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Every year there are albums eagerly anticipated, be it from hot young names, established legends or – and this is usually the most exciting of all the categories – those bands you know are on the verge of greatness.
As DragonForce, the multi-national talent based in London – prepare to release their fourth album, nobody who understands the world of metal can have any doubt that ‘Ultra Beatdown’ (as the record is to be called) is most certainly being awaited with a real sense that we are about to witness a band going from being ‘potential international stars’ to becoming a ‘major global phenomenon’.
“Every album is different for us,” says guitarist Herman Li. “We never want to repeat what’s done before. And that makes each record we do that little bit more difficult. On this one, we rejected so much because it was going over old ground. We’d heard it before. We’re not a band who get stuck with a formula and are just content to repeat the same thing over and over again.”
‘Ultra Beatdown’ has three hard acts to follow. If ‘Valley Of The Damned’ established the sextet’s fearless credentials in 2003, then ‘Sonic Firestorm’ (’04) and ‘Inhuman Rampage’ (’06) each took them further forward. In fact, the last named has now sold in excess of 300,000 copies in America alone (and half a million worldwide), spawning the Gold single ‘Through The Fire And Flames’, thereby giving DragonForce the cachet of being the most successful new British metal act in America for two decades!
However, the ‘Force are not a band to feel the impact of any undue outside influences. All the demands come from within the tight-knit group of Li, fellow guitarist Sam Totman, vocalist ZP Theart, keyboard player Vadim Pruzhanov, bassist Frederic Leclercq and drummer Dave Mackintosh. Like all the great bands you care to mention, the pressure is internal and eternal, always pushing the band to improve and develop.
“You’ll find, for instance, that on this album we’ve been more varied in our pacing of songs. I’m not suggesting for a moment that we’ve really slowed right down. But, whereas in the past, you could say that things were fast all the way through, this time we made a real effort to be a little less frenetic throughout. I believe the approach works extremely well.”
One thing DragonForce have always been good at delivering are songs with a tremendous melodic depth. Whatever other qualities they have – and there are plenty – it’s this trait that long ago marked them out as a class apart from many of their peers. Name any giant of the genre over the past 40 years or so, and they’ve always possessed the ability to compose a cunning tune or several. The same applies here.
“There have been people who believe all we do is play fast. But to me, the most important part of any song is the melody. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far, but also feel this time it’s on a new level. Merely being fast isn’t enough to get you noticed and respected.” The process in creating the new album began an amazing 18 months ago, when the first ideas were thought through. Studio work began to get into the groove last October, with a brief break at the end of the year for The Black Crusade European Tour.
“We didn’t ever feel as if there was a time scale involved here. We just did whatever it took to make this the best album of our career to date. The way we’ve always done things means that what is written and demoed in the first place is rarely what we end up with in the studio. Our songs develop, evolve and change as we go along. It makes the studio an interesting place, because we’ll come up with new ideas all the time. “Lyrically, we’re taking a look at life and what goes on in the world, but doing this in the usual DragonForce way!”
The new record is once again produced by the tried and trusted team of Li, Totman and Karl Groom of British prog metalheads Threshold, basing themselves at both Li’s studio and Thin Ice Studios in Surrey, where Groom does much of his work. The two guitarists have been involved with all production since the first album along with Groom since their first demo.
“Our attitude is: why change what works for us? No producer could know better than the team of Herman Li, Sam Totman and Karl Groom what this band should sound like. If we had someone else as producer, then all we’d do is argue constantly, and then ignore them anyway! So, it would be a waste of everyone’s time. The day we bring in another producer will be the day that we have no ideas at all, and need help...actually, when that day arrives we’d split up! What would be point of continuing when we’re past our peak?”
‘Ultra Beatdown’ is the album to take DragonForce to a new height. It’s not merely the culmination of a decade crafting and finessing a sound that has made them instantly recognizable across the world. It’s not even state-of-the-art for metal, nor just a gantlet being thrown down for everyone else. This is more than that. It’s DragonForce beating a difficult, yet ultimately satisfying, path. Experimenting, taking risks, being bold – precisely what you’d expect any masters of their art.
“Is this the peak of our career? I don’t think so,” insists Li. “But it’s a further step forward. So far, there are six people who like ‘Ultra Beatdown’ – the members of DragonForce. And if we’re happy, then that’s all we can do. Hey, I can actually listen to what we’ve done here, and enjoy the experience!”
The rest of the world will follow. Just watch!
