Lithium Magazine conducted an interview with vocalist Marc Hudson and bassist Frédéric Leclercq of British/French epic power metallers DRAGONFORCE on November 26 at the London Music Hall in London, Ontario, Canada. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).
On how DRAGONFORCE’s latest album, 2014’s “Maximum Overload”, is an indication of where the band’s music will go on the follow-up effort:
Marc: “I think the more that we play ‘Maximum Overload’ live, the songs from it, the more I think that… It makes me certainly think of what we’re gonna do next and how we can do things differently and introduce some more diversity and stuff. But at the same time, I like the songs from the album, so that kind of stays with me. So I don’t know… I’m definitely not sick of listening to the songs we did, but I can see scope for new stuff.”
Frédéric: “Sam [Totman, guitar] came to my place, like, two times already, and we started working on new stuff. And it’s always interesting to look at what you’ve done just before. And, quite frankly, I’m really happy with the direction of the last two albums, since [Marc] joined the band, really. It’s kind of nice. The songs are shorter. And also, for ‘Maximum Overload’, we worked with [Swedish producer] Jens Bogren, and I really wanna work with him again, so that should happen. I’m not gonna say we’re gonna use the same formula, but it’s kind of nice to see what we [put] on the album and say, ‘Okay, we had a song like this. It’d be nice to have one like that as well, but with…’ So, obviously, you look at that, but you also have to look at the old albums as well, try to bring elements [from previous records]. ‘Cause it’s nice evolve, but you can’t really have such a big departure from your style as well. So it’s kind of nice to look back at what you’ve done and what is DRAGONFORCE and try to evolve but keep it at the same time [true to the band’s sound].”
On the thrash musical elements on “Maximum Overload”:
Frédéric: “That’s the first album Sam is not writing the whole thing. We co-wrote everything together, Sam and I, so definitely the thrash elements and whatnot comes from my side. And together with Jens, we changed the formula of the songs.”
On how the fans reacted to the heavier direction of the new album:
Marc: “I think that they liked it. I’ve only seen positive stuff about the heavier elements of the last album. And also a lot of positive comments coming from the overall sound and the way that it’s mixed and produced. I think that’s something that definitely had a complete positive reaction so far.”
Frédéric: “Some people, actually… I read some [reviews] and they were just, like, ‘Ah, DRAGONFORCE [sounds] exactly the same [as on previous records].’ And that proves that they actually did not listen to the album, ‘cause it is actually not the same. But they were just, ‘Oh, it’s the same crap as usual.’ So why bother sometimes? You might as well fart in a microphone if the guy is not even gonna listen to it.”
DRAGONFORCE is in the middle of the “Maximum Overload” world tour, which commenced in September 2014 and is due to conclude in 2016.
“Maximum Overload” was released in August 2014 in North America via Metal Blade and in Europe through earMUSIC, the Hamburg, Germany-based international rock label which is part of Edel Group. The CD was recorded at Fascination Street studios in Örebro, Sweden with Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with OPETH, THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, AMON AMARTH, KATATONIA, SOILWORK and SYMPHONY X, to name a few. It marks the band’s first-ever album involving an outside producer, having historically opted to record themselves in association with Karl Groom.
DRAGONFORCE recently released its debut DVD, “In The Line Of Fire”, via Metal Blade. Shot in high definition during the band’s show at 2014’s Loud Park festival at the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan, the DVD was filmed using nine camera angles to capture the raw energy of DRAGONFORCE’s show and instrumental dexterity for which they are rightly celebrated worldwide.
Source: Blabbermouth
