Fun fact: power metal is somewhat popular in Latin America. Bands like Hammerfall, Rhapsody, Helloween and Sonata Arctica have even played in my city (Cali, Colombia) which rarely gets international shows.
in latin america, Angra, Turisas and tons of other power metal band have been ther esince early 1990s so yeah we know : you even have the BET singer of power metal, the singer of HiBRiA and now he is also in ETERNITY'S END
@@chrisnorman1902 latin is very melodic, goes well with power metlal, no wonder some of europe's biggest bands are latin, like Mago de Oz.. the Rhapsody songs in italian are genius
It was all because of guitar hero I knew this band. It was till the release of the album Ultra Beatdown when I started to really listen to Dragonforce.
I will also say this, they are super nice dudes. I have known Herman for years (although it has been a while now as he is living in the US). I met him at a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class a looong time ago, I was already a big DF fan and tried not to nerd out on him too much. He couldn't have been nicer, ended up getting me into their shows, going to other bands shows, hanging out at clubs and using me as a dummy for a martial piece in Metal Hammer. Literally 0 ego with them, which clearly shows in all aspects of the band.
Herman Li is a huge part of what makes this band what it is and his youtube/twitch streams id wager bring in a lot of new fans. hes just a great guy to listen to.
Wild I'm getting misty eyed thinking about dragonforce for the first time in years. My friends and I listened to them and Sonata Arctica as freshman in HS religiously, even performed Black Fire at the talent show one year!
I love dragonforce. My kids are getting into metal (they are 8 and 10) and when something like power of the triforce came out that really pushed them over the edge into the fun world of powermetal. Another powermetal band I really like, from Canada of all places, is Unleash the Archers.
I was at Dragonforce gig a few weeks ago in the uk. There were guys in their mid 30s, like me, older metal fans, kids were there, WOMEN! It's probably the most diverse metal crowd I've been in. They killed it.
This video came at a great time. I have never been a fan of power metal, but I have enjoyed some DragonForce tracks in the past. I recently did a deep dive into their full discography, and I'm actually a bigger fan than I thought. Valley of the Damned, Heroes of Our Time, Black Fire, Defenders, Cry For Eternity, are all absolute bangers.
I was a huge power metal nerd in 2006-2012 about haha. I'm 39 now and my tastes have changed a lot over the years, but these gusy bring me back to very happy times in college and helped get me through rough times in my life including the death of my mother. Love bands like Kamelot, Sonata Arctica, Blind Guardian and Helloween still! Out of all these bands, I think Blind Guardian and Helloween have held up the best.
Nightfall in Middle Earth and Keepers part 1 and 2 are masterpieces of unfathomable height. Also, an important note: most power metal bands were self-aware of their goofiness, to the point of parody, since the 80s. Take a look at Rise and Fall from Helloween or Blind Guardian's covers for Surfin' USA and Mister Sandman.
@@Hobbiiihorsah And I almost forgot entirely Edguy with the likes of "Lavatory Love Machine", which (for the love of god) is already 20 years old. Now that I come to think of it, there isn't a single genre in metal with such levels of self-awareness as to how ridiculous and AWESOME its music is.
You should definitely interview Herman Li. I remember him doing a cool interview with Anthony Fantano several years ago that went into some of the business/marketing side, so it would totally be within your wheelhouse.
I've been watching Herman's UA-cam content for years now just because of him. He seems like a pretty cool, open-minded dude and you don't get a lot of that in metal. I'm not big on Dragon Force but they ARE undeniably talented. Anyhoo, this was unexpected! ...but I like it. 😎👊
Best things they did was when Herman and Sam were "creating other bands songs in 10 minutes." That whole series is absolute gold and really amplifies how much they treat their own music and genre as an out of hand joke.
@@maxhalley4373 if you search "dragonforce 10 minutes" the playlist of all the videos come up. They did Rammstein, Amaranth, Amon-Amarth, Nightwish, Alestorm, Sabaton, pop-punk amongst others. They're genuinely brilliant. Sam Totman just gets more and more drunk as they go along and the songs are always brilliant. It's basically Sam doing all the work and Herman placing a one-take guitar solo in the middle of an instrumental bit
I saw Dragonforce open for Killswitch Engage before the whole guitar hero thing and im pretty sure I was one of the only people that was there to them and not Killswitch. Jaw dropping to see them play that shit live
Same here, saw them opening for Machine Head, right between Arch Enemy and Trivium (whoever put that tour together must have been drunk af 😅)... it was hilarious. Although I'd say they did deserve their reputation for putting fun first & precision second in those days, I'll never forget the keyboarder falling over with his keyboards mid song.
Had a similar moment of this with megadeth when they did Gigantour. It was right after Hanger18 was on GH2. The crowd went from almost capacity to 1/3 of what it was after that song… my drunk ass screaming obnoxiously about all the posers😅😅 cheers to 8 years sober cause😅😅
@AvB.83 I love when bands just have fun. Alestorm was jealous of Gloryhammer having epic battles and sorcery, so they decided to "try out a new bit" where one of the techs came out with a watering can strapped to his head and poured "rum" into the mouths of the players while playing the song "sadly i cant remember the song they played. Hopefuly Rum). Whether it was actually rum or just water, it was so damn funny 😂 they ended the song and claimed that their instruments were all sticky and they would not be doing that bit again.
I’ve loved dragonforce for over a decade now, and I’m so so excited to finally have the chance to see them live! They’ve been a huge musical inspiration to me, and were one of my earliest motivators to learn to play guitar. Though I’ve loved their music, I didn’t really follow them as people, so it’s cool to see their history summed up here! Cool video
I cannot believe that you don't think other power metal bands have hooks. Power metal is probably the catchiest metal subgenre there is and all of the genre staples are filled with catchy guitar melodies and sing along choruses.
Well, Finn is known for his attitude towards what would be considered a "real" metal of the 70s and 80s. So I would not be surprised if he never heard a chorus from any Blind Guardian song, yet he knows that those "funny European" bands have no hooks.
