DragonForce, the Grammy-nominated power metallers, are poised to release a comprehensive career-spanning “Best Of” – the first time the UK band have presented this kind of historical “chapter & verse” collection.
Titled “Killer Elite – The Hits, The Highs, The Vids” and scheduled for an April 29th, 2016 release through Spinefarm Records, this 22-track set (two hours and 30 minutes of music, featuring both studio and live material, with promo clips added to the Deluxe set) fully showcases the ambition, variety and skill of the group’s musical output, now taking in six studio albums; elements of thrash, speed and power metal are spread across accelerated rockers and more measured, melodic offerings – from biggest hit, “Through the Fire and Flames”, a staple inclusion on several best-selling video games (i.e. “Guitar Hero”) and recently used as the basis of a US mockumentary featuring the band and Oculus Rift founder Palmer Luckey, through to “Dawn Over a New World”, a ballad harking back to the early years.
With latest recruit, singer Marc Hudson, now having two studio albums under his belt (2012’s “The Power Within” and 2014’s “Maximum Overload”), “Killer Elite…” is the chance for new fans to familiarise themselves with glories past and for long-standing supporters to revel in the attention to detail of a multi-format package balancing audience faves with compositions close to the collective DragonForce heart…
Says guitarist Herman Li, who started the group in 1999 with fellow shredder Sam Totman:
“The aim of this release is to give a strong flavour of everything we’ve recorded so far, and I like to think it shows a lot of diversity. Certainly, we tried to make it as broad-based as possible. Since Marc joined the band (replacing original frontman ZP Theart), we’ve actually released some of our speediest songs and some our most melodic compositions, too. DragonForce isn’t just about the relentless tempos and the flashy solos; ultimately, it’s the feel of the music that counts…”
“Killer Elite…” will be available in the following formats:
• 2 CD package (“The Hits, The Highs”)
• Deluxe Special Digi-Pack Edition including a DVD featuring all of the band’s promo clips (“The Hits, The Highs, The Vids”)
• Digital download (“The Hits, The Highs”)
In support of “Killer Elite…”, DragonForce will return to the road this year for the most extensive European summer festival tour in their history; these 16 shows will see the now cosmopolitan DF line-up playing a special set reflecting the track-listing of the album.
The band has also set to work on the follow-up to “Maximum Overload” at Fascination Street studios in Sweden with producer Jens Bogren; this new record is provisionally scheduled for a mid-March 2017 release with a world tour to follow. In the meantime, the confirmed European dates are as follows:
May 2016:
Sunday 1st: Jimi Festival, Wroclaw, Poland
June 2016:
Saturday 4th: Metalhead Meeting Open Air, Bucharest, Romania
Sunday 5th: Rock Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Sunday 19th: Hellfest, Clisson, France
Friday 24th: NummiRock, Kauhajoki, Finland
Saturday 25th: Dokk’Em Open Air, Dokkum, Netherlands
July 2016:
Sunday 10th: Rockoff Festival, Istanbul, Turkey
Thursday 14th: Bang Your Head, Balingen, Germany
Friday 15th: Barcelona Rock, Barcelona, Spain
Saturday 16th: Woodstock, Kostryn, Poland
Friday 29th: Metal Days, Tolmin, Slovenia
August 2016:
Saturday 6th: Wacken Open Air, Wacken, Germany
Thursday 11th: Leyendas del Rock, Villena, Spain
Sunday 14th: Bloodstock Open Air, Walton-on-Trent, UK
Thursday 18th: Sabaton Open Air, Falun, Sweden
Saturday 20th: More Than Fest, Zvolenska Slatina, Slovakia
Weblinks:
www.dragonforce.com
www.facebook.com/dragonforce
Titled “Killer Elite – The Hits, The Highs, The Vids” and scheduled for an April 29th, 2016 release through Spinefarm Records, this 22-track set (two hours and 30 minutes of music, featuring both studio and live material, with promo clips added to the Deluxe set) fully showcases the ambition, variety and skill of the group’s musical output, now taking in six studio albums; elements of thrash, speed and power metal are spread across accelerated rockers and more measured, melodic offerings – from biggest hit, “Through the Fire and Flames”, a staple inclusion on several best-selling video games (i.e. “Guitar Hero”) and recently used as the basis of a US mockumentary featuring the band and Oculus Rift founder Palmer Luckey, through to “Dawn Over a New World”, a ballad harking back to the early years.
With latest recruit, singer Marc Hudson, now having two studio albums under his belt (2012’s “The Power Within” and 2014’s “Maximum Overload”), “Killer Elite…” is the chance for new fans to familiarise themselves with glories past and for long-standing supporters to revel in the attention to detail of a multi-format package balancing audience faves with compositions close to the collective DragonForce heart…
Says guitarist Herman Li, who started the group in 1999 with fellow shredder Sam Totman:
“The aim of this release is to give a strong flavour of everything we’ve recorded so far, and I like to think it shows a lot of diversity. Certainly, we tried to make it as broad-based as possible. Since Marc joined the band (replacing original frontman ZP Theart), we’ve actually released some of our speediest songs and some our most melodic compositions, too. DragonForce isn’t just about the relentless tempos and the flashy solos; ultimately, it’s the feel of the music that counts…”
“Killer Elite…” will be available in the following formats:
• 2 CD package (“The Hits, The Highs”)
• Deluxe Special Digi-Pack Edition including a DVD featuring all of the band’s promo clips (“The Hits, The Highs, The Vids”)
• Digital download (“The Hits, The Highs”)
In support of “Killer Elite…”, DragonForce will return to the road this year for the most extensive European summer festival tour in their history; these 16 shows will see the now cosmopolitan DF line-up playing a special set reflecting the track-listing of the album.
The band has also set to work on the follow-up to “Maximum Overload” at Fascination Street studios in Sweden with producer Jens Bogren; this new record is provisionally scheduled for a mid-March 2017 release with a world tour to follow. In the meantime, the confirmed European dates are as follows:
May 2016:
Sunday 1st: Jimi Festival, Wroclaw, Poland
June 2016:
Saturday 4th: Metalhead Meeting Open Air, Bucharest, Romania
Sunday 5th: Rock Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Sunday 19th: Hellfest, Clisson, France
Friday 24th: NummiRock, Kauhajoki, Finland
Saturday 25th: Dokk’Em Open Air, Dokkum, Netherlands
July 2016:
Sunday 10th: Rockoff Festival, Istanbul, Turkey
Thursday 14th: Bang Your Head, Balingen, Germany
Friday 15th: Barcelona Rock, Barcelona, Spain
Saturday 16th: Woodstock, Kostryn, Poland
Friday 29th: Metal Days, Tolmin, Slovenia
August 2016:
Saturday 6th: Wacken Open Air, Wacken, Germany
Thursday 11th: Leyendas del Rock, Villena, Spain
Sunday 14th: Bloodstock Open Air, Walton-on-Trent, UK
Thursday 18th: Sabaton Open Air, Falun, Sweden
Saturday 20th: More Than Fest, Zvolenska Slatina, Slovakia
Weblinks:
www.dragonforce.com
www.facebook.com/dragonforce