Dragonforce - Maximum Overload 320k

DragonForce is a British power metal band based in London. Formed in 1999, the group is known for its long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-based lyrics, and electronic sounds in their music to add to their retro video game-influenced sound. As of June 2014, DragonForce have released five studio albums, one live album and are in production of their sixth studio album, Maximum Overload.

Contents
The Power Within and Maximum Overload (2011–present)

On 2 March 2011, DragonForce announced their new vocalist and frontman, Marc Hudson. He had previous experience performing in a band, but was not a professional musician before joining DragonForce. His first show with DragonForce was the band's first opening for Iron Maiden in August 2011, where they started performing a new song titled "Cry Thunder". DragonForce released their fifth studio album, The Power Within on 15 April 2012. Mediæval Bæbes vocalist Emily Ovenden provided backing vocals for the album. During their North American headlining tour for April and May, the band performed a new song titled "Fallen World", along with "Cry Thunder". "Fallen World" is DragonForce's fastest, most intense song to date. Starting from late September 2012, the band embarked on a UK and Ireland tour, and were supported by The Defiled, Cavorts and Alestorm. DragonForce also played at Soundwave Festival in Australia in February 2013.

On 12 April 2013, the band announced that writing for a follow-up to The Power Within had been completed, and that the band would be entering the studio in May. On 19 May 2013, DragonForce entered Fascination Street Studios in Sweden with Jens Bogren as the producer of DragonForce's sixth album. On 31 March 2014, it was revealed that the new album would be titled Maximum Overload, and that Trivium's Matt Heafy would make some guest appearances on the album. It was also revealed that the album would contain a cover of the Johnny Cash song "Ring of Fire". The album will be released in the UK on 18 August 2014, and in the US on 19 August 2014.On the same day, a song from the album, titled "Defenders", was uploaded onto DragonForce's official YouTube channel. On 3 June 2014, DragonForce announced that they had parted ways with Mackintosh and had replaced him with former Braindamage and Kill Ritual drummer Gee Anzalone. Maximum Overload will be the final album to feature Mackintosh on drums. On 18 June, the band released the track listing for the album, and on the same day, they released the music video for the first song on the album, titled "The Game". On 17 July the band released the official version of the song "Defenders" on itunes.
Musical style

Soldiers of the Wasteland (sample)
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A brief sample of the sixth track from the Sonic Firestorm album.
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Much of DragonForce's idiosyncratic style comes from the high-speed dual guitar sound of Totman and Li; by playing at a high tempo and within the upper registers of their instruments, their sound becomes similar to the "bleepy" arpeggios and quick pitch-bends normally associated with chiptunes, usually heard in the third generation of video game music. The band often plays homage to this influence in their videos. Although the band has frequently referred to their style as power metal, Herman Li commented on descriptions of the band's style in an interview with Guitar World: "'Nintendo metal', 'extreme power metal', 'Bon Jovi on speed', 'Journey meets Slayer', ... people are always coming up with weird labels for us." The band has sometimes been labeled as a speed metal band. Give them a listen and then you decide what they are,