When Protools-powered metal monsters,
Dragonforce announced that nipple-baring, curly headed douche frontman
ZP Theart was leaving the band, I wasn't really too nervous about the members finding a new lead singer capable of getting just as winded, and forgetting the lyrics just as much on stage. However that fact, combined with Activision inevitably
shutting its doors on the Guitar Hero franchise (the root of the band's success), didn't make things look too great for the British joke metal outfit. On their neverending quest to ruin music, Dragonforce decided to hold open YouTube auditions all last year. The obvious result is that we now have 100 million videos uploaded to the site of fat old weirdos and Bieber-haired high school children singing karaoke style to
The Last Journey Home. I commend the band for having to sift through all that mayhem, and finally pick
Marc Hudson, a guy that doesn't really sound like the original Dragonforce singer. Although if bands considered their previous sound when choosing a new vocalist, we as rock fans never would have been able to enjoy those years of
Van Hagar and
Iced Owens.
Thankfully, Dragonforce fans can rest easy. A vocal style change doesn't mean a change in their shitty lyrics or guitar playing whatsoever. You only have to listen to the above video for about 30 seconds before you're treated to a "so far away", and "we ride". I couldn't make this stuff up if I wanted to. Maybe if we're lucky, next year Dragonforce will hold open auditions for two new guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, a keyboardist and a lyricist? One can always hope.
All that harsh hate aside I do have to say that Marc Hudson definitely has some power metal chops, and it's kind of nice that he'll lend at least a bit of
variety to a band that's completely void of the concept. I will unapologetically state that I think it's a shame to see his talent go to such musical waste, and hopefully after Dragonforce inevitably stops "riding so far away" and breaks up, Hudson will be propelled to stardom in the metal genre elsewhere.
Despite that I'm happy for Hudson, I can't help but feel bummed that my first choice didn't make the cut:
