Taking the stage after Mastodon, Britain's DragonForce picked up the metal hammer and took it into the stratosphere with soaring vocals, blazing guitar solos, and epic amounts of hair.
Herman Li and Sam Totman carved out much of the band's signature sound with their double-axe attack, bring their dueling guitars and luxurious locks to the front of the stage with every opportunity.
Meanwhile, Frédéric Leclercq's thumping basslines and Dave Mackintosh's pummelfest on drums drove the band's amped up tempo. Vadim Pruzhanov crushed the ivories on his upright keyboards and Roland Keytar alike, headbanging all the while.
Rocking the power stance just as often as his guitar-wielding bandmates, singer ZP Theart's high-flying vocals climbed into the upper octaves to complete DragonForce's epic delivery.
DragonForce's fourth studio album, Ultra Beatdown, is schedule for release on August 25 of this year. The power metal band's song “Through the Fire and Flames,” which appears in Guitar Hero: Legends of Rock, is generally regarded as the most challenging track of the hugely successful Guitar Hero series.
Photographer's Notes:
DragonForce is simply an epic, epic band to photograph. Quite frankly, I'm pretty convinced a monkey with a disposable camera could make these guys look good, because every single second this band was on stage there was something glorious happening. And most of those moments involved hair. Lots and lots of hair.
With the exception of drummer Dave Mackintosh, all the band members took turns soloing on a large raised platform at the front of the stage. Needless to say, this made for some great photo opportunities.
The band's guitar heroes, Herman Li and Sam Totman, took particular advantage of the riser and often played out their duels there.
For most of the set, it almost felt like a game of music chairs, as the four band members at the front of the stage were constantly shifting positions and trading places.
I shot this performance for the entire set. Just like Mastodon's gig, there was plenty of light, with even more warm daylight thrown into the mix of stage lighting as the sun set.
End Notes:
Just go see this band. Please.
Once again, a big thanks to Amanda and Roadrunner Records for setting the incredible access.