@@Tesswrench111 alot of power metal is a little too in love with its lore and it's imagery, and the music rarely feels contemporary in anyway, it is almost always in debted to the past musically and thematically
im generally more into technical and melodic death metal now but dragonforce will always have a special place in my heart. i remember back in like 2011 i was 19/20, not working and with infinite free time and id just be stoned out of my mind playing wow and having all of their albums on a big loop playing in the background
I remember being at a bar in London with friends and a few of the band were their drinking. This was before they really blew up. I had no idea who they were but they were really friendly and were quite happy to chat with people who knew who they were and have a drink.
I have an older brother who plays guitar. Hes always been a metalhead but got into Prog Rock/ Power Metal when we’re in Highschool. We shared a wall growing up. NGL it was maddening hearing him trying to learn to these complex/technical riffs like the opening to Rhapsody’s -Emerald Sword. When GH dropped a year or so later it turned up to eleven.lol.
I first discovered Dragonforce from the old RedvsBlue website on their forum section. I was pretty active in the metal community there and one member who I chatted with frequently sent me the UA-cam link and said “you are gonna love this” And I did! I still listen to them regularly. One of my favorite bands of my late teenage years.
These guys singlehandedly defined the public perception of power metal. Everyone equates power metal with long, technical, fast shredding songs specifically because of these guys, when most power metal hasn't been like that since near its inception
Saw them live with Between the Buried and Me. I was there for DragonForce, most of the crowd was there for BTBAM. it was a very strange mix of people. Fun show though! DragonForce was having a blast and you could feel their good vibes coming off the stage. Great live show!
The funniest part is Through the Fire and Flames isn't even part of the regular Guitar Hero Playlist. It's unlocked 🔓 once you've hit expert rank or the end of the game. 😅
It’s been absolute years since I played it but don’t you beat the devil playing “the devil went down to Georgia” and once you’ve beaten him it unlocks dragonforce? What a game.
Mormon theatre kids at my high school introduced me to Dragonforce (prior to Guitar Hero)... I guess it was the only 'extreme' music they were allowed to listen to. No idea how they discovered them.
i've been saying it for 20 years. Sam Totman is a melodic genius. Underneath all the shred and sweep tapping are solid chords and solid melodies and that's why Dragonforce stands out
Being 63 years old, powermetal was what we called Iron Maiden and Metallica back in the 80's because it was different from Hair bands, like Motley Crue and Judas Priest. I have vaugely heard of Dragonforce, but couldn't tell you who they were or what they did. I think they are BabyMetal's touring band right now, as the West Kami Band. Listening to the stuff in this video reminds me a bit of BabyMetal, which I like, especially the early stuff with Mikio Fujiota. I guess I will go back and check some of this stuff out.
These vids are so well done I’m surprised a network like MTV or VH1 haven’t tried contacting you to host these on their networks as an hour long show/series. Keep up the great content 🙌🏻
been listening to rock and metal since high school in the 90s but when I first heard Dragonforce on guitar hero it BLEW MY MIND. I bought the album immediately, then bought the rest of their albums. I love the genre and highly recommend Sonata Artica, Manowar, Helloween, Blind Guardian, Gloryhammer and Avantasia to anyone who likes rock or metal. Good for chilling, gaming, as a background for reading fantasy/manga or lifting. Its a fun upbeat change from our normal stuff.
I remember back in like 2004 I tried downloading Dragonforce but came across Dragon Heart with their album Throne of the Alliance. I loved playing that record while playing Golden Axe.
Saw em live in 2021 for the first time and they hold a spot in my Mount Rushmore of live performances. Between Hermin Li dropping the solo for TtFatF then looking at the crowd then shrugging it off and the "Fuck Detroit" chant it was a good time. They where wholesome and great fun the entire night.
I have seen this Dragonforce 5 times in the last 3 years. They are truly great and with tons of talent, and to see them embrace the camp and become even more successful has been amazing. Been following for over ten years now, and while I hate that some of their discography with marc will go overlooked which I think is their best work (Information overload, reaching into infinite, etc., ) I take catharsis knowing they are having fun and making legitimately epic music.
I still remember Herman's stint in UK grindcore band labrat best known for their hit "Clint Eastwood is very hard innit". Labrat back then played shows with million dead which featured Frank Turner, and where we are now 20 years later 😂
This band is much different than many other metal bands when it comes to personality and attitude. They stay away from creating drama (hence we don't know and will never know why singer left), they don't gatekeep, they don't sue (they could sue to get royalties for Guitar Hero, right? 🤷), they share their music and love not only fans who listen to it but fans who play their songs (Herman Li reacts to musicians playing their covers, really cool). They understand modern media (games, UA-cam, music streaming). Despite their genre is stuck in the past of power metal, the band itself evolves and knows how to present it to new fans. This is skill that many bands don't have. Last but not least - these guys have lots of distance to what they do and having fun doing it. It isn't my favourite band (I'm not much into power metal) but have lots of respect for what and how they do and many bands (especially those dramatic ones) could learn a lot from them.
As you say near the end of the video, I got GH3 for Christmas the year it came out and literally 4 months after that I was asking my parents for a real guitar. Crazy how influential that game was
Valley of the damned is such a good album I remember my friend and I listening to that and sonic firestorm back in the day playing this weird online rpg called well of souls. When they got a track on guitar hero it blew our minds how popular the band became after that
I go to a lot of shows, and man did Dragonforce deliver last year when I saw them in NYC. Showmanship, crowd energy and pulling off all their technical playing live. Would see them again in a heartbeat. Just lean into the campiness and enjoy yourself. And loved the Intervals shoutout at the end. Just saw them last week; easily top 3 favorite bands for years, even if it's just Aaron writing.
