Valley of the Damned

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Valley of the Damned
Studio album by DragonForce
Released	25 February 2003
Recorded	Thin Ice Studios, Surrey, England, Jail House Studios, Denmark, and LamerLuser Studios, London, England. May, July – October 2002
Genre	Power metal
Length	51:48 57:38 (bonus track)
Label	Noise, Sanctuary
Producer	Herman Li, Sam Totman
Professional reviews
Allmusic link
DragonForce chronology
Valley of the Damned (2003) Sonic Firestorm (2004)
Alternate cover
Demo version cover

Valley of the Damned is the debut album by English power metal band DragonForce. In 2000, while their name was still DragonHeart, a demo version of the album was recorded and sent to Noise Records, subsequently gaining DragonHeart a deal with the label. It was later rerecorded in late 2000 and released as the band's debut studio album on February 25, 2003, following the band's obtainance of the deal with Noise Records. Furthermore, after discovering the existence of another band with the name DragonHeart, it was decided that they would change their name to DragonForce, the new moniker being clearly visible at the cover's top. This album was set to be remastered and released with bonus DVD on September 24, 2007^[1] but was subsequently delayed and was set for release in the UK on May 24, 2009.^[2] Herman Li stated that the remastered version of the album along with the remastered version of Sonic Firestorm will be released on February 22, 2010. ^[3]

Production

The initial demo was recorded on 8 – 12 April and on 27 May 2000 then mixed the following day at Thin Ice Studios with Karl Groom engineering. The rerecording for the album in 2002 mostly took place at Thin Ice Studios in Surrey, by Karl Groom, and at Lamer Luser Studios in London, by Herman Li, from July – October 2002 except for the drum tracks, which were recorded at Jail House Studios in Denmark, by Tommy Hansen, in May 2002. It was then mixed by Karl Groom, Herman Li and Sam Totman at Thin Ice Studios and mastered at Aubitt Studio by Rob Aubrey and Herman Li.

Track listing

Demo track listing

Note: The Japanese edition of the demo included a remastered recording of "Where Dragons Rule" as a bonus track. The original demo version of the song is extremely rare, much like the original versions of "Black Fire" and "Heart of a Dragon" which were never released.

Bonus DVD

The bonus DVD includes interviews with the band members and producer regarding the Valley of the Damned period and the remix, professionally filmed footage from their first Japanese tour, two commentaries; one from Herman Li and Vadim Pruzhanov and one from ZP Theart and Karl Groom, backstage footage from a live performance in Japan and from the recording, in Denmark, and remixing session for the album.

Personnel

References

External links

• Valley of the Damned on the official website