NEEDS MOAR METAL IN THIS JOINT, THEREFORE CAPS LOCK AND DRAGONFORCE

with all these music afficionados here and their well-developed tastes, I can't help but feel a bit inferior. Even so, I want to try and share my off-kilter tastes in music. (check out the "tl;dr" at the bottom of the post if walls of text offend you)

Ah, Dragonforce. My favorite band.

I say this with a lot of certainty, since I have few bands that I truly like. If I made a collection of my favorite songs, it would be mostly a hodgepodge of songs from various groups or bands. Dragonforce is one of those few whose songs I generally like all around.

If you haven't heard of Dragonforce, their style could be best describes as 80s-style thrashing power metal meets Journey. Founded in 1999 and almost a decade old, they recently released their 4th album last year in August 2008. They're most famous for the energetic twin guitar shredding by their lead guitarists, Herman Li (an asian playing metal music? *GASP*) and Sam Totman (insert witty comment here). Z.P. Theart (yes, that's his real name), rocks on with the vocals that echo of Steven Perry and other rock vocalists. Their song lyrics are often full of sweeping and epic images ripped out of a medieval fantasy novel. At the same time though, the band is full of jokers who don't take much of what they do or sing about too seriously. At live shows, they'll often goof off or do showy things to get a few laughs or get the crowd excited.

They hit mainstream fame recently thanks to Guitar Hero III and their single from their third album, “Through the Fire and the Flames.” Unfortunately, this sudden exposure has caused hasty judgments and generalizations that all their songs sound the same. But this is power metal we're talking about, a genre that hasn't change much since the 1980s. Innovation isn't going to pop up in every song. We're not dealing with some whiny indie band that makes a soapbox of every song they make. And just like all metal bands, Dragonforce has its active legion of trolls and haters along with its fans. It's only gotten worse thanks to Guitar Hero.

I happen to enjoy this band a lot for many reasons, but here's a few good ones. The most obvious thing I enjoy is the raw energy and power every one of their songs exudes.

Secondly, I find it refreshing that they don't take themselves too seriously all the time. Most artists and bands nowadays unfortunately always seem to have an axe to grind, be it against sociopolitical groups or "the Man" or whatever the hell people think that means now. For all of Dragonforce's songs about epic battles, they have no real enemy, aside from lethargy and boredom.

Despite this, some of their songs have substance through its metaphorical value. Basically, thinking about their lyrics not literally, but being inspired by the images they paint to stand strong and steadfast in what you believe or set out to do. Life is full of personal battles, why run from it when we should instead be firm and face those challenges head on?

okay that sounded dorky.

well, anyway.

before I lose your attention, I'll just post a video. "Through the Fire and the Flames" was a weak choice to introduce the wider world to Dragonforce. At best, it's mid tier in comparison to their other songs. Instead, I'd like to introduce to The Wire Box a superior single they released for their new album last year, and one of my personal favorites, "Heroes of Our Time."


tl;dr: Dragonforce is kewl. watch the video plz. kthxbye