GUITARISTS HERMAN LI AND SAM TOTMAN TAKE A
TWO-HEADED APPROACH TO DRAGONFORCE’S LATEST EFFORT,
THEPOWERWITHIN, PROPELLING THE GROUP FORWARD WITH
A NEW VOCALIST AND EVEN TRAILBLAZING INTO NEW
TERRITORIES—BOTH FASTER AND SLOWER—ALL THE WHILE
KEEPING THEIR SOUND’S POWERFULLY PACKED BRUTALITY
BY JASON SHADRICK
The chemistry of a working band is a delicate thing. Working through the balance of personalities, egos,
and experience can sometimes become as complicated as
covalent bonds. However, replacing an original member
of a band isn’t always a recipe for disaster. From the Sam
and Dave drama of Van Halen to the revolving lead
guitar chair in Megadeth, many bands have gone on to
success after altering some of their band’s original DNA.
DragonForce had dealt with band members coming
and going before but when it was announced in March
of 2010 that original vocalist ZP Theart would be
leaving the band, it created some uncertainty among
their fans. After all, ZP had been the voice of the band
on every album and in turn created some big shoes to
fill. Founding guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman,
along with the rest of the band, decided to take a different route when it came to choosing the next singer
for the band. “In a way, we had the whole world to
choose from. When we were starting out, we didn’t
really have much. There wasn’t much internet [access]
at all and there definitely wasn’t any You Tube,” Totman
notes. Thanks to those technological advances, the
band encouraged anyone who was interested to send in
an audition video.
After sorting through the piles of entrants, one singer
stood out. Enter Marc Hudson, a 23-year-old guitarist-turned-vocalist who impressed the band with his expressive and melodic style. After nearly a year of working
with Hudson, the band announced in March of 2011
that they had found the new voice of DragonForce.
PG caught up with Li and Totman to discuss life with
a new singer, 30-fret guitars, and the story behind the
group’s most diverse album yet, The Power Within.
