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Prepare yourself for a gripping, exhilarating ride
when DragonForce release their much-anticipated US debut,
'Inhuman Rampage' on Roadrunner Records. The album's
title is an apt summation of a devastating musical journey,
an unstoppable force that the six-man group brings forth
on tour, leaving devastated cities in its wake. Combining
the primal force of Power Metal with hard-earned musical
proficiency, influences from band members' various cultural
backgrounds and generous quantities of muscular melody
in a unique style that they call 'Extreme Power Metal',
DragonForce have established themselves as THE premiere
international Heavy Metal export.
The summer of 2005 saw them sharing festival stages
with Iron Maiden and mounting a sold-out headline tour
of the UK generating pandemonium wherever they touched-down.
Intensive bouts of touring to accompany the band's first
two releases - 'Valley Of The Damned' in January 2003
and the following year's 'Sonic Firestorm'- has seen
their fan-base escalate in quite dramatic terms. Meanwhile,
the European metal press has swamped the band with almost
universal reams of adulation."DragonForce are getting
bigger. Prepare for the onslaught", Kerrang! Warned.
"DragonForce are as metal as f**k," roared
the UK's Metal Hammer, "They'll be enormous."
Writers and magazines from France, Greece, Finland,
Sweden, Holland, Japan and many more wasted little time
in falling under the band's spell. Perhaps the best
summation of all these accolades was Rock Hard (Germany)'s
prediction that: "DragonForce could become the
first British metal band in ages to reap respect from
all over the world." Against all odds, DragonForce
have single-handedly revitalized Power Metal in their
home base (the UK), awarding credibility to a genre
that, until their arrival, was regarded was little more
than a joke.
Clearly, plenty rides on 'Inhuman Rampage'. However,
instead of resorting to panic and watering down the
style of music that secured such a position of prominence,DragonForce
have gone further over the top than ever before. The
new album is faster, bolder and heavier - yet still
as stirring and distinctly accessible - as anything
they've attempted so far. "We've come up with the
ultimate formula," proudly declares Herman Li,
one half of the band's unstoppable guitar army. Combining
intensity, chaos and melody, with all the DragonForce
trademarks, it's something that's never been done before.
"For us, this is the next evolution in the DragonForce
sound, he continues. I've never heard an album that
sounds like 'Inhuman Rampage' - the title says it all!
It's seriously gonna blow some heads off around the
world during the next year."
The eight-song album was recorded at Thin Ice Studios
in Surrey and guitarist Herman Li's own studio in West
London, some of its guitar sections recorded in hotel
rooms while the band wound up the tour for 'Sonic Firestorm'.
Track titles like 'Through The Fire And Flames', 'Operation
Ground And Pound', 'Revolution Deathsquad' and 'Storming
The Burning Fields' leave the listener in no doubt of
DragonForce's malicious intent, and more importantly
their aversion to climbing the ladder of popularity
by selling out. Winner of the Dimebag Darrell Best Young
Guitarist award at Metal Hammer UK's Golden Gods, Li
and his six-string partner in crime Sam Totman have
never sounded hungrier nor eager to prove their worth.
From the start of each song to its exhausted finish,
notes fly from all angles.
The album ends with its sole ballad, 'The Trail Of Broken
Hearts,' though as Totman quite rightly points out:
"We still managed to squeeze three separate guitar
solos in." However, it is not shredding for shredding's
sake - keen to squeeze as many notes as possible into
certain songs, the pair has experimented with various
new textures and sounds on this albums.
"We wanted to keep things interesting, and there
are sections of certain songs that will remind you of
video games", grins Hong Kong-born Li. "Many
people will hear them and assume they were made by keyboards.
That's completely wrong. All those parts are done on
the guitar." Vadim Pruzhanov co-wrote several of
the album's songs (including 'Body Breakdown') and is
credited along with Li and Totman as a co-producer.
His dazzling keyboard runs are as daring and provocative
as anything performed on guitar frets. A Ukrainian by
birth, Pruzhanov is fast becoming known for lengthy
and insane solo excursions during the band's live shows
and has really come into his own on 'Inhuman Rampage'.
On the other hand, vocalist ZP Theart is already regarded
as the glimmering pearl in DragonForce's crown. South
African-born, Theart is the real deal - a stomping,
roaring, beer-swilling frontman who fronts the band
with passion and wit. Alongside Li and Totman, Theart
was a co-founder of DragonForce. The trio met in London
in September 1999, using the name DragonHeart for their
initial two years of existence. Shortly thereafter,
drummer David Macintosh joined the fold. Most recently,
DragonForce have added bassist, Frederic Leclercq, from
the French Power Metal band, Heavenly. Quick to realize
the possibilities of the internet, the band posted a
set of demos at their website (www.dragonforce.com)
and were rewarded not only by half a million downloads,
but the interest of Sanctuary/Noise Records in the UK.
Early support slots on tour with Halford and Stratovarius
in the UK, plus the timely recruitment of a superior
rhythm section molded a professionalism to match their
commitment. Before too long the group were placed on
the launching pad of international success. The sextet
toured Europe, South East Asia and the Far East to promote
the debut album, and before too long, critics were queuing
up to praise DragonForce's fusion of modern melodic
power metal, the energy of speed metal and the confident,
in-your-face delivery of bands twice their age. From
day one, the band's goal was to establish an identifiable
style all of their own.
To an outsider, the lyrics may seem to tell otherworldly
tales of sword-wielding warriors occupying distant battlefield
plains, but strip away the fantasy imagery and a message
of modern-day positivity is right there under your nose.
But most of all, DragonForce's success is attributable
to musicianship and perhaps their most under-played
asset of all - a skill for composing ultra-memorable,
rabble-rousing heavy metal anthems. 'Inhuman Rampage'
offers indisputable proof.
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