After leaving Arch Enemy at the end of last year and investing time in new personal projects, Canadian vocalist Alissa White-Gluz has found a new home in British power metal cult heroes DragonForce. Both parties broke the news today, with DragonForce due to perform live shows with the new lineup later this month.
When Alissa White-Gluz first joined Swedish melodic death metal group Arch Enemy in 2014, she was stepping into some big shoes – her predecessor Angela Gossow had raised the bar incredibly high for female death metal vocals. White-Gluz in turn lifted the bar higher, bringing both guttural screams and powerful clean singing in one package, providing the band a new edge to their sound across 11 years and 4 studio albums. Upon leaving Arch Enemy in November last year, White-Gluz directed her attention to her solo efforts under the simple moniker ‘Alissa’, as well as founding all-female group Blue Medusa.
DragonForce meanwhile have continued to release technical power metal albums packed with their frantic guitar noodling since breaking into the mainstream with 2006 hit ‘Through The Fire And Flames’. The song gained cult status, especially following its inclusion as one of the most difficult tracks on 2007 video game ‘Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock’, and the 2005 album ‘Inhuman Rampage’, of which it was the lead single, has been acclaimed as one of the most important power metal albums by both Metal Hammer and Loudwire. With ‘Inhuman Rampage’ marking its 20th anniversary last year, the group have been gearing up to celebrate the milestone in style.
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DragonForce announced White-Gluz’s arrival today, posting that they welcome her as “the band’s newest member and first frontwoman”. Both acts have worked together in the past, with Alissa providing guest vocals on a remixed version of DragonForce’s track ‘Burning Heart’ in 2025. She will slot in alongside their continuing lead singer Marc Hudson, her harsh growls and low singing voice complimenting his soaring melodic wails, with the post also revealing she will join them for live duties starting this week. White-Gluz’s tenure with the band begins with US shows at Welcome To Rocksville on Saturday the 9th of May, and Sonic Temple on the 17th.
In a statement, DragonForce guitarist Herman Li remarked “Alissa joining the band is an expansion of everything we’ve done up to this point. 20 years is a long time to do anything, let alone survive the music industry and still be so inspired to continue doing what we love. Together we will honour what made Inhuman Rampage matter, while showing people exactly where we’re going next. Having Alissa in the room changes everything. She doesn’t just sing, she makes all aspects of our music better. And she sounds incredible live! I can’t wait for the fans to see her and hear what we have been working on.” White-Gluz also added “I am beyond excited to be bringing such iconic music to life with these amazingly skilled musicians in such a fun and inspiring environment. It feels great to showcase all the colours of my voice and utilise all my singing styles in technically challenging, deeply energising, highly addictive songs.”
DragonForce have confirmed plans for more shows in support of ‘Inhuman Rampage’’s 20th birthday, as well as new music to be announced soon. For Alissa White-Gluz, the year is already phenomenally busy – Blue Medusa released debut single ‘Checkmate’ in March, and her first solo album is rumoured to release later this year after she dropped her debut Alissa track ‘The Room Where She Died’ last November.
