Dragonland is a

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

band from Sweden. The group is known for their self-produced ''The Dragonland Chronicles'' fantasy saga covering their first, second, and fifth albums, and for the original

symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

/ electronic parts by Elias Holmlid.

History

The band was founded in 1999 by guitarist Nicklas Magnusson and Jonas Heidgert. Soon after Daniel Kvist, Magnus Olin and Christer Pederson joined in. Their first demo was recorded in January 2000. Only three months before the recording of their debut album started, ''The Battle of the Ivory Plains'', Kvist decided to leave the band and was soon replaced by Olof Mörck. The album was released on 30 April 2001, and the second album, ''Holy War'', was released on 8 February 2002. Both featured singer Jonas Heidgert on drums. Their third album, '' Starfall'', was released on 27 October 2004, featuring Jesse Lindskog on drums.

Tom S. Englund Tom S. Englund (born 14 December 1973) is a Swedish musician best known for being the vocalist and guitarist of Evergrey, of which he is also a founding member, as well as the vocalist of Redemption. Discography with Evergrey * ''The Dark Disco ...

and Henrik Danhage (of Evergrey) and Johanna Andersson provided guest performances on the album, including vocals and guitar solos. Their fourth album, ''

Astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

'', was released on 11 November 2006.

Nightrage Nightrage is a Greek/Swedish melodic death metal band originally from Thessaloniki. They later re-located to Gothenburg, Sweden. History Formation and ''Sweet Vengeance'' (2000–2003) Nightrage was founded by Marios Iliopoulos and his cl ...

's Marios Iliopoulos,

Amaranthe Amaranthe is a Swedish metal band originally known as Avalanche. The band is notable for their blend of various metal genres and having three lead vocalists. History Formed by Olof Mörck (Dragonland, Nightrage) and Joacim "Jake E" Lundbe ...

Elize Ryd Hanna Elise Isabell Maj Höstblomma Ryd (born 15 October 1984), known professionally as Elize Ryd, is a Swedish singer, best known as one of the three vocalists and co-lyricist in the metal band Amaranthe. She also gained some popularity prior to ...

, Cyhra's

Jake E Amaranthe is a Swedish metal band originally known as Avalanche. The band is notable for their blend of various metal genres and having three lead vocalists. History Formed by Olof Mörck (Dragonland, Nightrage) and Joacim "Jake E" Lundbe ...

and Dead by April's Jimmie Strimell provided guest appearances on this album. Work on a fifth Dragonland album was announced via Blabbermouth on 27 April 2008. In September 2009, Dragonland launched their re-designed Myspace site, together with a high-quality preproduction of "The Shadow of The Mithril Mountains", a song from the fifth album. It took some time before the album was completely ready. Five years after ''Astronomy'' the band finally released the fifth album, '' Under the Grey Banner'', on 11 November 2011. Where ''Starfall'' and ''Astronomy'' are two separate albums, ''Under the Grey Banner'' continues the story of their first two albums. On 25 October 2014 it was announced that they would release a reissue of the first album, '' The Battle of the Ivory Plains'', and a remastered version of the second album, '' Holy War''. Both albums have brand new cover artwork, and they were released on 5 December 2014. In the first album, there is also a newly recorded song, "A New Dawn", as its bonus track. They have worked on their upcoming sixth album ''The Power of the Nightstar'', their first album in over a decade and, similarly to ''Starfall'' and ''Astronomy'', separate from the ''Dragonland Chronicles'' saga, though following a different sci-fi storyline. The band have released the title track for the album as its first single and the band's first ever music video on 3 June 2022. The album's second single "Flight from Destruction" was released on 29 July 2022, and the album was released on 14 October 2022.

Discography

;Studio albums *''The Battle of the Ivory Plains'' (2001) *''Holy War'' (2002) *'' Starfall'' (2004) *''

'' (2006) *'' Under the Grey Banner'' (2011) *''The Power of the Nightstar'' (2022) ;Demos *''Storming Across Heaven'' (2000)

Band members

;Current line-up * Jonas Heidgert –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(1999–present), drums (1999–2002) * Olof Mörck –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

(2000–present), keyboard, synthesizer, piano (1999–2000) * Jesse Lindskog –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

(2009–present), drums (2002–2009) * Elias Holmlid –

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

(2000–present) * Johan Nunez –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(2014–present) * Anders Hammer –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

(2007–present) ;Former members * Daniel Kvist – lead guitar (1999–2000) * Magnus Olin – drums (1999) * Robert Willstedt – drums (2002–2003) * Morten Löwe Sörensen – drums (2011–2014) * Christer Pederson – bass (1999–2007) * Nicklas Magnusson – rhythm guitar (1999–2011) ;Timeline

References

External links

Dragonland's MySpace profile

Century Media's Dragonland page

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1999 Swedish power metal musical groups Swedish symphonic metal musical groups Century Media Records artists 1999 establishments in Sweden