DRAGONFORCE Doesn't Want To Be Pigeonholed As "Power Metal' Band

September 12, 2006

Stuart Derdeyn of Canada's The Province reports that U.K. quintet DRAGONFORCE's "Valley Of the Damned" is another tour de force of super-tight, melodic hard rock with its tongue firmly planted in its cheek. Imagine BON JOVI fronting IRON MAIDEN played almost twice as fast and you've got what the group has dubbed "extreme power metal."

"Actually, we kind of try not to say that much anymore, because we don't want people to get the wrong vibe that we're into that whole old-style power-metal style," says guitarist Sam Totman. "For us, there are so many other things involved in our sound that we didn't want to get stuck into that category.

"I mean, it hasn't hurt either because all the shows are selling out."

Epic and bombastic, with operatic vocals a la classic JUDAS PRIEST or 'MAIDEN, power metal came to prominence in the eighties with European acts such as HELLOWEEN or EUROPE. Detractors have dubbed the highly melodic and fluid form "happy metal" for its lack of angry Cookie Monster vocals and angst-ridden riffage.

There certainly are elements of DRAGONFORCE's fast, stadium-ready tunes that will put a smile on your face. But you're likely to be air-guitaring along to Totman and Hong Kong-born guitarist Herman Li's lightning runs too.

"We've basically just put everything we listen to together into it. SLAYER is one of our favorite bands, so we've gone there and into thrash and death metal to keep the speed and aggression. But there is also the melodic hard rock of bands like BON JOVI that we wanted to keep in there, too."

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