser-perfect guitar solos, complete with a pop-up window that gives us close-ups of their acrobatic fretwork, Totman uses his downtime to methodically chug a beer. It’s an attempt to ground the band in the same punk-influenced, lunchpail ethos as its heroes in Iron Maiden. But it only belies the clinical nature of DragonForce’s approach. This group doesn’t perform. It executes. It makes metal songs that sound like metal objects. If Totman actually did have a few pints before ripping that solo, any trace of human error most definitely saw the cutting room floor. Yet in a way, you can’t help but root for these guys. While its sixth album, Maximum Overload, makes good on its title—stuffing 10 tracks with as many flawlessly played, Maiden-meets-Mario Kart guitar showcases as they’ll hold—it also contains a shimmer of that Steve Harris magic, where the preposterous becomes the triumphant, and you’re reminded that melodrama is an art form. “Three Hammers” is the band at its best, with vocalist Marc Hudson (his second album after taking over for original singer ZP Theart) lustily belting out a tale of three “guardians of light” who lead a kingdom against something evil so things can get back to normal and “the dragons will rise once again”. The music is appropriately over the top, with a solemn, finger-picked intro and plenty of choral synth patches. Storytelling problems like whether or not protagonists are actually the villains—what kingdom would want the dragons back?—just make the listening experience that much more fun. "We called it 'Maximum Overload' because it kind of describes the music and what's going on there," Marc told Rock Made Of Metal. "There's so much technical guitar playing and technical stuff thrown in there, vocals and everything, so we just thought 'maximum overload' kind of encompassed the whole thing of how ballistic we were getting on the album." He continued: "It's a really diverse album. There's lots of new influences in there. We've got a producer, Jens Bogren, who's been helping us with it, so he's brought some extra stuff to the table and Fred's [bassist Frédéric Leclercq] been doing some more songwriting. It seems to be getting very well received, so we're very happy." "Maximum Overload" was released on standard CD, standard digital version, special edition CD with five bonus tracks and a bonus DVD, special edition digital version (same bonus material as special edition CD), and vinyl. The effort features a couple of surprises, notably a guest appearance on some of the songs from TRIVIUM's Matt Heafy.
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Post by Admin on Dec 15, 2014 23:50:53 GMT
DragonForce, the second greatest band performing in the world today, will finally return to New Zealand in 2015. The greatest power metal heroes of our time will play in three Kiwi cities in February, supported by local group Red Dawn. Principal songwriter and former Wellington resident Sam Totman says: "We had a great show in Auckland eight years ago and were really cheesed off we never had time to return, so to come back with three shows, including a debut show in my old stomping ground of Wellington and another debut in Christchurch, is great news!" While I missed their last New Zealand show at Auckland's Powerstation in 2007, I've travelled to Australia to catch DragonForce twice since, firstly with ZP Theart as the singer and secondly with Marc Hudson. They're amazing to experience live. DragonForce founders Totman and Herman Li are both virtuoso guitarists and watching their interplay is mind-bendingly good. Vadim Pruzhanov is a demon on the keyboards and his keytar solos are always a blast. The 'Through the Fire and Flames' rockers are playing smaller venues on the 2015 tour which won't allow the energetic stage theatrics, trampolines, giant fans and awesome backdrops that have helped make their shows great. The intimate settings will emphasise just how incredible their musicianship is and front-row punters can examine the unbelievable fingerwork up close - although they may be burnt by sparks flying from the fretboards. It's been a great year for live music with Kiwi audiences treated to the likes of Queen, Anvil, Skid Row and the Rolling Stones. And now, already, the most important tour of 2015 has been announced.
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Post by Admin on Feb 13, 2015 23:22:35 GMT
British epic power metallers DRAGONFORCE will release debut DVD, "In The Line Of Fire", on July 10. Shot in high definition during the band's show at 2014’s Loud Park festival at the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan, the DVD was filmed using nine camera angles to capture the raw energy of DRAGONFORCE's show and instrumental dexterity for which they are rightly celebrated worldwide.