Dragonforce was THE band that introduced me to metal. I first heard TTFAF when I was 12 funnily enough from a game on roblox (back when dmca wasn't as bad). I was instantly hooked and became a huge fan, went out and bought a guitar and gh3 which then introduced me to One by Metallica which became the band that truly made me fall in love and fully dive into metal so DragonForce and Herman Li as a guitarist will always hold a special place in my heart.
I remember listening to Dragonforce for the first time by looking for Stratovarius songs. I went to Windows Media player and found the Valley of the damn instantly hooked. 20 years later and still love listening to them
I first discovered DragonForce in 2007 on my friend Alex’s MySpace page. Fury of the Storm was playing on his page as his song and I always paused it. One day I couldn’t pause it and heard the whole thing and was like YOOOOOO they became my favorite band and I got every album after on my iPod.
Wow this was a great trip down memory lane! I have always been more into metalcore but my highschool metal posse was big into power metal (Europe indeed..), the likes of Hammerfall, Blind Guardian, Sonata Arctica and the likes. I did join them to Dragonforce just for the event and really, really liked the show! 2nd shows I went they had a new supporting act called Sabaton that I also didnt know till that day.. times have changed since!
The reason maximum overload and reaching into infinity are so different and darker from the rest of the catalog is because of then bassist Frédéric Leclercq (now with Kreator). Sam gave him way more writing freedom and though those albums were incredible, I am pleased to see them come full circle back to the fun Dragonforce
I think I discovered the song Through the Fires and Flames through a Guitar Hero-ish online game named Jam Guitar that can be played with a keyboard and a mouse. Love this song ever since
I remember them since the first demo as Dragonheart. I was listening to power metal back then at the end of the `90s. My friends and I were quite amazed by their speed. And I was even more impressed when I saw them a decade later live on the Masters of Rock festival - still technical, yet a great and funny show.
GH3 played a HUGEEE part of me getting into metal. I was 10 and my friends older brother was a metalhead and had it. Killswitch engage is what sold me on metal. Thank god I got to experience this. Man I really miss the early 2000s…. Things were just better.
I loved them since i was a child, all of their music was a true inspiration for me to do anything, including starting to play guitar and becoming better at it. I think you should give more credit to Sam, he is a musical genius when it comes to compose!
I do remember that at beginning of 2000 (no Spotify or UA-cam around yet) I was starting searching music on internet... and a song called "Black Winter night" suddenly showed up and I got excited!... I was a heavy/power metal kid back then and I got surprised by their sound but was hard to get music from overseas back in the day.... years after that when the "Guitar Hero" was born it was easier to get music from this guys .... so cool they "made it" somehow :) Hey! power metal is a big thing in Latinoamérica BTW
I remember that time: "Through The Fire And Flames" wasn't even playable in the "story"-mode of guitar hero III, but the first song of the outro (not before, but AFTER you beat the devil 😁). Herman Lee is an impressive guitar player! "Nintendo-core" is a beautiful expression. Oh, and I started playing guitar some years before and played guitar hero on the PC-keyboard.
I discovered Dragonforce back in 2006 through a work friend who played in a Christian metalcore band of all things. He asked if I’d heard of them and described them as “cheesy, but fun.” So I went on this new thing called UA-cam and found their video for “Operation Ground and Pound.” It blew me away and I quickly went out and bought the cd. I consider myself a fair weather fan as I listen to about half of the album. I got Ultra Beatdown when it came out and like it about the same as the previous album. When ZP left, I was done. “Cry Thunder” didn’t do it for me and I haven’t really paid attention to them since.
I showed my 8 and 5 year old guitar recently and showed them the hardest song on there legends of rock - through the fire and flames. My kids fell in love with the sound and now listen to dragonforce on spotify daily on shuffle. Its so weird to me but I think its because it sounds like video game music to them. They listen to it while playing roblox
I've seen them live a few times and every single time they were great. The two guitarist would flip each other off or hump each other with their guitars while the other was going
Video games is not how I’ve been exposed to these guys. I remember back in ‘06 watching “Operation Ground and Pound” in a local TV show where they play metal music videos, I watched Herman Li & Sam Totman ripping up their guitars so freaking fast… I was really blown away! Started looking into their music & other bands within the power metal scene, & I never regret moving away from mainstream music.
There's a handful of first listens that are baked into my brain. Streetlight Manifesto "Everything Goes Numb" Bad Religion "Modern Man" Dragonforce "Through the Fire and Flames" is most definitely one. Legendary stuff.
Playing TTFAF in GH3 made me want to pick up the guitar and figure out how to play this. I even bought Herman Li's signature guitar model and had it signed by him after a show. I am still a huge DF 17 years later, although I never managed to play TTFAF hahah.
I remember absolutely loving Trough the Fire and the Flames back when I first heard it on Guitar Hero 3 and at the time I never got into the band because I was in either elementary school or middle school and it wasn’t “cool” but man that is something I regret. But I did see Dragonforce live on tour last year and it was awesome because when I saw that they where coming I didn’t know they where still a band.
X 107 5 in Vegas used to have a Dragon Force moment some nights of the week before it was in guitar hero, was such a fun moment of radio when they would have people calling up to scream Dragon Force
Obscure? Maybe. It depends on who you ask and how you describe it. Sam Dunne defines the subgenre in his various documentaries and includes various well-known bands like Dio and Manowar, though maybe they're the predecessors of the modern genre.
First of, loved the 2 ends of the spectrum you used between DragonForce and Dream Theatre. I can recognise the great musicianship of that band, but never ever fell in love with their music. Had the opportunity to go to a live showof Dragonforce (edit . a month ago), and damn they are really really fun to see live, Marc Hudson is a great vocalist, and furthermore it was on an insanely small venue of 500 peeps, and a very very affordable ticket price. If you have any opportunity to go watch them live, it really worth it. You will have a chance to moshpit on a Celine Dion or Taylor Swift cover 🤣
Dragonforce has always been connected to video games. They've admitted they got their name from a Sega Saturn game. When I was in high school in 2002 I was playing Stepmania Online, an open source version of Dance Dance Revolution that we played on our keyboards, and power metal music, like Kamelot and Rhapsody (not Of Fire yet), was very popular in the early rhythm game community. Fury of the Storm and My Spirit Will Go On were some of the hardest charts at the time! It was inevitable they were going to be in Guitar Hero and that game's mainstream success brought them along with it.
