Dragonland

Last updated

Dragonland
Origin Gothenburg, Sweden
Genres Power metal, symphonic metal
Years active1999–present
Labels Black Lotus (1999–2004)
Century Media (Europe, North America)
King Records (Japan)
AFM Records (Europe)
MembersJonas Heidgert
Olof Mörck
Elias Holmlid
Jesse Lindskog
Anders Hammer
Johan Nunez
Past membersDaniel Kvist
Magnus Olin
Robert Willstedt
Christer Pederson
Nicklas Magnusson
Morten Löwe Sörensen

Dragonland is a Swedish power metal band renowned for their self-produced The Dragonland Chronicles fantasy saga, which spans their first, second, and fifth albums. The band is also recognized for the original symphonic/electronic elements crafted by Elias Holmlid.

Contents

History

The band was founded in 1999 by guitarist Nicklas Magnusson and Jonas Heidgert. Soon after, Daniel Kvist, Magnus Olin, and Christer Pederson joined the band. Their first demo was recorded in January 2000. Just three months before starting to record their debut album started, The Battle of the Ivory Plains, Kvist left the band and was replaced by Olof Mörck. [1] The album was released on 30 April 2001, followed by their second album, Holy War, was released on 8 February 2002, with Heidgert still on drums.

Their third album, Starfall , was released on 27 October 2004, featuring Jesse Lindskog on drums. Tom S. Englund and Henrik Danhage (of Evergrey) and Johanna Andersson provided guest performances on the album, including vocals and guitar solos.

Their fourth album, Astronomy , was released on 11 November 2006. Nightrage's Marios Iliopoulos, Amaranthe's Elize Ryd, Cyhra's Jake E and Dead by April's Jimmie Strimell provided guest appearances on this album.

Work on a fifth Dragonland album was announced via Blabbermouth on 27 April 2008. In September 2009, Dragonland launched their re-designed Myspace site, together with a high-quality preproduction of "The Shadow of The Mithril Mountains", a song from the fifth album. It took some time before the album was completely ready. Five years after Astronomy, the band finally released the fifth album, Under the Grey Banner , on 11 November 2011. Where Starfall and Astronomy are two separate albums, Under the Grey Banner continues the story of their first two albums.

On 25 October 2014, it was announced that they would release a reissue of the first album, The Battle of the Ivory Plains , and a remastered version of the second album, Holy War . Both albums have brand new cover artwork, and they were released on 5 December 2014. In the first album, there is also a newly recorded song, "A New Dawn", as its bonus track.

They have worked on their upcoming sixth album The Power of the Nightstar, their first album in over a decade and, similarly to Starfall and Astronomy, separate from the Dragonland Chronicles saga, though following a different sci-fi storyline. The band has released the title track for the album as its first single and the band's first ever music video on 3 June 2022. [2] The album's second single "Flight from Destruction" was released on 29 July 2022, and the album was released on 14 October 2022. [3]

Discography

Studio albums

Demos

Band members

Current line-up
Former members
Timeline
Dragonland

Related Research Articles

Cassiopeia or Cassiopea may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nightrage</span> Greek/Swedish melodic death metal band

Nightrage is a Greek/Swedish melodic death metal band originally from Thessaloniki. They later re-located to Gothenburg, Sweden.

<i>Astronomy</i> (Dragonland album) 2006 studio album by Dragonland

Astronomy is the fourth studio album by Swedish power metal band Dragonland, released in Europe on 13 November 2006 and in North America on 28 November 2006. While their third album Starfall focused heavily on keyboards and had a more upbeat lyrical tone, according to guitarist Olof Mörck, Astronomy is "gloomier, more stygian and packed with crunching guitars; both furiously fast and bone-grindingly heavy."

<i>Starfall</i> (album) 2004 studio album by Dragonland

Starfall is the third album released by the power metal band Dragonland, and the first not to deal with "The Dragonland Chronicles". The music for Starfall was mainly written between June 2003 and May 2004 after arriving home from their 2003 Japan tour. The song, "To the End of the World", from this album, was performed during that tour, before it was even recorded. A demo version of "As Madness Took Me" can be found on YouTube.

Destiny is a Swedish heavy metal band that was formed in 1980 by Stefan Björnshög (bass) and Magnus Österman (guitar). The band has released seven albums to date. Their debut album Beyond All Sense was released in 1985 and their latest one, Climate Change, in October 2016. The band categorises its music as "mörk rock", which in English translates to "dark rock". Stefan Björnshög is the only remaining member from the original line-up.