The track listing for "In The Line Of Fire" contains a mixture of new songs from DRAGONFORCE's latest album, "Maximum Overload", and foot-stomping anthems and lightning-fast shred-fests from previous releases.
"In The Line Of Fire" track listing:
01. Fury Of The Storm 02. Three Hammers 03. Black Winter Night 04. Tomorrow's Kings 05. Seasons 06. Symphony Of The Night 07. Cry Thunder 08. Ring Of Fire 09. Through The Fire And The Flames 10. Valley Of The Damned
DRAGONFORCE is in the middle of the "Maximum Overload" world tour, which commenced in September 2014 and is due to conclude in 2016. Commented DRAGONFORCE guitarist Herman Li: "We always held the opinion that if we ever did a DVD, we wanted to do it properly. Now, having released six studio albums, we thought we had a great cross section of material to pick from and we knew the facilities at Loud Park made it a great place to film a show. Everything just came together and we’re very pleased with the results and hope the fans will be also."
"Maximum Overload" was released in August 2014 in North America via Metal Blade and in Europe through earMUSIC, the Hamburg, Germany-based international rock label which is part of Edel Group. The CD was recorded at Fascination Street studios in Örebro, Sweden with Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with OPETH, THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, AMON AMARTH, KATATONIA, SOILWORK and SYMPHONY X, to name a few. It marks the band's first-ever album involving an outside producer, having historically opted to record themselves in association with Karl Groom.
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Post by Admin on Mar 18, 2015 23:20:25 GMT
DRAGONFORCE will release its debut DVD, "In The Line Of Fire", on July 10. Shot in high definition during the band's show at 2014’s Loud Park festival at the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan, the DVD was filmed using nine camera angles to capture the raw energy of DRAGONFORCE's show and instrumental dexterity for which they are rightly celebrated worldwide. The track listing for "In The Line Of Fire" contains a mixture of new songs from DRAGONFORCE's latest album, "Maximum Overload", and foot-stomping anthems and lightning-fast shred-fests from previous releases. DRAGONFORCE is in the middle of the "Maximum Overload" world tour, which commenced in September 2014 and is due to conclude in 2016. "Maximum Overload" was released in August 2014 in North America via Metal Blade and in Europe through earMUSIC, the Hamburg, Germany-based international rock label which is part of Edel Group. The CD was recorded at Fascination Street studios in Örebro, Sweden with Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with OPETH, THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, AMON AMARTH, KATATONIA, SOILWORK and SYMPHONY X, to name a few. It marks the band's first-ever album involving an outside producer, having historically opted to record themselves in association with Karl Groom.
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Post by Admin on Aug 5, 2016 19:30:25 GMT
Multi-national metallers DRAGONFORCE enlisted the help of Norwegian singer Per Fredrik Åsly, also known as PelleK, to front the band for their appearances this past weekend at the MetalDays (July 29 in Tolmin, Slovenia) and Benátská! (July 30 in Liberec, Czech Republic) festivals. Åsly was filling in for regular DRAGONFORCE vocalist Marc Hudson, who was forced to miss the dates due to "health problems/issues." Norwegian actor, composer and singer PelleK is best known in the rock and metal scene for his phenomenal vocal range which spans four octaves. In his native Norway, he has one of the world's biggest rock/metal channels on YouTube, with an impressive 200 million views and 1.6 million subscribers. He has also sung on video game soundtracks for Square Enix ("Final Fantasy", "Kingdom Hearts"), Riot Games ("League Of Legends") and has written songs for games like "Path Of Exile" and "Jelly Realms". DRAGONFORCE recently began recording the follow-up to 2014's "Maximum Overload" album at Fascination Street studios in Örebro, Sweden with producer Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with OPETH, THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, AMON AMARTH, KATATONIA, SOILWORK and SYMPHONY X, to name a few.
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