Editing DragonForce (section)

===Early years, ''Valley of the Damned'' and ''Sonic Firestorm'' (1999–2004)===
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DragonForce was founded in 1999 by guitarists [[Sam Totman]] and [[Herman Li]] along with singer [[ZP Theart]] under the name of '''DragonHeart'''. Totman and Li had both experienced being in a band previously, with both having come from the London-based [[black metal]] band [[Demoniac]]. Li found Theart through an advertisement in one of the studios in London.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501000000*/http://www.metal-experience.com/interviews/dragonforce%20int.htm|title=Interview Dragonforce (Archived)|website=Metal-experience.com}}</ref> They soon acquired former Demoniac drummer Matej Setinc, bassist Steve Scott, and keyboardist [[Steve Williams (keyboardist)|Steve Williams]]. Setinc left the band in December 1999 to continue his studies in Slovenia, so the band hired Peter Hunt to record the drums for their demo album before finding Didier Almouzni. The band also parted ways with Scott, who left to join [[Shadowkeep]], in 2000. Williams took a small break and then later rejoined the band as they recorded their first [[demo (music)|demo]] with [[Clive Nolan]] as a session member on the keyboards later that year, but left once again in December 2000, days ahead of the band's tour with [[Halford (band)|Halford]] and [[Stratovarius]] to promote the demo, and formed his own band, [[Power Quest]]. Bassist Diccon Harper joined the band in November of that year, with keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov joining in February 2001 to complete the lineup for recording their debut [[album|studio album]].

Although it was an independent release, their demo was enough to make them one of the UK's most popular independent power metal bands at the time. Their song "Valley of the Damned" was released as their debut single shortly after they changed their name permanently to DragonForce in 2002 (after finding out another power metal band already had the name DragonHeart). A promotional video featuring live footage from their tour around Europe was released along with the song. The song was also hugely successful on [[MP3.com]], which charted as the most downloaded song at No. 1 for 2 weeks. In 2002, the band signed to [[Noise Records]] and began recording their debut album, ''[[Valley of the Damned]]''. Harper performed the bass tracks for the album but left the band in 2002 because of a [[tendon]] problem that required surgery.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/interviews/hit_the_lights/dragonforce_live_playing_through_the_roof_since_having_in-ear_monitors.html |title=DragonForce: Live Playing 'Through the Roof' Since Having In-Ear Monitors |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002234730/http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/interviews/hit_the_lights/dragonforce_live_playing_through_the_roof_since_having_in-ear_monitors.html |archive-date=2 October 2012  }}</ref> The title track, re-released in promotion of the album, is one of the best-known DragonForce songs to date and is a staple of their live performances to this day. The band's tour for ''Valley of the Damned'' lasted until 2004, with the tour ending in Tokyo, Japan.

DragonForce's second studio album, ''[[Sonic Firestorm]]'', proved to be even more successful than their previous album, with the help of the album's lead single, "Fury of the Storm". ''Sonic Firestorm'' was the first DragonForce album to feature new bassist [[Adrian Lambert]] and drummer Dave Mackintosh. When Mackintosh entered the band in 2004, they began referring to their style of music as "extreme power metal" due to his fast [[blast beats]] and double bass rhythms. The tour was longer than the band's previous tour for ''Valley of the Damned'' and featured many more headlining shows. The band toured with many well-known metal bands such as [[W.A.S.P. (band)|W.A.S.P.]] and [[Iron Maiden]]. On the album, they also added a video commentary focusing on the making of ''Sonic Firestorm''.