Malcolm Dome,
London, June 2008
03/07/2009 - THIS WEEKS TOP NEWS AND MEDIA Its been another busy week here on the news front here at Roadrunner HQ! We released The AMANDA PALMER DVD and the brand new offering ... 02/07/2009 - ASK THE ARTIST- DEZ (DEVILDRIVER)- THE ANSWERS We recently gave you the opportunity to put YOUR questions to Dez Fafara from DEVILDRIVER and we got a ruck of emails in with some ... 30/06/2009 - ASK THE ARTIST- HERMAN FROM DRAGONFORCE He's the God of Shred! He's a martial arts expert! He's Herman Li from the legendary DRAGONFORCE! And he as said he is more than ... 26/06/2009 - THIS WEEKS TOP NEWS!! Who put the week on fast forward?? It's freakin'Friday once again. Oh, hang on- THAT'S A GOOD THING! And here, as ever are the top ... 19/06/2009 - THIS WEEKS TOP NEWS AND MEDIA Owing to all of the RR staff being stuck in a field (AKA running around hooking up rucks of interviews before getting hideously drunk) last ... 18/06/2009 - DRAGONFORCE ANNOUNCE UK TOUR After bringing their fiery fretwork to Donington Park last weekend for a capacity Download Festival performance, DRAGONFORCE are set to play almost a MONTH of ... 17/06/2009 - ROADRUNNER TRIUMPHS AT THE METAL HAMMER GOLDEN GOD AWARDS Monday night saw the Metal Hammer Golden God Awards and thanks to you lovely people getting your votes in (THANK YOU!!!) Roadrunner Records made away ... 11/06/2009 - DOWNLOAD STAGE TIMES! PLUS SEE HOW YOU CAN GET THE BACKSTAGE GOSSIP!! It's almost time people!! Tomorrow DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2009 kicks off and this year, Roadrunner UK has a staggering ELEVEN bands on the bill, including the ... 03/06/2009 - EXTRA CAMPING TICKETS RELEASED FOR DOWNLOAD If you were one of those folks who had a ticket for DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL but had no camping sorted yet, you will be happy to ... 02/06/2009 - DRAGONFORCE'S VADIM REVIEWS CKY'S 'CARVER CITY' In the latest in our series of Roadrunner Artist reviews, DRAGONFORCE'S Vadim (keyboards) gives his two cents on label mate's CK 19/05/2009 - DEVILDRIVER & DRAGONFORCE ON DOWNLOAD FEST'S 'THE LOWDOWN' Psyched for DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL yet? We damn well are and so are DEVILDRIVER and 21/04/2009 - DAYS AND STAGES CONFIRMED FOR DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL Wondering when your fave Roadrunner bands are hitting the stage at this years DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL?? Then wonder no more. Here are the full deets on ... 07/04/2009 - VOTE ROADRUNNER IN THE METAL HAMMER GOLDEN GODS A plethora of Roadrunner artists are in the running for accolades at the 2009 Metal Hammer Golden Gods!!! If you would like to get your ... 01/04/2009 - HOGCAT = GOTCHA!!! Sadly, there will be no RR supergroup of members of Trivium, DragonForce, DevilDriver, Black Stone Cherry and Killswitch Engage performing at this years Download festival.It ... 01/04/2009 - HEAFY AND LI CREATED SUPER-GROUP TO PERFORM AT DOWNLOAD Matt Heafy TRIVIUM, Howard Jones KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, John Fred Young 25/03/2009 - TEN ROADRUNNER BANDS NOW CONFIRMED FOR THIS YEARS DOWNLOAD! It's another killer year for Roadrunner at DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL with TEN of our artists now confirmed for the fest! Stirring up the mosh pits and ... 17/03/2009 - MORE ROADRUNNER BANDS ADDED TO THE DOWNLOAD BILL Midnight last night saw yet more Roadrunner bands added to the bill of this years DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL. 20/02/2009 - KILLSWITCH ENGAGE ADDED TO DOWNLOAD LINE-UP KILLSWITCH ENGAGE are the latest ROADRUNNER act to be confirmed for DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2009!!! 12/02/2009 - TRIVIUM ANNOUNCED FOR DOWNLOAD 2009 A second wave of Download announcements just went live and we are happy to announce that TRIVIUM have been added to the bill to perform ... 10/02/2009 - SLIPKNOT CONFIRMED TO HEADLINE DOWNLOAD 2009! DEVLIDRIVER AND DRAGONFORCE ALSO CONFIRMED FOR THE BILL!! On last nights Zane Lowe show on Radio 1, SLIPKNOT'S Corey Taylor confirmed the band will be headlining this years DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL. Label mates
