DragonForce members Sam Totman, Dave Mackintosh and Herman Li were at the NAMM Convention in Anaheim California last weekend for meet and greets and autograph sessions. The band would like to send their appreciation to the fans that attended from all parts of the world.



Signature instruments from Fred, Sam and Herman were on display again this year.

DragonForce members will be signing at this year's NAMM show in Anaheim, California USA at the following times:

Friday 15th January 2010
4pm – 5pm
Herman, Sam & Dave
Ibanez / Tama
Booth 4634, Hall C
 
Saturday 16th January 2010
12pm – 1pm
Sam & Herman
Samson Technologies
Booth 5940, Hall B

The ‘Strings on Fire’ guitar solo contest has announced their Top 3 entries with DragonForce guitarist Herman Li acting as guest judge. Head over to their YouTube Channel to find out more and see Herman join in the fun himself.

Strings on Fire - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1XfW7Hw-PQ

DRAGONFORCE have their first two studio albums – ‘Valley Of The Damned’ & ‘Sonic Firestorm’ – re-issued on February 22nd 2010 via Spinefarm Records.

Both titles will now be available with updated packaging and bonus audio/DVD content, some of it exclusive to these releases.
FORMED IN 1999, DragonForce issued their ‘Valley Of The Damned’ debut in 2003 – an impressive nine-track showcase for their accomplished power metal forays. Containing a host of songs that still rank amongst the most popular of their output, the likes of ‘Black Fire’, ‘Evening Star’ and the title track itself, ‘VOTD’ has now been Remixed and Remastered to allow every aspect of the recordings to make maximum impact…

“Fans who have heard the original mixes many times might find that the songs sound a bit different now,” observes guitarist Herman Li, “but that’s how we always wanted the original songs to sound. We just didn’t have the time back then to make everything sound the way we wanted.”
The studio track, ‘Where Dragons Rule’, has now been added to the audio side, and there is a bonus DVD featuring never-before-seen live footage (‘Valley Of The Damned’, filmed in Japan), behind-the-scenes material (also from Japan), video commentaries, plus in-studio interviews and clips (shot in Denmark & the UK), all of it lovingly assembled by Li himself.

2004 SAW the release of the follow-up album, ‘Sonic Firestorm’, which gave the band the chance to hone their skills and push their trademark sound to a whole new level. They were happy with ‘Sonic…’ at the time and remain so to this day, which is why the mixing and the mastering have been left just as they are; however, the packaging has been upgraded, an extra track added (‘Cry Of The Brave’ – a song the group felt uncomfortable taking off first time around), and – as with ‘Valley…’ – a bonus DVD added, this one featuring live footage from Japan (‘Fury Of The Storm’), video commentaries plus freshly recorded interviews with the band members themselves.

As a way of celebrating the recordings that effectively launched DF’s international career, both re-issued albums will be included in a limited edition package along with exclusive band merchandise and various collectable items.

Tracklistings and contents:

Valley of the Damned - Remixed & Remastered Reissue
CD
1. Invocation of the Apocalyptic Evil
2. Valley of the Damned
3. Black Fire
4. Black Winter Night
5. Starfire
6. Disciples of Babylon
7. Revelations
8. Evening Star
9. Heart of a Dragon
10. Where Dragons Rule (bonus track)

Bonus DVD
- Valley of the Damned: Live performance, Japan 2004
- Backstage footage in Japan
- Video Interviews
- Behind the Scenes: Recording Valley of the Damned
- Behind the Scenes: Remixing Valley of the Damned
- Video Commentary

Sonic Firestorm - Reissue
CD
1. My Spirit Will Go On
2. Fury of the Storm
3. Fields of Despair
4. Dawn Over a New World
5. Above the Winter Moonlight
6. Soldiers of the Wasteland
7. Prepare for War
8. Once In a Lifetime
9. Cry of the Brave (bonus track)

Bonus DVD
- Fury of the Storm: Live performance, Japan 2005
- Video Interviews
- Video Commentary

Posted on the Roadrunner Records UK Web site last week:

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.co.uk/page/News?news_id=87019

The Grammy nominated UK based metal band DragonForce has launched their official mobile blogs channel via Nokia’s Royal Artist Club.

The band is currently finishing the last leg of their Ultra Beatdown World Tour in the UK and will be sending instant behind the scenes photos and videos updates directly from their cell phones.

Catch up now at royalartistclub.com/dragonforce

It is with great regret that DragonForce have to announce the cancellation of the two shows in Tokyo that were scheduled for the beginning of March 2010. The reason for this is that at the end of the 2009 UK part of the Ultra Beatdown World Tour, the band will start writing a new studio album scheduled for release in 2011. They will need to focus totally on this, and unfortunately this means all live shows for 2010 have been cancelled. – DragonForce Management

Ultimate-Guitar.com caught up with DragonForce guitarist Herman Li on their recent US Tour for a long in-depth interview on the band’s career. Herman explained many unanswered questions for the first time. Check it out here!

‘We are currently touring all over Germany, the shows been excellent so far. It’s great to meet so many new fans. It was a blast having Sonata Arctica and Taking Dawn on our US/Canada Tour. Had an awesome time playing the new keyboard solo with Henrik from Sonata.’ - Vadim Pruzhanov

See this fan filmed footage of the keyboard solo from the last US show of the Ultra Beatdown World Tour.

Check out this week's Kerrang! magazine (UK) which includes a competition for a free guitar lesson, with DragonForce's Herman Li on the upcoming UK tour.