Maximum Overload

UK Metal titans DRAGONFORCE have completed their sixth studio album entitled‚ 'Maximum Overload'.

Produced by Jens Bogren at Fascination Studios in Örebro and Varberg, Sweden, the new opus will be the band’s first ever album involving an outside producer, having historically opted to record themselves in association with Karl Groom.

Maximum Overload will be the band’s debut album for new label earMusic, part of the German Edel music group, who will release the album in the UK on August 18th.

Mainly written by guitarist Sam Totman and bass player Frédéric Leclercq‚ 'Maximum Overload' is the second album with new vocalist Marc Hudson who replaced the bands original singer for the last album, ‘The Power Within’. Formed in 1999 and based in London the band is very well known for its long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-based lyrics and electronic sounds in their music to add to their retro video game-influenced sound.

“Working with Jens gave us a different perspective on the songs and a different sound dynamic. We always previously recorded in our own studios but recording in Sweden made us focus and maybe drove us harder, Jens certainly did, he doesn‘t believe in days off!“ said guitar maestro Herman Li.

“The album title and album cover artwork is inspired by the constant bombardment of information we are subjected to during our daily lives“ Li added. “We were in an airport departure lounge surrounded by TV screens, flight information screens and advertising screens. We then looked around and no one was saying a word, they were all looking at more screens on tablets, laptops and mobile phones, there‘s no escaping it, it‘s complete information overload!“

‘Maximum Overload‘ features a couple of surprises, notably a guest appearance on some of the songs from Trivium’s Matt Heafy. “We‘ve always gotten on really well with the Trivium guys and it was great when Matt had a couple of days to spare and agreed to weigh in on some of the songs!“ added Frederic Leclercq.

The album also features an all time first for DragonForce.....a cover version! Sam Totman explained “Just before the last Australian tour our manager suggested it might be interesting to do a cover for the next album, something we‘ve always refused even to consider. Because we had all had a couple beers every band member wrote down 3 songs each and we compared them all, just for a laugh. I wrote down ‘Ring Of Fire‘ by Johnny Cash, an idea which the rest of the band loved, so we‘ve Dragon-Force-ized it!“ Bonus DVD (25 mins) - Documentary: A New Found Force - Cry Thunder (Live at Loud Park ’12) Plus: Exclusive T-Shirt, 6 pictures and poster.