Saturday, May 12, 2012

Dragonforce at the House of Blues Anaheim

dragonforce-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY1797
Power metal is alive and very well thanks to bands like Dragonforce. Their unabashed love for the guitar solo makes them full blown rock stars when they walked the halls of the Anaheim Convention Center during NAMM. Dragonforce hit the House of Blues Anaheim supporting their new album, The Power Within and came out breathing fire.

Huntress
 huntress-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY0123 huntress-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY0057 huntress-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY0145 huntress-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY0272 huntress-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY0456

Hailing from Highland Park and led by the stunning statuesque lead singer Jill Janus, Huntress threw down the gauntlet early with their fiery solos and operatic soaring vocals. Their latest release is Spell Eater and they will be casting their dark spells over in Europe in June with Megadeth and Kreator.


Holy Grail
 holy_grail-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY0911 holy_grail-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY1134 holy_grail-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY1139 holy_grail-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY0919 holy_grail-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY1223

As a fan of the movie Excalibur, how can you not like a band called Holy Grail? Furious guitar solos and fusing elements of speed, thrash and power metal, Holy Grail's cup runneth over. Holy Grail's last release was Crisis In Utopia was released in 2010 and should be working on a new album.

Dragonforce
dragonforce-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY1891 dragonforce-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY2087 dragonforce-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY2022 dragonforce-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY2208 dragonforce-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY2049 dragonforce-house_of_blues_anaheim_ACY1523

Bombastic, loud and fast are just some of the adjectives that one can use to describe a Dragonforce show.  Led by their new lead singer Marc Hudson, Dragonforce burned through an 11 song set as guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman furiously navigated the fretboards of their custom Ibanez guitars. I will stand by old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words and leave you with the photos above.

Dragonforce setlist at the House of Blues Anaheim (5/12/12)
01 Die By The Sword
02 Operation Ground and Pound
03 Cry Thunder
04 Heroes of Out Time
05 Seasons
06 Soldiers of the Wasteland
07 Fallen World
08 Holding On
09 Through the Fire and Flames
10 Fury of the Storm
11 Valley of the Damned