Enter the DragonForce
Last night I saw DragonForce, a band that combines arena-rock vocals with death-metal blast beats and speed-metal solos. The overlapping layers of metal history are mixed with triumphant RPG soundtracks and meshed into epic songs that typically last over 7 minutes. The band from London, England, has resuscitated a style of music that has been long dead (at least in the U.S.), and its songs could easily be dropped in on classic rock stations' rotations, right next to Led Zep, Maiden, and the Scorpions--and not stick out like when DJs play Nirvana or Pearl Jam just to prove they were still functional in the '90s, and not baked on coke. Meanwhile, the straight-up ripping musicianship and endless power will win over the hardest-core fans of the new-ish metal genres and hybrids.
Where are the Asian rock stars? That long-standing question--which has been bandied about by Asian-Am journalists, scholars, and popular culture mavens--or complaint, more precisely, has been rendered obsolete because DragonForce's leader and guitarist Herman Li is an emerging rock god. Already compared to the likes of Malmsteen and his Rising Force, Li's DragonForce will probably be bigger than that. Instead of simply noodling with notes and nanoseconds, he and follow axeman Sam Totman work ridiculously complex guitar solos into incredibly melodic songs. Imagine Eddie Van Halen playing with Steve Vai in their respective primes, not dueling but pushing each other to go faster and building off each other's riffs. It's something like that, but on a tipping iceberg while glaciers implode and whales and squids battle around them.
Forget Asians in rock. This is something that could affect everyone. I hope it steals a chunk of kids back from American Idol, mainstream rap, and nu-metal and dedicates them to rock 'n' roll. I'm totally serious. Even if you hate the sound of metal and its long-haired style, or wish the lyrics had some social commentary, DragonForce's seemingly boundless talent, energy, and potential cannot be denied. Nor should it. Locate your lighter, and jump in the pit.
Where are the Asian rock stars? That long-standing question--which has been bandied about by Asian-Am journalists, scholars, and popular culture mavens--or complaint, more precisely, has been rendered obsolete because DragonForce's leader and guitarist Herman Li is an emerging rock god. Already compared to the likes of Malmsteen and his Rising Force, Li's DragonForce will probably be bigger than that. Instead of simply noodling with notes and nanoseconds, he and follow axeman Sam Totman work ridiculously complex guitar solos into incredibly melodic songs. Imagine Eddie Van Halen playing with Steve Vai in their respective primes, not dueling but pushing each other to go faster and building off each other's riffs. It's something like that, but on a tipping iceberg while glaciers implode and whales and squids battle around them.
Forget Asians in rock. This is something that could affect everyone. I hope it steals a chunk of kids back from American Idol, mainstream rap, and nu-metal and dedicates them to rock 'n' roll. I'm totally serious. Even if you hate the sound of metal and its long-haired style, or wish the lyrics had some social commentary, DragonForce's seemingly boundless talent, energy, and potential cannot be denied. Nor should it. Locate your lighter, and jump in the pit.
posted by gr at
12:25 PM
Have you seen this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=o7gfXWRenAw
I know these guys have got to be good at Contra.
Miss you, Martin. You'd love the waves out here. I may even try to learn surfing in a few days. Though we keep hearing messed up shark stories.
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