DRAGONFORCE's HERMAN LI: 'This Is The Happiest The Band Has Ever Been'

In a new interview with Chile's Power Of Metal, DRAGONFORCE guitarist Herman Li spoke about the band's latest addition, bassist/vocalist Alicia Vigil (VIGIL OF WAR). Alicia joined DRAGONFORCE in early 2020 as the replacement for longtime bassist Frédéric Leclercq, who left the band in August 2019.

"Every time there's a change of formation, it had to be done, for the band," Herman explained (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "Our old bass player, Fred — we love Fred, but he wanted to join one of his favorite bands, KREATOR, which is totally cool with us.

"Alicia's been the band for more than four years now, funny enough, so she's well established in the band now," Herman continued. "And we jell really well, we play really well together… But yeah, it's been great so far. I think this is the happiest the band has ever been, actually, together since I remember.

"I would say the happiest time I can remember a band is when they first start early in their career, when they still have that beginning, that dream that is coming alive in them. And right now we're just having a great time," Li added. "I have no complaints. I'm in the happiest time I've ever been."

Li also reflected on DRAGONFORCE's 25-year history, starting in 1999 when the band was formed under the name DRAGONHEART and released its first and only demo, "Valley Of The Damned", independently in 2000.

"Looking back, when we first started the band in 1999 — that was when we were called [DRAGONHEART], when we were making demos — we were just basically a band having fun," Herman said. "No thinking about having a career to do it. And then the first album came out in 2003, which was under [the name] DRAGONFORCE. I would say I've seen a lot throughout the last how many years now. And I think to become — I don't know — respected or legendary or whatever you want to call it… [Laughs] 'Legendary' sounds cool because we're called DRAGONFORCE. I don't think I'm legendary, just so you know. We use that word because it sounds epic. You have to go through the time where you get hated by people when you first come out and become famous. When you break through the scene and become well-known around the world, you have to get your time of getting hated by people, and then afterwards they go away, have kids or don't listen to metal anymore, get on with their lives, then you re-establish yourself as… You do what you do, you're never gonna go away. And we love what we do, and we have our unique way of doing it. That's kind of what you have to do. That's how I feel like. Yeah, you've gotta have ups and downs to know the path, the real path."

This past May, DRAGONFORCE teamed up with "Brawl Stars", a hit multiplayer mobile game with over one billion downloads, to celebrate a brand new character entering the game with a new song, "A Draco Tale", and music video.

DRAGONFORCE's latest album, "Warp Speed Warriors", was released in March via Napalm Records.

On "Warp Speed Warriors", DRAGONFORCE — composed of of guitar virtuosos and founding members Li and Sam Totman, singer Marc Hudson, bassist Alicia Vigil and drummer Gee Anzalone — explore a wider range of varying musical styles than ever before, evolving their sound throughout the exciting musical journey while still staying true to their roots.

"Warp Speed Warriors" was produced, mixed and mastered by Damien Rainaud at Mix Unlimited in Los Angeles, California with Sam Totman and Herman Li.

DRAGONFORCE's platinum-selling single "Through The Fire And Flames" brought the London-based Grammy-nominated extreme power metal group international acclaim and was featured as the most challenging song on "Guitar Hero III".

In March 2019, the "Through The Fire And Flames" music video reached a new milestone: it surpassed one hundred million views on YouTube — DRAGONFORCE's first music video to do so.

"Through The Fire And Flames" is the leadoff track from 2006's "Inhuman Rampage" album, which was officially certified gold in July 2017 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales in excess of half a million copies.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn