DRAGONFORCE „Valley OF The Damned”

Dragonforce, a London England outfit formerly known as Dragonheart (A name change came about to avoid confusion with other bands using the Dragonheart title), play up-tempo power metal at its technical best. Track 1 'Invocation Of Apocalyptic Evil' is a short 13 second intro, while 7 out of the 8 remaining songs are tremendously fast with melodic (and high at times) vocals from ZP Theart, intricate guitar interludes from Herman Li and Sam Totman, harmonic keyboards from Vadim and solid drumming from Didier. But the power metal formula from Dragonforce isn't all about speed and harmonics, as the guitar wizardry adds numerous progressive and classical elements throughout, check out the amazing guitar interplay during the solo on 'Black Fire' and the melodic opening of 'Black Winter Night' for some fine examples. The piano laden 'Starfire' is the olny pace-breaker from Dragonforce's assault, but it's still a superb track with majestic lyrics befitting their grandeur.

Following the success of their Valley Of The Damned demo on mp3.com which charted at number one and stayed there for two years – topping songs by Blind Guardian, Manowar, Steel Prophet and numerous others – Dragonforce get the chance to shine on a major label thanks to Noise Records/Sanctuary distribution. Dragonforce are easily one of the better new acts coming from the power metal scene, and they are emerging from a country where the genre was previously almost nonexistent. As of May 2003, songs from both their demo and Noise Records debut are available for download from mp3.com, and the service makes a great way to preview their music. Dragonforce are clearly a metal force on the rise! Also, be sure to check out the Noise Records Dragonforce section at the following web-address
(http://www.noiserecords.com/dragonforce).

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