Biography

Introduction

DragonForce are an English Grammy-nominated power metal band from London, England, formed in 1999. They are known for fast guitar solos, fantasy-based lyrics, and electronic sounds in their music to add to their retro video game influenced sound.

History

DragonForce was formed in 1999 by singer ZP Theart, bassist Steve Scott, guitarists Sam Totman and Herman Li, drummer Didier Almouzni, and keyboardist Steve Williams. Sam Totman and Herman Li had former experience in the band, Demoniac. Initially the band intended to call themselves "DragonHeart", but found that a band with this same name already existed. They played with Stratovarius and Metal Church in Finland. The band underwent various lineup changes before settling with the six current members. The band was introduced to the mainstream with their album Inhuman Rampage in 2006. The album featured "Through the Fire and Flames" and "Operation Ground and Pound" which are the band's biggest hits yet to date. Lindsay Dawson of Herman Li and Sam Totman's former band, Demoniac, appeared as backup vocalist for this album. Their song "Through the Fire and Flames" is one of their most famous songs and is featured on the game "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock". The first track and first single, "Heroes of Our Time", from their latest album, Ultra Beatdown, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance on December 3, 2008, losing out to Metallica with their song "My Apocalypse" from their album "Death Magnetic" . "Heroes Of Our Time" is also featured in the video game Skate 2.. On January 22, 2009, the music video for their song "The Last Journey Home" was released to the Xbox Live Community.

DragonForce will carry out the Ultra Beatdown Tour in Latin America, North America and Europe. They were supposed to play in Latin America in May 2009, but the tour was postponed to late 2009. They will first perform at the Two Days a Week Festival in Weisen, Austria on September 4. Then, they will perform in several cities of Canada and United States from September 15 to October 11, with special guests Sonata Arctica and Taking Dawn. The next tour will be in Germany, from October 16 to October 30, followed by a single live performance in Luxembourg on October 31. Then, they will go to Latin America to perform in Mexico City, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Porto Alegre, Curitiba and São Paulo, from November 6 to November 14. The final part of the tour will be entirely in the United Kingdom, from November 19 to December 12.

Band members

Current members

ZP Theart - lead vocals (founder)
Herman Li - lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals (founder)
Sam Totman - lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals (founder)
Vadim Pruzhanov - keyboards, backing vocals (2001-present)
Dave Mackintosh - drums, percussion, backing vocals (2004-present)
Frederic Leclercq - bass and additional rhythm guitars, backing vocals (2006-present)

Former members

Adrian Lambert - bass guitar (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)

Musical Style

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." The band has often been labelled speed metal due to the fast tempos present in their songs, but always as a supplement to other types of metal descriptors.