DragonForce, the Grammy-nominated power metallers, are poised to release a comprehensive career-spanning ‘Best Of’ – the first time the UK band have presented this kind of historical ‘chapter & verse’ collection.
Titled ‘Killer Elite – The Hits, The Highs, The Vids’ release through Spinefarm Records, this 22-track set (two hours and 30 minutes of music, featuring both studio and live material, with promo clips added to the Deluxe set) fully showcases the ambition, variety and skill of the group’s musical output, now taking in six studio albums; elements of thrash, speed and power metal are spread across accelerated rockers and more measured, melodic offerings – from biggest hit, ‘Through The Fire And Flames’, a staple inclusion on several best-selling video games (i.e. ‘Guitar Hero’) and recently used as the basis of a US mockumentary featuring the band and Oculus Rift founder Palmer Luckey, through to ‘Dawn Over A New World’, a ballad harking back to the early years.
With latest recruit, singer Marc Hudson, now having two studio albums under his belt (2012’s ‘The Power Within’ and 2014’s ‘Maximum Overload’), ‘Killer Elite…’ is the chance for new fans to familiarise themselves with glories past and for long-standing supporters to revel in the attention to detail of a multi-format package balancing audience faves with compositions close to the collective DragonForce heart…
Says guitarist Herman Li, who started the group in 1999 with fellow shredder Sam Totman:-
“The aim of this release is to give a strong flavour of everything we’ve recorded so far, and I like to think it shows a lot of diversity. Certainly, we tried to make it as broad-based as possible. Since Marc joined the band (replacing original frontman ZP Theart), we’ve actually released some of our speediest songs and some our most melodic compositions, too. DragonForce isn’t just about the relentless tempos and the flashy solos; ultimately, it’s the feel of the music that counts…”
‘Killer Elite…’ will be available in the following formats:-
· 2 CD package (‘The Hits, The Highs’)
· Deluxe Special Digi-Pack Edition including a DVD featuring all of the band’s promo clips (‘The Hits, The Highs, The Vids’)
· Digital download (‘The Hits, The Highs’)
In support of ‘Killer Elite…’, DragonForce will return to the road this year for the most extensive European summer festival tour in their history; these 16 shows will see the now cosmopolitan DF line-up playing a special set reflecting the track-listing of the album.
The band has also set to work on the follow-up to ‘Maximum Overload’ at Fascination Street studios in Sweden with producer Jens Bogren; this new record is provisionally scheduled for a mid-March 2017 release with a world tour to follow. In the meantime, the confirmed dates for ‘Killer Elite Tour 2016’ are as follows:-
APRIL 2016
Thursday 21st: Duo Exchange, Tokyo, Japan
Friday 22nd: Duo Exchange, Tokyo, Japan (Sold Out)
MAY 2016
Sunday 1st: Jimi Festival, Wroclaw, Poland
JUNE 2016
Saturday 4th: Metalhead Meeting Open Air, Bucharest, Romania
Sunday 5th: Rock Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Sunday 19th: Hellfest, Clisson, France
Friday 24th: NummiRock, Kauhajoki, Finland
Saturday 25th: Dokk’Em Open Air, Dokkum, Netherlands
JULY 2016
Sunday 10th: Rockoff Festival, Istanbul, Turkey
Thursday 14th: Bang Your Head, Balingen, Germany
Friday 15th: Barcelona Rock, Barcelona, Spain
Saturday 16th: Woodstock, Kostryn, Poland
Friday 29th: Metal Days, Tolmin, Slovenia
AUGUST
Saturday 6th: Wacken Open Air, Wacken, Germany
Thursday 11th: Leyendas del Rock, Villena, Spain
Sunday 14th: Bloodstock Open Air, Walton-on-Trent, UK
Thursday 18th: Sabaton Open Air, Falun, Sweden
Saturday 20th: More Than Fest, Zvolenska Slatina, Slovakia
SEPTEMBER
Wednesday 7th: Prog Power USA, Atlanta, USA
Track list:
Disc 1 – CD
1. Through The Fire And Flames
2. Holding On
3. Heroes Of Our Time
4. Cry Thunder
5. Black Fire
6. Dawn Over A New World
7. Fields Of Despair (Live)
8. The Game
9. Operation Ground And Pound
10. Seasons
11. Reasons To Live
12. Soldiers Of The Wasteland
Disc 2 – CD
1. Valley Of The Damned
2. Fury Of The Storm
3. Revolution Deathsquad
4. Wings Of Liberty
5. My Spirit Will Go On
6. Three Hammers (Live)
7. Symphony Of The Night
8. The Last Journey Home
9. Starfire (Live)
10. Heart Of A Dragon
Disc 3 – DVD
1. Through The Fire And Flames (Music Video)
2. Operation Ground And Pound (Music Video)
3. Heroes Of Our Time (Music Video)
4. The Last Journey Home (Music Video)
5. Cry Thunder (Music Video)
6. Seasons (Music Video)
7. The Game (Music Video)
8. Three Hammers (Music Video)
ALL RELEASE DATES
Japan: 13th April 2016
Europe: 29th April 2016 | 2CD+DVD Deluxe Ed. | 2CD Standard Ed. | iTunes
North America: T.B.A.
