|
 VADIM PRUZHANOV, faux-ivory tickler for the shortly touring DRAGONFORCE, talks about their new album and watching children on the internet who can play DragonForce songs better than the band. TOM HERSEY tries to keep up.
Obviously, the kids can’t play DragonForce songs better than DragonForce, I was just being titillating. However, they have mastered the DragonForce song Through Fire & Flames on popular console game Guitar Hero III. Anyone who has played the game will know that the song, which is essentially the game’s final stage, is far from easy. However a YouTube search of “dragonforce guitar hero” reveals countless avid gamers (ie. nerds) who have mastered the song on expert, while the actual members of DragonForce struggle to play it on medium. “I’ve finished the song on medium but I think I only managed to get 10 right notes and Herman, the guitarist, has mastered it on easy,” says Vadim. “It’s unbelievable to see kids who are way younger than us play Through Fire & Flames on expert, without missing notes. It’s totally crazy.”
The popularity of DragonForce has even extended beyond their inclusion in video games. Their last album, Inhuman Rampage, a riotous blast of energy and sweep picking saw the band reach a new level of popularity, both as a band and within the power metal genre. July saw DragonForce as part of the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Tour, a massive American summer festival showcasing some of the most popular metal bands around. And DragonForce weren’t relegated to a mid-morning slot on a side stage either, they were the third-last on the main stage underneath only Slipknot and Disturbed. This is amazing considering DragonForce are so unashamedly power metal, generally regarded as the most geeky and unpopular of all the metals. Vadim too is blown away by the inclusion of his British power metal band on the otherwise American line-up. “I always thought we were playing a totally unpopular genre. I’m really surprised that people are getting in to us. It’s a good thing because we worked really hard and nothing really came easy to us. At the end of the day the fans can pick up on what’s good music and what’s not. We got big because the fans got behind our stuff.”
At this juncture in their career Vadim is clear that the sextet’s new album, Ultra Beatdown won’t disappoint the fans, who he speaks of with a degree of reverence. The fourth DragonForce album will be more of the same, with a few alterations to keep things interesting. “We haven’t really changed our style, people will still listen to the album and know straight away that it’s a DragonForce album, but we focused more on songwriting and the result stands out a bit more from the rest of our catalogue.”
The balance of Ultra Beatdown clearly distinguishes the work against the band’s prior efforts. The album as a whole benefits from a dynamic that really makes the record stand out as a DragonForce album, rather than a collection of songs. The end result is likely to have power metal fans grasping invisible oranges with a renewed sense of epic-ness and wearing shit-eating grins larger than Manowar’s muscles.
DRAGONFORCE play the Tivoli on Monday Oct 27 – tickets on sale now through www.ticketek.com.au. ULTRA BEATDOWN is available now through Roadrunner.
|
| Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged. |
|
Be first to comment on this article
