Metal
DragonForce release their tenth studio record, self-titled, on 19 March 2027 on Napalm Records. The first track, «Hunger Of The Beast», already has a video, but for now it’s only streaming on YouTube: it doesn’t reach other platforms until Thursday 24 September.
It’s the first record with Alissa White-Gluz, who joined the band this past May, and it carries two lead vocals. The other belongs to Alessio Garavello, who stepped into Marc Hudson’s spot on 19 September after Hudson stepped back over a tinnitus problem. The song is written specifically for both their ranges. The line-up stands at seven with guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman, bassist Alicia Vigil, drummer Gee Anzalone and rhythm guitarist Billy Wilkins, also new.
Jens Bogren produced, recorded, mixed and mastered it, and the cover art is by Mark Riddick. From the tracklist, the label has given two more titles: «Neverending Nightmare» and «The White Wolf».
«Every time we start a record we think: wow, I can’t believe we’re still doing what we love after all these years,» says Herman Li, co-founder and lead guitarist. «The approach to the tenth record matters as much as the first, or any other, because the way we see music is that we’re making a piece of art that’ll stay frozen in time. We’re not trying to be commercial. We’re not trying to be popular. We’re not trying to be famous.»
White-Gluz, the band’s first female singer since May, adds: «I’ve loved the whole process of making music with DragonForce. This new combination of speed and ferocity is refreshing.»
The band has twenty-two North American dates between 13 November and 13 December, from San Diego to Los Angeles. Next year’s only announced European date is Wacken Open Air, from 29 to 31 July. There’s none in Spain.
Text by Roger Estivill