I'm an acoustic guitar player player that focuses on finger picking. With that being said DragonForce is still my favorite band of all time. The melodic singing, beautiful solos, intense drums, etc I can't get enough. They have two distinctive eras with their different vocalists and I like them both. Imo their peak album was maximum overload with their new singer. I wanted to deny it but I no longer can, DragonForce is my favorite band.
My late roommate who was a fantastic guitar player went from playing some stupid complex stuff to one day practicing some Dragonforce riffs. I once called him out like 'what really, Dream Theater to Dragonforce?' and he was like "what about them?" I said "they're good but they're really cheesy" and he said "everything after 'but' doesn't matter, this is a challenge." Then he went and grabbed another Bud Ice 40oz cuz it was either that or water in our place. I appreciate Taylor Swift now. She's good. Can't say anything else.
They have a crazy fan base that loves that shredding style. Maybe it is the video game crowd that caught on to them but also they had a record label that put them onto a bigger audience such as Ozzfest back then. Regardless they do have a loyal fan base and you covered that.
Another factor in their rise/relevance is how they embraced the memes, full on bear hug. Their quarantine UA-cam series "How to ___ in 10 minutes" was a riot, they collabed with people that covered their songs (buckets the drummer, Stevie T, etc) and the collabs were anything from tiktok duets to performing on stage with the band. And people seeing niche artists and content creators get their big break because DragonForce are very community centric probably inspired it's own wave of new musicians.
Not enough emphasis on how Herman's twitch live streams brought in new fans. In 2015, Dragonforce was playing small clubs as an opener still (I saw them in the basement of Webster Hall that year, as an opener) and then after covid, they were headlining 1-2k capacity ballrooms (headlined Palladium Times Square in 2023). This was all well after in the fire and flames was popular.
As you will always point out, they had hooks, but also they had infectious energy, grinningly corny but exhilaratingly triumphant, also they transcendened the trappings of power metal, Dragonforce were all about feel of an epic battle not the story of one, which is why they remain the only power metal band with universal appeal.
Power metal is actually quite popular here in the States. I've been to quite a few power metal concerts and they never seem to have any trouble filling the seats.
YES, FINALLY! i love DF they're my favourite band, i know all their songs and listen to them every day! before dragonforce i listened mostly to poppunk, and rock (which i still do) but i didn't really pay any attention to metal. metal seemed to me like this dark, sad and too monotonous music. i listened to a bit of metallica and a few songs from other bands here and there, but not much. and it all changed with dragonforce. they showed me this wonderfull thing called powermetal and it became probably my favourite genre ever since. it's fast, happy , catchy, satysfying, light, it's just perfect for me. it has all the things i loved about poppunk and also a lot of other great things. and dragonforce is just such a wonderfull fun band, they do so many insane things on their shows and elswhere. their wildest dreams video is a good representation. also their new album is awesome!
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yeaH THEY got a new record out last month march 2024, and Marc Hudson released a solo CD in the past 5-6 months
Is it that each band has a strange history, or do you not understand the world too much?
How much money do you have that you pay for things without realizing or missing the money?
Fun fact: power metal is somewhat popular in Latin America. Bands like Hammerfall, Rhapsody, Helloween and Sonata Arctica have even played in my city (Cali, Colombia) which rarely gets international shows.
in latin america, Angra, Turisas and tons of other power metal band have been ther esince early 1990s so yeah we know : you even have the BET singer of power metal, the singer of HiBRiA and now he is also in ETERNITY'S END
I suppose because power metal bands sing about historical type things, and Latin is a historical language
A history of Helloween would be dope
@@chrisnorman1902 latin is very melodic, goes well with power metlal, no wonder some of europe's biggest bands are latin, like Mago de Oz.. the Rhapsody songs in italian are genius
one of the reasons is Angra and ofc latin people love metal and are full of energy
Herman Li is the true face of Dragonforce, I didn't even know at the time that they changed vocalists
It was all because of guitar hero I knew this band. It was till the release of the album Ultra Beatdown when I started to really listen to Dragonforce.
They have a vocalist?
@@GenocideDenierlol Yea it's surprising right?
Didn't know they have another vocalist
I will also say this, they are super nice dudes. I have known Herman for years (although it has been a while now as he is living in the US). I met him at a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class a looong time ago, I was already a big DF fan and tried not to nerd out on him too much. He couldn't have been nicer, ended up getting me into their shows, going to other bands shows, hanging out at clubs and using me as a dummy for a martial piece in Metal Hammer. Literally 0 ego with them, which clearly shows in all aspects of the band.
Herman Li is a huge part of what makes this band what it is and his youtube/twitch streams id wager bring in a lot of new fans. hes just a great guy to listen to.
16:53 does Herman have a fan set up in his living room for blowing his hair while soloing?!
Man, i love that guy!
I'm seeing them twice this week. Discovering Dragonforce through Guitar Hero had a big impact on my taste in music.
Same with Korn and Rise Against
i do not envy your ears, but i'm glad you've got something you enjoy.
Wild I'm getting misty eyed thinking about dragonforce for the first time in years. My friends and I listened to them and Sonata Arctica as freshman in HS religiously, even performed Black Fire at the talent show one year!
I remember going to see them live in about 2005/6
The place was full of plastic swords and shields, no one took it seriously, it was FANTASTIC
Yeah I remember those gigs, the atmosphere was awesome, especially in London
I cried during their cover of that Titanic song, I was high and dealing with a passing of a parent, it was cathartic
sorry for your loss
Getting high to cope with loss is a trap I've fallen into way too often. I hope you're in a better place mentally now. I'm also sorry for your loss.
