DragonForce guitarist Herman Li is auctioning the prototype of his signature Ibanez EGEN18 TVF via Reverb.com. He has posted the following message explaining the auction:

"100% of the proceeds of this auction will go to benefit the family of Cody Spiess. Earlier this year, Cody was diagnosed with Crutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), an extremely rare brain disease for which there is no treatment and no cure. CJD causes rapid dementia and it is always fatal, usually within a year of diagnosis. Cody is a beloved member of his community – he is an honest and skilled auto technician, a BMX racer, a father and husband. He will leave behind a wife, two small children, his sister Cassidy and his parents.

As you all know, bills don’t stop when a loved one gets ill. Cody has not been able to work since December. His wife is supporting their sons, age 2 and 4, and his family will be responsible for thousands of dollars of medical bills, end-of-life care, and funeral costs. If you’re not bidding but you’d still like to donate, go to Cody’s Go Fund Me and learn more about his story here.

Li recently held a studio live-stream session via Twitch and accidentally leaked a snippet of music presumably for the band's next album. Check out the clip below.

DragonForce entered the studio with producer Damien Rainaud (Fear Factory, Once Human) in late 2018 to begin recording their 8th studio album, due out 2019 via Metal Blade Records in the USA. Fans can watch livestreams of the studio sessions now on Twitch plus, all followers of the Twitch page will have a chance to win Herman Li's personal signature guitar once he reaches 10,000 Twitch followers.

Herman Li comments: "We're really excited to be recording again after finishing one of our biggest tour cycles ever. We’ll be streaming our recording live on Twitch, and fans can participate in the process by letting us know what they think of our solos! The new album will have a lot of surprises that both old and new fans will really enjoy. We're also especially excited to kick off our next tour cycle on the Megacruise. You know if you're seeing DragonForce on a cruise, it's going to be crazy, and we can't wait for everyone to see what we're planning. It will definitely be something fans have never seen before."

Stay tuned for more news about this new album coming soon.