Dragonforce
| DragonForce | |
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DragonForce in Indonesia in 2013. From left to right: Frédéric Leclercq, Dave Mackintosh, Herman Li, Sam Totman, Marc Hudson and Vadim Pruzhanov.
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | DragonHeart (1999–2002) |
| Origin | London, England, UK |
| Genres | Power metal, speed metal |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels | Roadrunner, Universal, Sanctuary, Spinefarm, Noise |
| Associated acts | Demoniac, Power Quest |
| Website | www |
| Members | Marc Hudson Herman Li Sam Totman Frédéric Leclercq Vadim Pruzhanov Gee Anzalone |
| Past members |
ZP Theart Steve Scott Diccon Harper Adrian Lambert Steve Williams Matej Setinc Didier Almouzni Dave Mackintosh |
DragonForce are a British power metal band based in London, England. Formed in 1999, the group are known for their long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-themed lyrics, and electronic sounds in their music to add to their retro video game-influenced sound. As of August 2014, DragonForce have released six studio albums, one live album, one live DVD and one demo.
DragonForce were founded in 1999 by guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman, under the name of DragonHeart. Totman and Li had both experienced being in a band previously, with both having come from heavy metal band Demoniac. The two later found vocalist ZP Theart through an advertisement, and 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, and was replaced by Didier Almouzni. The band also parted ways with Scott, who left to join Shadowkeep, in 2000. Williams took a small break then later rejoined the band as they recorded their first demo 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 that year, with keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov joining in February 2001 to complete the line-up for recording their debut studio album.
Although it was an independent release, their demo was enough to make them one of the most popular independent power metal bands in the UK 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 a huge success on MP3.com where it charted at No. 1 for 2 weeks as the most downloaded song. 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.
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