DragonForce

DragonForce are a British power metal band from London, formed in 1999. They are known for their long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-themed lyrics and retro video game-influenced sound. The band themselves refer to their music as "extreme power metal".

DragonForce's current lineup comprises founding members Herman Li and Sam Totman (guitar) alongside Marc Hudson (vocals), Gee Anzalone (drums), and Alicia Vigil (bass). The band have been through several lineup changes throughout their career; longtime members in vocalist ZP Theart, keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov, drummer Dave Mackintosh and bassist Frédéric Leclercq are among the former members of the band.

DragonForce has released eight studio albums, two live albums, one compilation album, one live DVD and one demo. Their third album, Inhuman Rampage (2005), was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI); its lead single, "Through the Fire and Flames", is their best-known song, and was featured in several video games, including Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. The lead single from their fourth album, "Heroes of Our Time", was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2009. DragonForce has been referred to as one of the "big four" bands of power metal, along with Helloween, Blind Guardian, and Sabaton.

DragonForce was founded in 1999 by guitarists Sam Totman and Herman Li along with singer ZP Theart under the name of DragonHeart. Totman and Li had both experienced being in a band previously, with both having come from the London-based black metal band Demoniac. Li found Theart through an advertisement in one of the studios in London. They soon acquired former Demoniac drummer Matej Setinc, bassist Steve Scott, and keyboardist Steve Williams. Setinc left the band in December 1999 to continue his studies in Slovenia, so the band hired Peter Hunt to record the drums for their demo album before finding Didier Almouzni. The band also parted ways with Scott, who left to join Shadowkeep, in 2000. Williams took a small break and then later rejoined the band as they recorded their first demo with Clive Nolan as a session member on the keyboards later that year, but left once again in December 2000, days ahead of the band's tour with Halford and Stratovarius to promote the demo, and formed his own band, Power Quest. Bassist Diccon Harper joined the band in November of that year, with keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov joining in February 2001 to complete the lineup for recording their debut studio album.

Although it was an independent release, their demo was enough to make them one of the UK's most popular independent power metal bands at the time. Their song "Valley of the Damned" was released as their debut single shortly after they changed their name permanently to DragonForce in 2002 (after finding out another power metal band already had the name DragonHeart). A promotional video featuring live footage from their tour around Europe was released along with the song. The song was also hugely successful on MP3.com, where it charted as the most downloaded song at No. 1 for 2 weeks. In 2002, the band signed to Noise Records and began recording their debut album, Valley of the Damned. Harper performed the bass tracks for the album but left the band in 2002 because of a tendon problem that required surgery. The title track, re-released in promotion of the album, is one of the best-known DragonForce songs to date and is a staple of their live performances to this day. The band's tour for Valley of the Damned lasted until 2004, with the tour ending in Tokyo, Japan.

DragonForce's second studio album, Sonic Firestorm, proved to be even more successful than their previous album, with the help of the album's lead single, "Fury of the Storm". Sonic Firestorm was the first DragonForce album to feature new bassist Adrian Lambert and drummer Dave Mackintosh. When Mackintosh entered the band in 2004, they began referring to their style of music as "extreme power metal" due to his fast blast beats and double bass rhythms. The tour was longer than the band's previous tour for Valley of the Damned and featured many more headlining shows. The band toured with many well-known metal bands such as W.A.S.P. and Iron Maiden. On the album, they also added a video commentary focusing on the making of Sonic Firestorm.

The band went mainstream with their third album, Inhuman Rampage, which was released on 28 December 2005 after signing with Roadrunner Records. The first song on the album, "Through the Fire and Flames", is perhaps their most famous song to date and is featured on the video games Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits and Brütal Legend, and as downloadable content for the Rock Band franchise. Former Demoniac frontman Lindsay Dawson appeared as a backing vocalist for the album. In November 2005, before the album's release, Lambert left the band to raise his newborn son, and the band enlisted Frédéric Leclercq for the remainder of the Sonic Firestorm tour. Leclercq later became an official member of the band in January 2006 following the release of Inhuman Rampage, and was also featured in the band's music video for their second single from the album, Operation Ground and Pound. The "Through the Fire and Flames" single later reached gold status in the USA and Canada.

DragonForce toured with Disturbed and Slipknot during the inaugural Mayhem Festival in 2008; the band then returned in autumn with the release of their fourth studio album, Ultra Beatdown. The album's lead single, "Heroes of Our Time", was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance on 3 December 2008, eventually losing out to Metallica with their song "My Apocalypse". A short version of "Heroes Of Our Time" is also featured in the video game Skate 2, and the full version in NHL 10. On 22 January 2009, the music video for their song "The Last Journey Home" was released to the Xbox Live Community a week before it was released online.