Ultra-shred power metallers DRAGONFORCE have a new album Ultra Beatdown scheduled for release on August 25th. MetalSucks’ Vince Neilstein recently had a chance to chat with singer ZP Theart about the new album, the effects of the band's inclusion in Guitar Hero, and the perception amongst some music fans that the band are just a bunch of musical masturbation wankers (my words, not his). An excerpt from the interview follows:

MetalSucks: Guitar Hero was a big thing for you guys. There’s thousands of YouTube videos of kids playing along to your song. What’s your opinion of Guitar Hero? Do you think it’s cool?

ZP Theart: "Yeah, I got it!" (laughs)

MetalSucks: Do you play your own song on Guitar Hero?

ZP Theart: "Yeah, I get like three-quarters of the way through. It’s even tough on “Easy,” man. I was watching TV in January and February and there was this 12 year-old kid on the Ellen Degeneres show that just fuckin’ ripped the shit out of that song, man. My jaw dropped on the floor when I saw this kid, and I think he did about 95, 96 percent. And it was absolutely amazing, 12 years old! And, yeah, the whole Guitar Hero thing was good. Still is."

MetalSucks: Do you guys notice an increase in interest since that happened?

ZP Theart: "Yeah, definitely. The thing with this game is because it’s a game there’s a greater variety of people that will be interested in it. Because when you’re in a metal band, there’s a lot of people that wouldn’t even consider listening to it just because of the fact that it is a metal band. Or they’ll probably see the name and go “Dragonforce, fuck, that sounds a bit gay. Who calls their name Dragonforce?” You know? And then the kids play the game, all their favorite songs are on there and they get to the end and they gotta beat this fuckin’ track. And once they listen to it the hooks are all over the show, so it’s easy for them to fall into the traps of Dragonforce! (laughs) And before you know it they’re in there, and we get loads of kids that go, “Man, I never heard of your band before,” and that’s cool, you know? So yeah, the whole Guitar Hero thing has definitely been a good platform to reach new fans for us."

MetalSucks: Do you find that the people who come to your shows maybe only know you guys from Guitar Hero?

ZP Theart: "Well, we haven’t been on tour since the game came out. So it’ll be surprising to see. Who cares, fuck. As long as they come to see the rest of the show as well, then fair enough."

MetalSucks: As long as they don’t just stay for the one song, right?

ZP Theart: "Yeah, we’ll make sure not to play it first!" (laughs)

MetalSucks: You guys obviously have a pretty good sense of humor about yourselves. You go up there, you have a good time, you write fun music. Does it bother you sometimes that some people don’t take your music seriously because of how over the top it is?

ZP Theart: "You know, each to their own. You can only try and influence a person that far. At the end of the day when it comes to the music we’re serious as fuck. You can make that out listening to the album. And when it comes to being on the road, that’s where we want to be most definitely – and we want to have fun while we’re doing it, you know? So fuck it. Go out there and have a blast."

To read the entire interview, visit this location.