DragonForce is a power metal band from London. Their style is upbeat and positive, and exemplifies some of the defining characteristics of the power metal genre, including:

• Very fast tempo songs
• Highly technical guitarwork
• Fantasy Lyrics

On their first album, Valley of the Damned, the band played a classic, yet surprisingly fast and technical Melodic Power Metal, in the vein of the Finnish Melodic Power Metal wave fronted by bands Sonata Arctica and Nightwish. However, on their second release, Sonic Firestorm, the band integrated even more advanced guitar techniques and with the arrival of ex-Bal-Sagoth drummer Dave Mackintosh , for the first time in history of Power Metal, we could see the classic Death Metal drumming technique known as "blast beat" merging with the already over-the-top Power Metal antics. This new fusion created a genre fronted by DragonForce (and actually solely played by), called Extreme Power Metal.

Biography

The band originally formed under the name of DragonHeart, but changed their name to DragonForce before releasing any commercial albums due to possible trademark issues. They began their career by publishing their songs on the first incarnation of MP3.com, and for years stood on the top of the metal charts. They have subsequently enjoyed increasing popularity, publishing two albums and touring extensivly, their most recent tour included fellow power metal band Angra in support.

Current line-up

• ZP Theart - Lead Vocals
• Herman Li - Lead/Rhythm Guitars & Backing Vocals
• Sam Totman - Lead/Rhythm Guitars & Backing Vocals
• Adrian Lambert - Bass & Backing Vocals
• Vadim Pruzhanov - Keyboards & Backing Vocals
• Dave Mackintosh - Drums & Backing Vocals

Former members

• Didier Almouzni - Drums
• Diccon Harper - Bass

Discography

• Valley of the Damned (Demo) (2000)
• Valley of the Damned (2003)
• Sonic Firestorm (2004)

External links

• Official DragonForce website
• Official DragonForce discussion forum