Just for clarity, the song is ÉMy heart will go on" by Céline Dion. it may help going back to it if you want to.
Their song was in Despicable Me 4!
I love dragonforce. My kids are getting into metal (they are 8 and 10) and when something like power of the triforce came out that really pushed them over the edge into the fun world of powermetal. Another powermetal band I really like, from Canada of all places, is Unleash the Archers.
I was at Dragonforce gig a few weeks ago in the uk. There were guys in their mid 30s, like me, older metal fans, kids were there, WOMEN! It's probably the most diverse metal crowd I've been in. They killed it.
Those first 4 albums have a special place in my heart. I honestly couldn't get into them when they changed vocalists, but I'm glad they're doing well.
Their latest album absolutely sucks tho
ZP is the best. His replacement has been killing it though.
Galneryus had the same thing. Prefer Yama B era, but Ono kills every song hes on.
@@michaelvdbgd not at all. Got great reviews everywhere
Nah he's very good, just diferent vibe from ZP
This video came at a great time. I have never been a fan of power metal, but I have enjoyed some DragonForce tracks in the past. I recently did a deep dive into their full discography, and I'm actually a bigger fan than I thought. Valley of the Damned, Heroes of Our Time, Black Fire, Defenders, Cry For Eternity, are all absolute bangers.
I was a huge power metal nerd in 2006-2012 about haha. I'm 39 now and my tastes have changed a lot over the years, but these gusy bring me back to very happy times in college and helped get me through rough times in my life including the death of my mother. Love bands like Kamelot, Sonata Arctica, Blind Guardian and Helloween still! Out of all these bands, I think Blind Guardian and Helloween have held up the best.
Nightfall in Middle Earth and Keepers part 1 and 2 are masterpieces of unfathomable height. Also, an important note: most power metal bands were self-aware of their goofiness, to the point of parody, since the 80s. Take a look at Rise and Fall from Helloween or Blind Guardian's covers for Surfin' USA and Mister Sandman.
@@Hobbiiihorsah And I almost forgot entirely Edguy with the likes of "Lavatory Love Machine", which (for the love of god) is already 20 years old. Now that I come to think of it, there isn't a single genre in metal with such levels of self-awareness as to how ridiculous and AWESOME its music is.
You should definitely interview Herman Li. I remember him doing a cool interview with Anthony Fantano several years ago that went into some of the business/marketing side, so it would totally be within your wheelhouse.
Power Metal is HUGE in Japan, ain’t it ?
Yes
Absolutely insanely so
Alexi Laiho and Children of Bodom!
I would enjoy a video on them.
Yes absolutely. I can't believe it hasn't been done yet. That guy is a legend
Absolutely agree! One of my all time favorite bands!
I second this.
Yeah 👍🏽 definitely a children of bodom video PLEASE
RIP Alexi😢
I've been watching Herman's UA-cam content for years now just because of him. He seems like a pretty cool, open-minded dude and you don't get a lot of that in metal. I'm not big on Dragon Force but they ARE undeniably talented. Anyhoo, this was unexpected! ...but I like it. 😎👊
Herman seems to be a really nice dude, the guy you want to grab some beer with.
Best things they did was when Herman and Sam were "creating other bands songs in 10 minutes." That whole series is absolute gold and really amplifies how much they treat their own music and genre as an out of hand joke.
The best part is that it's a very high-effort joke. They pour passion into their music even though they know what they're making is absurd.
I absolutely love them. Sam shows how good of a musician he is even when piss drunk.
EXACTLY it’s phenomenal, those streams were some of the best ones of 2021 or 2020 or whenever that was.
Can someone share where that can be found? Sounds cool
@@maxhalley4373 if you search "dragonforce 10 minutes" the playlist of all the videos come up. They did Rammstein, Amaranth, Amon-Amarth, Nightwish, Alestorm, Sabaton, pop-punk amongst others. They're genuinely brilliant. Sam Totman just gets more and more drunk as they go along and the songs are always brilliant. It's basically Sam doing all the work and Herman placing a one-take guitar solo in the middle of an instrumental bit
I love how Hermann was was part of one my favourite metal songs ever, Road of Resistance
But, lbr, DragonForce is just amazing
I saw Dragonforce open for Killswitch Engage before the whole guitar hero thing and im pretty sure I was one of the only people that was there to them and not Killswitch. Jaw dropping to see them play that shit live
Same here, saw them opening for Machine Head, right between Arch Enemy and Trivium (whoever put that tour together must have been drunk af 😅)... it was hilarious. Although I'd say they did deserve their reputation for putting fun first & precision second in those days, I'll never forget the keyboarder falling over with his keyboards mid song.
Had a similar moment of this with megadeth when they did Gigantour. It was right after Hanger18 was on GH2. The crowd went from almost capacity to 1/3 of what it was after that song… my drunk ass screaming obnoxiously about all the posers😅😅 cheers to 8 years sober cause😅😅
So you can attest to the false rumor that their music is all sped up and they can't actually play that shit. It's pretty crazy for sure!
@AvB.83 I love when bands just have fun. Alestorm was jealous of Gloryhammer having epic battles and sorcery, so they decided to "try out a new bit" where one of the techs came out with a watering can strapped to his head and poured "rum" into the mouths of the players while playing the song "sadly i cant remember the song they played. Hopefuly Rum). Whether it was actually rum or just water, it was so damn funny 😂 they ended the song and claimed that their instruments were all sticky and they would not be doing that bit again.
I'd argue Herman Li's social media presence is the main reason they are still relevant today.
I’ve loved dragonforce for over a decade now, and I’m so so excited to finally have the chance to see them live! They’ve been a huge musical inspiration to me, and were one of my earliest motivators to learn to play guitar. Though I’ve loved their music, I didn’t really follow them as people, so it’s cool to see their history summed up here! Cool video
I cannot believe that you don't think other power metal bands have hooks. Power metal is probably the catchiest metal subgenre there is and all of the genre staples are filled with catchy guitar melodies and sing along choruses.
Nu metal and metalcore are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay catchier my friend. I love all these genres but it is what it is.
But it's popular in in filthy Europe and not in the US, so who cares about it. /s
Well, Finn is known for his attitude towards what would be considered a "real" metal of the 70s and 80s. So I would not be surprised if he never heard a chorus from any Blind Guardian song, yet he knows that those "funny European" bands have no hooks.
If anything, power metal has too many hooks
@@Tesswrench111 alot of power metal is a little too in love with its lore and it's imagery, and the music rarely feels contemporary in anyway, it is almost always in debted to the past musically and thematically
im generally more into technical and melodic death metal now but dragonforce will always have a special place in my heart. i remember back in like 2011 i was 19/20, not working and with infinite free time and id just be stoned out of my mind playing wow and having all of their albums on a big loop playing in the background
I remember being at a bar in London with friends and a few of the band were their drinking. This was before they really blew up. I had no idea who they were but they were really friendly and were quite happy to chat with people who knew who they were and have a drink.
I have an older brother who plays guitar. Hes always been a metalhead but got into Prog Rock/ Power Metal when we’re in Highschool. We shared a wall growing up. NGL it was maddening hearing him trying to learn to these complex/technical riffs like the opening to Rhapsody’s -Emerald Sword. When GH dropped a year or so later it turned up to eleven.lol.
I first discovered Dragonforce from the old RedvsBlue website on their forum section.
I was pretty active in the metal community there and one member who I chatted with frequently sent me the UA-cam link and said “you are gonna love this”
And I did! I still listen to them regularly. One of my favorite bands of my late teenage years.
These guys singlehandedly defined the public perception of power metal. Everyone equates power metal with long, technical, fast shredding songs specifically because of these guys, when most power metal hasn't been like that since near its inception
They were my gateway to power metal and I fell in love with the genre
Saw them live with Between the Buried and Me. I was there for DragonForce, most of the crowd was there for BTBAM. it was a very strange mix of people. Fun show though! DragonForce was having a blast and you could feel their good vibes coming off the stage. Great live show!
"ZP-Thirt" sounds like a Star Wars droid model.
Crazy, just saw them open for Dethklok Sunday
Seeing them live in a few weeks, thanks for the history lesson 🤟🏽
The funniest part is Through the Fire and Flames isn't even part of the regular Guitar Hero Playlist. It's unlocked 🔓 once you've hit expert rank or the end of the game. 😅
Nah it was at the end of the game regardless of difficulty. Blew my mind when i beat the game on medium. I never fathomed using the orange button lol
It’s been absolute years since I played it but don’t you beat the devil playing “the devil went down to Georgia” and once you’ve beaten him it unlocks dragonforce? What a game.
Mormon theatre kids at my high school introduced me to Dragonforce (prior to Guitar Hero)... I guess it was the only 'extreme' music they were allowed to listen to. No idea how they discovered them.
As an ex-Mormon, this sounds so typical yet heartwarming. 😇
I mean I’m a member of the church and I been jamming to Amon Amarth since March. Seeing them in two weeks.
i've been saying it for 20 years. Sam Totman is a melodic genius. Underneath all the shred and sweep tapping are solid chords and solid melodies and that's why Dragonforce stands out
Being 63 years old, powermetal was what we called Iron Maiden and Metallica back in the 80's because it was different from Hair bands, like Motley Crue and Judas Priest.
I have vaugely heard of Dragonforce, but couldn't tell you who they were or what they did.
I think they are BabyMetal's touring band right now, as the West Kami Band. Listening to the stuff in this video reminds me a bit of BabyMetal, which I like, especially the early stuff with Mikio Fujiota. I guess I will go back and check some of this stuff out.
These vids are so well done I’m surprised a network like MTV or VH1 haven’t tried contacting you to host these on their networks as an hour long show/series. Keep up the great content 🙌🏻
I'm guessing Finn has more pull than MTV in 2024.
been listening to rock and metal since high school in the 90s but when I first heard Dragonforce on guitar hero it BLEW MY MIND. I bought the album immediately, then bought the rest of their albums. I love the genre and highly recommend Sonata Artica, Manowar, Helloween, Blind Guardian, Gloryhammer and Avantasia to anyone who likes rock or metal. Good for chilling, gaming, as a background for reading fantasy/manga or lifting. Its a fun upbeat change from our normal stuff.
I remember back in like 2004 I tried downloading Dragonforce but came across Dragon Heart with their album Throne of the Alliance. I loved playing that record while playing Golden Axe.
Or watch Conan the barbarian action scenes on mute while cranking that music in the background
Saw em live in 2021 for the first time and they hold a spot in my Mount Rushmore of live performances. Between Hermin Li dropping the solo for TtFatF then looking at the crowd then shrugging it off and the "Fuck Detroit" chant it was a good time. They where wholesome and great fun the entire night.
I have seen this Dragonforce 5 times in the last 3 years. They are truly great and with tons of talent, and to see them embrace the camp and become even more successful has been amazing.
Been following for over ten years now, and while I hate that some of their discography with marc will go overlooked which I think is their best work (Information overload, reaching into infinite, etc., ) I take catharsis knowing they are having fun and making legitimately epic music.
Hearing "obscure genre power metal" made me cry
Glad Dragonforce is doing great to this day!
I still remember Herman's stint in UK grindcore band labrat best known for their hit "Clint Eastwood is very hard innit". Labrat back then played shows with million dead which featured Frank Turner, and where we are now 20 years later 😂
Maaan... I thought you wouldn't mention Brutal Legend, that part is simply amazing... what a game! ❤
This band got me into metal. Sabaton, Epica and DragonForce are my holy trinity of metal.