30/06/2009ASK THE ARTIST- HERMAN FROM DRAGONFORCE He's the God of Shred! He's a martial arts expert! He's Herman Li from the legendary DRAGONFORCE! And he as said he is more than ... 02/07/2009ASK THE ARTIST- DEZ (DEVILDRIVER)- THE ANSWERS We recently gave you the opportunity to put YOUR questions to Dez Fafara from DEVILDRIVER and we got a ruck of emails in with some ... 03/07/2009THIS WEEKS TOP NEWS AND MEDIA Its been another busy week here on the news front here at Roadrunner HQ! We released The AMANDA PALMER DVD and the brand new offering ... 26/06/2009THIS WEEKS TOP NEWS!! Who put the week on fast forward?? It's freakin'Friday once again. Oh, hang on- THAT'S A GOOD THING! And here, as ever are the top ... 19/06/2009THIS WEEKS TOP NEWS AND MEDIA Owing to all of the RR staff being stuck in a field (AKA running around hooking up rucks of interviews before getting hideously drunk) last ... 18/06/2009DRAGONFORCE ANNOUNCE UK TOUR After bringing their fiery fretwork to Donington Park last weekend for a capacity Download Festival performance, DRAGONFORCE are set to play almost a MONTH of ... 11/06/2009DOWNLOAD STAGE TIMES! PLUS SEE HOW YOU CAN GET THE BACKSTAGE GOSSIP!! It's almost time people!! Tomorrow DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2009 kicks off and this year, Roadrunner UK has a staggering ELEVEN bands on the bill, including the ... 12/02/2008DragonForce on Kerrang! TV Dragonforce - Operation Ground and Pound is on Kerrang! TV, selection number 666… check it out! 21/04/2009DAYS AND STAGES CONFIRMED FOR DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL Wondering when your fave Roadrunner bands are hitting the stage at this years DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL?? Then wonder no more. Here are the full deets on ... 25/03/2009TEN ROADRUNNER BANDS NOW CONFIRMED FOR THIS YEARS DOWNLOAD! It's another killer year for Roadrunner at DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL with TEN of our artists now confirmed for the fest! Stirring up the mosh pits and ... 17/03/2009MORE ROADRUNNER BANDS ADDED TO THE DOWNLOAD BILL Midnight last night saw yet more Roadrunner bands added to the bill of this years DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL. 02/06/2009DRAGONFORCE'S VADIM REVIEWS CKY'S 'CARVER CITY' In the latest in our series of Roadrunner Artist reviews, DRAGONFORCE'S Vadim (keyboards) gives his two cents on label mate's CK 17/06/2009ROADRUNNER TRIUMPHS AT THE METAL HAMMER GOLDEN GOD AWARDS Monday night saw the Metal Hammer Golden God Awards and thanks to you lovely people getting your votes in (THANK YOU!!!) Roadrunner Records made away ... 03/06/2009EXTRA CAMPING TICKETS RELEASED FOR DOWNLOAD If you were one of those folks who had a ticket for DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL but had no camping sorted yet, you will be happy to ... 12/02/2008DragonForce fan proposes to girlfriend at their show in Glasgow We all know DragonForce are awesome guys, but helping someone propose on stage?
Sam Totman, DragonForce guitarist, was there to lend a hand to one ... 12/02/2008Rhythm virtuoso Dave Mackintosh, fills us in on the Dragonforce UK tour. Dragonforce's rhythm virtuoso Dave Mackintosh has taken time out of his hectic schedule to update us on the bands current UK tour.
It's that time ... 12/02/2008ROCKWORLD.TV RUNNING DOWNLOAD 2007 INTERVIEWS This coming friday Rockworld.tv are running unseen interviews with a host of Roadrunner bands. Read their press release below for more info: Coming this weekend ... 12/02/2008I C VIDEOS Roadrunner are riding high in the Video-C Top Ten again, with Nickelback's Savin' Me' residing in the top spot! And that's not the only Nickelback ... 12/02/2008Total Guitar features the guitar solo of DragonForce's 'Through The Fire and Flames' For all you budding power metal guitarists, the current Total Guitar is the must have purchase, as it contains the solo to DragonForce's 'Through The ... 12/02/2008DragonForce's Frederick talks to metalpigeon.com DragonForce bassist Frederick talks to metalpigeon.com about the revival of the keytar, Disturbed, learning to play the bass, plastic swords and Sharon and Ozzy,
To ...
Ultra Beatdown Ultra Beatdown
Ultra Beatdown Special Edition Ultra Beatdown Special Edition
Heroes Of Our Time Heroes Of Our Time
Inhuman Rampage Inhuman Rampage
Live Shots Press Issue dated September 13th 2008 KERRANG! ISSUE 1227 Signings Zavvi Instore Signing, Ultra Beatdown release day, Monday 25th August 2008 Zavvi Instore Signing, Ultra Beatdown release day, Monday 25th August 2008 Zavvi Instore Signing, Ultra Beatdown release day, Monday 25th August 2008 Zavvi Instore Signing, Ultra Beatdown release day, Monday 25th August 2008
