DragonForce’s newest era with Alissa White-Gluz didn’t happen overnight—it grew naturally out of a collaboration that quickly clicked on multiple levels.
In a recent interview with Local Band Smokeout, the former Arch Enemy vocalist discussed how her 2025 guest appearance on an alternate version of DragonForce’s “Burning Heart” helped pave the way toward her becoming the band’s full-time singer.
Alissa said (via Blabbermouth): “Kind of. I think we all kind of agreed that we got a really good vibe from working together, and that the music could be really cool to combine everything that DragonForce is known for and what I’m known for, and play on our strengths. And I think we just weren’t sure if we could really do it. And I think in life you’re never really ready to do something; you just have to do it and then figure it out. And so we were, like, ‘You know what? It’s now or never. Let’s just do it. Let’s just jump into this and make it happen.’ And so we did. And so we’ve been working, yeah, for a while, actually, just to get prepared to be able to perform these shows together, and also working on new music.”
What began as a one-off collaboration soon turned into something much larger, as both sides began developing new material and testing ideas in the studio.
According to Alissa, the chemistry became especially clear once the band started working face-to-face on writing and arrangements: “[It’s been] really good. You never know… ‘Cause you can practice your stuff on your own and write independently and it could be fine, but when we actually started playing together in the same room, playing properly, rehearsing, writing, working on lyrics, working on chord structures, parts, arrangements, concepts, titles and stuff like that, we worked on stuff and then we listened back and we were, like, ‘This sounds really good.’ I think we were… We were pretty confident, but then listening back to it, we were, like, ‘Ooh, okay. We’re really on to something here.’ So it was great.”
Meanwhile, DragonForce are gearing up for a major North American run celebrating the 20th anniversary of Inhuman Rampage, the album that helped define their global breakthrough. The 22-date tour will take place in November and December, with support from Ensiferum and Rhapsody of Fire, hitting cities including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
The band’s recent festival appearances at Welcome To Rockville and Sonic Temple already offered fans a first glimpse of this new chapter with Alissa White-Gluz at the helm, and early reactions have been overwhelmingly positive.
Inhuman Rampage 20th Anniversary Tour Dates:
Nov 13 – San Diego, CA – The Observatory North Park
Nov 14 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues
Nov 15 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
Nov 17 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues
Nov 18 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
Nov 20 – Lake Buena Vista, FL – House of Blues
Nov 21 – Tampa, FL – The Ritz Ybor
Nov 22 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade (Heaven)*
Nov 24 – Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore Charlotte
Nov 25 – Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore Silver Spring
Nov 27 – Worcester, MA – Palladium*
Nov 28 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore Philadelphia
Nov 29 – New York, NY – Palladium Times Square
Dec 1 – Montreal, QC – MTELUS
Dec 2 – Toronto, ON – HISTORY
Dec 4 – Chicago, IL – The Riviera Theatre
Dec 6 – Minneapolis, MN – The Fillmore Minneapolis
Dec 8 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
Dec 9 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
Dec 11 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades
Dec 12 – Berkeley, CA – The UC Theatre
Dec 13 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