As someone who doesn’t listen to Power Metal, I’m still really glad it exists, and it sounds like Dragonforce has a lot of heart. I really dig that
This band is much different than many other metal bands when it comes to personality and attitude. They stay away from creating drama (hence we don't know and will never know why singer left), they don't gatekeep, they don't sue (they could sue to get royalties for Guitar Hero, right? 🤷), they share their music and love not only fans who listen to it but fans who play their songs (Herman Li reacts to musicians playing their covers, really cool). They understand modern media (games, UA-cam, music streaming). Despite their genre is stuck in the past of power metal, the band itself evolves and knows how to present it to new fans. This is skill that many bands don't have. Last but not least - these guys have lots of distance to what they do and having fun doing it. It isn't my favourite band (I'm not much into power metal) but have lots of respect for what and how they do and many bands (especially those dramatic ones) could learn a lot from them.
As you say near the end of the video, I got GH3 for Christmas the year it came out and literally 4 months after that I was asking my parents for a real guitar. Crazy how influential that game was
Valley of the damned is such a good album I remember my friend and I listening to that and sonic firestorm back in the day playing this weird online rpg called well of souls. When they got a track on guitar hero it blew our minds how popular the band became after that
10:05 how their drummer must felt losing to a Lars Ulrich song....poor guy, we should donate for him or something!
I go to a lot of shows, and man did Dragonforce deliver last year when I saw them in NYC. Showmanship, crowd energy and pulling off all their technical playing live. Would see them again in a heartbeat. Just lean into the campiness and enjoy yourself. And loved the Intervals shoutout at the end. Just saw them last week; easily top 3 favorite bands for years, even if it's just Aaron writing.
Dragonforce was THE band that introduced me to metal. I first heard TTFAF when I was 12 funnily enough from a game on roblox (back when dmca wasn't as bad). I was instantly hooked and became a huge fan, went out and bought a guitar and gh3 which then introduced me to One by Metallica which became the band that truly made me fall in love and fully dive into metal so DragonForce and Herman Li as a guitarist will always hold a special place in my heart.
The best thing about these guys is that being very talented musicians they don't take themselves too seriously
I remember listening to Dragonforce for the first time by looking for Stratovarius songs. I went to Windows Media player and found the Valley of the damn instantly hooked. 20 years later and still love listening to them
I first discovered DragonForce in 2007 on my friend Alex’s MySpace page. Fury of the Storm was playing on his page as his song and I always paused it. One day I couldn’t pause it and heard the whole thing and was like YOOOOOO they became my favorite band and I got every album after on my iPod.
Wow this was a great trip down memory lane! I have always been more into metalcore but my highschool metal posse was big into power metal (Europe indeed..), the likes of Hammerfall, Blind Guardian, Sonata Arctica and the likes. I did join them to Dragonforce just for the event and really, really liked the show! 2nd shows I went they had a new supporting act called Sabaton that I also didnt know till that day.. times have changed since!
The reason maximum overload and reaching into infinity are so different and darker from the rest of the catalog is because of then bassist Frédéric Leclercq (now with Kreator). Sam gave him way more writing freedom and though those albums were incredible, I am pleased to see them come full circle back to the fun Dragonforce
Thank you for bringing the OG intro back, Finn.
I think I discovered the song Through the Fires and Flames through a Guitar Hero-ish online game named Jam Guitar that can be played with a keyboard and a mouse. Love this song ever since
I remember them since the first demo as Dragonheart. I was listening to power metal back then at the end of the `90s. My friends and I were quite amazed by their speed. And I was even more impressed when I saw them a decade later live on the Masters of Rock festival - still technical, yet a great and funny show.
GH3 played a HUGEEE part of me getting into metal. I was 10 and my friends older brother was a metalhead and had it. Killswitch engage is what sold me on metal. Thank god I got to experience this. Man I really miss the early 2000s…. Things were just better.
I loved them since i was a child, all of their music was a true inspiration for me to do anything, including starting to play guitar and becoming better at it.
I think you should give more credit to Sam, he is a musical genius when it comes to compose!
Great content as always.
Yes! Been waiting for a video I see them in a week!
I do remember that at beginning of 2000 (no Spotify or UA-cam around yet) I was starting searching music on internet... and a song called "Black Winter night" suddenly showed up and I got excited!... I was a heavy/power metal kid back then and I got surprised by their sound but was hard to get music from overseas back in the day.... years after that when the "Guitar Hero" was born it was easier to get music from this guys .... so cool they "made it" somehow :)
Hey! power metal is a big thing in Latinoamérica BTW
Great video dude. I needed this
I remember that time: "Through The Fire And Flames" wasn't even playable in the "story"-mode of guitar hero III, but the first song of the outro (not before, but AFTER you beat the devil 😁). Herman Lee is an impressive guitar player!
"Nintendo-core" is a beautiful expression.
Oh, and I started playing guitar some years before and played guitar hero on the PC-keyboard.
I saw them with Between the Buried and Me in 2006, and I'm pretty sure it was the most guitar notes ever played at a two band show.
I discovered Dragonforce back in 2006 through a work friend who played in a Christian metalcore band of all things. He asked if I’d heard of them and described them as “cheesy, but fun.” So I went on this new thing called UA-cam and found their video for “Operation Ground and Pound.” It blew me away and I quickly went out and bought the cd. I consider myself a fair weather fan as I listen to about half of the album. I got Ultra Beatdown when it came out and like it about the same as the previous album. When ZP left, I was done. “Cry Thunder” didn’t do it for me and I haven’t really paid attention to them since.
The best live performances I've ever seen are power metal, like blind guardian, Helloween, and stratovarius
I think it was just as Sonic Firestorm came out that I ended up finding Dragonforce through a friend and then just kept listening 20 years later
I showed my 8 and 5 year old guitar recently and showed them the hardest song on there legends of rock - through the fire and flames. My kids fell in love with the sound and now listen to dragonforce on spotify daily on shuffle. Its so weird to me but I think its because it sounds like video game music to them. They listen to it while playing roblox
I've seen them live a few times and every single time they were great. The two guitarist would flip each other off or hump each other with their guitars while the other was going
Video games is not how I’ve been exposed to these guys. I remember back in ‘06 watching “Operation Ground and Pound” in a local TV show where they play metal music videos, I watched Herman Li & Sam Totman ripping up their guitars so freaking fast… I was really blown away! Started looking into their music & other bands within the power metal scene, & I never regret moving away from mainstream music.