<i>Intuition</i> (TNT album) 1989 studio album by TNT

Intuition is the fourth studio album by the Norwegian rock band TNT. The sound of the album was more commercial than on their previous albums. It is one of their most successful albums so far. Swedish metal band Dragonland covered the album's title track on their album Astronomy. The CD was reissued by Rock Candy Records in February 2022

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fate (band)</span> Danish hard rock band

Fate is a Danish rock band originally formed in 1984. They released four albums between 1984 and 1990 before disbanding in 1993. However, after a one-off reunion at a German music festival in 2004, Fate was reformed and released a new album, V, in 2006. In 2010, the band released Best of Fate 25 Years on EMI and, in November 2011, the album Ghosts from the Past was released on AOR Heaven in EU and Rubicon in Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sole Survivor (Helloween song)</span> 1995 single by Helloween

"Sole Survivor" is a song and a single by German power metal band Helloween from the album Master of the Rings. On "Closer to Home", the lead vocals are sung by Roland Grapow. The song has been covered by the Swedish power metal band Dragonland on their third album 'Starfall'.

<i>A New Disease Is Born</i> 2007 studio album by Nightrage

A New Disease Is Born is the third full-length studio album by the Greek/Swedish melodic death metal band, Nightrage. It was released by Lifeforce Records on 12 March 2007. The album features an entirely new lineup, excluding guitarist Marios Iliopoulos and bassist Henric Carlsson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olof Mörck</span> Swedish guitarist

Olof Mörck is a Swedish musician who is the guitarist and one of the songwriters of the heavy metal band Amaranthe, as well as guitarist of the power metal band Dragonland. He was also a member of Nightrage between 2006 and 2011 as a guitarist. Notably, he has provided two guitar solos for the 2009 album The Isolation Game by the Italian melodic death metal band Disarmonia Mundi.

<i>The Isolation Game</i> 2009 studio album by Disarmonia Mundi

The Isolation Game is the fourth full-length studio album by the Italian melodic death metal band Disarmonia Mundi, and was released on December 9, 2009 by Coroner Records. It features guest appearances by Björn "Speed" Strid of Soilwork and Olof Mörck of Nightrage/Dragonland/Amaranthe.

<i>Wearing a Martyrs Crown</i> 2009 studio album by Nightrage

Wearing a Martyr's Crown is the fourth album by the melodic death metal band Nightrage. The album was released on 22 June 2009 through German label, Lifeforce Records. The European digipak includes a demo version of "Failure of All Human Emotions" as a bonus track. The Japanese version of the album includes a cover of Metallica's "Holier Than Thou."

<i>Set in Stone</i> (Lord album) 2009 studio album by Lord

Set in Stone is the third album by the Australian heavy metal band Lord. It was released in September 2009 by the band's own label Dominus in conjunction with Riot! Entertainment. This was the first Lord album with the guitarist Mark Furtner as an official member and the last for Tim Yatras, who left after it was recorded but before it was released.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amaranthe</span> Swedish heavy metal band

Amaranthe is a Swedish heavy metal band originally known as Avalanche. The band is notable for their blend of various metal genres and having three lead vocalists.

<i>Insidious</i> (Nightrage album) 2011 studio album by Nightrage

Insidious is the fifth album by the melodic death metal band Nightrage. The album was released on 26 September in Europe and a day later in North America through German label, Lifeforce Records. The Japanese version of the album includes a cover of Def Leppard's "Photograph".

<i>Under the Grey Banner</i> 2011 studio album by Dragonland

Under the Grey Banner is the fifth studio album by Swedish power metal band Dragonland. The album was released on 13 November 2011. This is the third part of the Dragonland Chronicles saga. Damian Bajowski created the cover artwork for this chapter of the Dragonland saga.

<i>Lots of Girls Gonna Get Hurt</i> 2012 EP by Shining

Lots of Girls Gonna Get Hurt is an EP by the Swedish black metal band Shining. It was released through Spinefarm Records on 30 May 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eclipse (band)</span> Swedish rock band

Eclipse is a Swedish hard rock band from Stockholm, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist Erik Mårtensson, guitarist Magnus Henriksson, drummer Philip Crusner, and bassist Victor Crusner.

<i>Helix</i> (Amaranthe album) 2018 album by Amaranthe

Helix is the fifth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Amaranthe. It is also the first album featuring the band's new clean male vocalist Nils Molin (Dynazty), since the departure of the band's former clean male vocalist Jake E.

<i>Manifest</i> (Amaranthe album) 2020 studio album by Amaranthe

Manifest is the sixth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Amaranthe. It was released on 2 October 2020 via Nuclear Blast.

References

  1. "Dragonland Biography". Sing365.com. 14 March 2003. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  2. "DRAGONLAND Release New Single "The Power Of The Nightstar"; Music Video - BraveWords". Metal Storm . 3 June 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  3. "Dragonland - Reveal New Song & Lyric Video". Metal Storm . 29 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.