DragonForce’s reputation for lightning-fast guitar solos and power metal anthems came long after key members’ involvement in a darker musical project. According to Louder, Sam Totman, Herman Li, and former colleague Diccon Harper formed a black metal band named Demoniac in New Zealand in 1993. This early project contained explicitly racist and homophobic content in its material.
The Pre-DragonForce Years
Demoniac had songs featuring offensive titles and themes. The content included references to Nazism, racially-motivated violence, and attacks on the LGBTQ+ community. Some of the songs were called ‘N*ggersl*t,’ ‘Hatred is Purity,’ and ‘K*ll All The Fagg*ts,’ and one of the songs from 1999’s ‘The Fire and the Wind’ album even features a ‘Sieg Heil! Heil Hitler!’ chant.
Sam Totman Claims It Was For The Laughs
Totman addressed the controversial content when confronted by Noisey. He attributed much of it to other band members: “We had some strange characters in that band and everyone kind of wrote their own songs, so any dodgy ones weren’t anything to do with me. We had a bit of a twisted sense of humor – we were just having a laugh.”
Totman also compared the offensive material to other controversial acts: “I guess it’s all about shocking. You’ve got bands like Cannibal Corpse singing about hacking up babies or whatever. No one actually wants to do that, but it’s just kind of shocking, like horror movies.” He said that nothing was ever serious, and the band would’ve never supported such views.
Totman saw the concerns about younger fans discovering this history. He distanced himself from the content by noting that “all the dodgy stuff like that was mostly our old drummer.” He insisted it was “just a laugh” from “a long time ago.”
Where is DragonForce Now?
According to Metal Storm, Herman Li and Sam Totman formed the band as DragonHeart in 1999 after Demoniac. They later changed the name to DragonForce in 2002 due to legal issues with another band. As for now, the band has numerous concerts on the way, but there’s no news of a new album on the horizon.
