DragonForce / Alestorm / The Defiled / Cavorts

I'm in Norwich tonight to witness the second coming of power metallers DragonForce. Having shot to fame through their track 'Through The Fire And Flames' featuring on defunct video game Guitar Hero, DragonForce have had their ups and downs. Having sold many albums and played to huge crowds across the globe, their lowest point may have come in 2010 when they ditched singer ZP Theart.

But each cloud has a silver lining and a new era is dawning for DragonForce with new singer Marc Hudson in place. A rejuvenated DragonForce have hit the studio with Hudson and produced a fresh sounding album. This album, 'The Power Within', brings new songs to the DragonForce arsenal and allows Hudson to imprint on the group.



Tonight's card is packed and with the venue still pretty empty, Cavorts take to the stage. Hailing from Barnsley this four piece play solid, emphatic heavy metal with a punk rock edge and their dual guitar attack helps set the tone for what's to come this evening. Cavorts provide a good start to what will hopefully be a very good evening of metal.

As the venue starts to fill up, The Defiled take to the stage. This is a band with both the look and the sound to become a success. Their industrial metal gets the crowd moving and keeps this evening of fine music flowing. Their short but sweet set finishes with a song called 'The Ressurectionists', which sounds great and leaves the crowd wanting more.



Next up are the highly entertaining Alestorm, who regale us with tales of rum, mead and wenches. The Scottish 'pirate metal' band have brought with them a huge following tonight, most of which come dressed in suitable pirate attire, and they surely leave tonight with an even larger following. Having never listening to Alestorm in the past, I wasn't expecting much but was left surprised by just how good a show they actually put on.



Tonight has already been a surprisingly decent night and it's not over yet as the aforementioned DragonForce take to the stage. Their set tonight sees them cover all five studio albums, but as you would expect from 'The Power Within Tour', new album 'The Power Within' is featured heavily. New tracks 'Holding On', 'Seasons' and 'Die By The Sword' all come early on in the set, but hold up well with the likes of 'Heroes Of Our Time' and 'Fury Of The Storm'.

Guitarists and remaining founding members Herman Li and Sam Totman are in their traditional antagonistic moods and playfully tease each other throughout the show. Joined by long time members, keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov and bassist Frederic Leclercq, the band are full of energy on stage and constantly rotate position. Drummer Dave Mackintosh completes the backbone of the group which has remained intact since 2005.



As I stated at the very beginning, tonight sees DragonForce with their new vocalist Marc Hudson in place. Hudson, who prior to joining the power metal act had very limited experience, looks at home on stage tonight and despite a few technical issues with his mic, sounds very impressive. He handles both the old and new songs well and as his confidence grows with each and every show that he performs, DragonForce fans have a new hero of their time.

The biggest reaction of the night, as you would expect, came for the song that put DragonForce on the map, 'Through The Fire And Flames'. But for me the highlight came with main set closer 'Cry Thunder'. This song also elicited a generous response from the crowd, with everyone singing along to the simple chorus. This only goes to further evidence the success of the new album, and proves that there is life in this band yet.

A fantastic evening of metal music was rounded off by the DragonForce lads when they re-emerged for a rousing encore of 'Valley Of The Damned' from their 2003 debut album of the same name.

FUTURE GIGS

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