There's a handful of first listens that are baked into my brain.
Streetlight Manifesto "Everything Goes Numb"
Bad Religion "Modern Man"
Dragonforce "Through the Fire and Flames" is most definitely one.
Legendary stuff.
Reading straight off Wikipedia. Respect the hustle. Nice.
Playing TTFAF in GH3 made me want to pick up the guitar and figure out how to play this. I even bought Herman Li's signature guitar model and had it signed by him after a show. I am still a huge DF 17 years later, although I never managed to play TTFAF hahah.
Brutal Legend mentioned
such a great game
I remember absolutely loving Trough the Fire and the Flames back when I first heard it on Guitar Hero 3 and at the time I never got into the band because I was in either elementary school or middle school and it wasn’t “cool” but man that is something I regret. But I did see Dragonforce live on tour last year and it was awesome because when I saw that they where coming I didn’t know they where still a band.
X 107 5 in Vegas used to have a Dragon Force moment some nights of the week before it was in guitar hero, was such a fun moment of radio when they would have people calling up to scream Dragon Force
Obscure? Maybe. It depends on who you ask and how you describe it. Sam Dunne defines the subgenre in his various documentaries and includes various well-known bands like Dio and Manowar, though maybe they're the predecessors of the modern genre.
Great video Finn. Dragonforce did a lot for power metal. By the way - they just released a new album (in mid march) - Warp Speed Warriors.
First of, loved the 2 ends of the spectrum you used between DragonForce and Dream Theatre. I can recognise the great musicianship of that band, but never ever fell in love with their music.
Had the opportunity to go to a live showof Dragonforce (edit . a month ago), and damn they are really really fun to see live, Marc Hudson is a great vocalist, and furthermore it was on an insanely small venue of 500 peeps, and a very very affordable ticket price.
If you have any opportunity to go watch them live, it really worth it. You will have a chance to moshpit on a Celine Dion or Taylor Swift cover 🤣
Dragonforce has always been connected to video games. They've admitted they got their name from a Sega Saturn game. When I was in high school in 2002 I was playing Stepmania Online, an open source version of Dance Dance Revolution that we played on our keyboards, and power metal music, like Kamelot and Rhapsody (not Of Fire yet), was very popular in the early rhythm game community. Fury of the Storm and My Spirit Will Go On were some of the hardest charts at the time! It was inevitable they were going to be in Guitar Hero and that game's mainstream success brought them along with it.
I'm an acoustic guitar player player that focuses on finger picking. With that being said DragonForce is still my favorite band of all time. The melodic singing, beautiful solos, intense drums, etc I can't get enough.
They have two distinctive eras with their different vocalists and I like them both. Imo their peak album was maximum overload with their new singer. I wanted to deny it but I no longer can, DragonForce is my favorite band.
My local radio station plays Through the Fire and Flames every so often.
My late roommate who was a fantastic guitar player went from playing some stupid complex stuff to one day practicing some Dragonforce riffs. I once called him out like 'what really, Dream Theater to Dragonforce?' and he was like "what about them?" I said "they're good but they're really cheesy" and he said "everything after 'but' doesn't matter, this is a challenge." Then he went and grabbed another Bud Ice 40oz cuz it was either that or water in our place.
I appreciate Taylor Swift now. She's good. Can't say anything else.
They have a crazy fan base that loves that shredding style. Maybe it is the video game crowd that caught on to them but also they had a record label that put them onto a bigger audience such as Ozzfest back then. Regardless they do have a loyal fan base and you covered that.
The video for Heroes of Our Time made me buy an EGEN18 lol. Greatest song ever.
Another factor in their rise/relevance is how they embraced the memes, full on bear hug.
Their quarantine UA-cam series "How to ___ in 10 minutes" was a riot, they collabed with people that covered their songs (buckets the drummer, Stevie T, etc) and the collabs were anything from tiktok duets to performing on stage with the band. And people seeing niche artists and content creators get their big break because DragonForce are very community centric probably inspired it's own wave of new musicians.
Not enough emphasis on how Herman's twitch live streams brought in new fans. In 2015, Dragonforce was playing small clubs as an opener still (I saw them in the basement of Webster Hall that year, as an opener) and then after covid, they were headlining 1-2k capacity ballrooms (headlined Palladium Times Square in 2023). This was all well after in the fire and flames was popular.
As you will always point out, they had hooks, but also they had infectious energy, grinningly corny but exhilaratingly triumphant, also they transcendened the trappings of power metal, Dragonforce were all about feel of an epic battle not the story of one, which is why they remain the only power metal band with universal appeal.
Not just Guitar Hero itself, but being able to 100% it was a big deal back then. I actually went to school with some guys who got pretty close.
Power metal is actually quite popular here in the States. I've been to quite a few power metal concerts and they never seem to have any trouble filling the seats.
I could never beat this song.
YES, FINALLY! i love DF they're my favourite band, i know all their songs and listen to them every day! before dragonforce i listened mostly to poppunk, and rock (which i still do) but i didn't really pay any attention to metal. metal seemed to me like this dark, sad and too monotonous music. i listened to a bit of metallica and a few songs from other bands here and there, but not much. and it all changed with dragonforce. they showed me this wonderfull thing called powermetal and it became probably my favourite genre ever since. it's fast, happy , catchy, satysfying, light, it's just perfect for me. it has all the things i loved about poppunk and also a lot of other great things. and dragonforce is just such a wonderfull fun band, they do so many insane things on their shows and elswhere. their wildest dreams video is a good representation. also their new album is awesome!