Rigged – DRAGONFORCE

That’s right, you heard me – DragonForce. The name alone inspires awe, like the power of Daenerys Targaryen’s scaly children in musical form – fast, firebreathing, and flying all over the world to dominate.

There was a wild internet rumor some years back, right around the time that Guitar Hero made them a household name, that they couldn’t pull it off live. They were too wild and drunk, didn’t play precisely enough, were sloppy and carefree onstage. The problem with this type of damaging hearsay is this: DragonForce has 2-3 times as many notes to contend with as other bands at far higher speeds, and even at a 75% success rate, they’d still be hitting far more right notes than just about any band alive, by sheer numerical force. The other problem is that it’s total horseshit – or at the very least, it is now.

DragonForce are at the absolute top of their game right now. Not only does everyone in the band rip like your stepdad’s bounced checks, they also all sing. They’re not relying on backing tracks for choirs like other bands – they are the fucking choir. It’s possible at one time they couldn’t reproduce the sound of their albums exactly – guess what? Neither could you, if you’d recorded albums like they did. And if there’s a power metal band on earth that’s as tight as DragonForce in 2015, then that’s a band I need to see.

Lucky for you, you’ll get the chance to see this spectacle for yourself (if you haven’t already), because they’ve got a live DVD coming out on July 10th called In The Line Of Fire. In case you don’t believe me, I’m sure this will be the evidence you need.

We were very fortunate to get to meet up with, hang out with, shoot, and then watch the righteous dudes of the D-force at their Anaheim show a few weeks ago, and had a great time doing it. Their rigs are very economical for how over-the-top their music is, but they know how to squeeze the sounds out of them.

Unfortunately we did not have time to shoot bassist Frédéric Leclercq, apologies to him – but the band is coming back to town soon, and we will be sure to make up for it!