Dragonland

Dragonland
Origin	Gothenburg, Sweden
Genres	Power metal, symphonic metal
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Black Lotus (1999–2004) Century Media (Europe, North America) King Records (Japan) AFM Records (Europe)
Members	Jonas Heidgert Olof Mörck Elias Holmlid Jesse Lindskog Anders Hammer Johan Nunez
Past members	Daniel Kvist Magnus Olin Robert Willstedt Christer Pederson Nicklas Magnusson Morten Löwe Sörensen

Dragonland is a Swedish power metal band renowned for their self-produced The Dragonland Chronicles fantasy saga, which spans their first, second, and fifth albums. The band is also recognized for the original symphonic/electronic elements crafted 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 the band. Their first demo was recorded in January 2000. Just three months before starting to record their debut album started, The Battle of the Ivory Plains, Kvist left the band and was replaced by Olof Mörck. The album was released on 30 April 2001, followed by their second album, Holy War, was released on 8 February 2002, with Heidgert still on drums.

Their third album, Starfall, was released on 27 October 2004, featuring Jesse Lindskog on drums. Tom S. Englund and Henrik Danhage (of Evergrey) and Johanna Andersson provided guest performances on the album, including vocals and guitar solos.

Their fourth album, Astronomy, was released on 11 November 2006. Nightrage's Marios Iliopoulos, Amaranthe's Elize Ryd, Cyhra's Jake E 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 has 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, 2014 (Deluxe Edition))
• Holy War (2002, 2014 (Deluxe Edition))
• Starfall (2004)
• Astronomy (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 (1999–present), drums (1999–2002)
• Olof Mörck – lead guitar (2000–present), keyboard, synthesizer, piano (1999–2000)
• Elias Holmlid – keyboard, synthesizer, piano (2000–present)
• Jesse Lindskog – lead guitar (2009–present), drums, acoustic guitar, additional keyboard (2002–2009)
• Anders Hammer – bass (2007–present)
• Johan Nunez – drums (2014–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

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Colors =

id:vocals   value:red         legend:Vocals
id:guitar1  value:teal        legend:Lead_guitar
id:guitar2  value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar
id:bass     value:blue        legend:Bass
id:keyboard value:purple      legend:Keyboards,_synthesizer,_piano
id:drums    value:orange      legend:Drums
id:lines    value:black       legend:Studio_albums
id:EP       value:gray(0.55)  legend:Other_releases
id:bars     value:gray(0.95)

BackgroundColors=bars:bars Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 LineData =

at:01/01/2000 color:EP layer:back
at:03/12/2001 color:black layer:back
at:06/29/2002 color:black layer:back
at:10/27/2004 color:black layer:back
at:11/03/2006 color:black layer:back
at:11/15/2011 color:black layer:back
at:10/14/2022 color:black layer:back

BarData =

bar:Jonas    text:"Jonas Heidgert"

bar:Kvist    text:"Daniel Kvist"

bar:Nicholas text:"Nicholas Magnusson"

bar:Pederson text:"Christer Pederson"

bar:Hammer   text:"Anders Hammer"

bar:Olin     text:"Magnus Olin"

bar:Rob      text:"Robert Willstedt"

bar:Lindskog text:"Jesse Lindskog"

bar:Sorensen text:"Morten Løwe Sørensen"

bar:Johan    text:"Johan Nunez"

bar:Olof     text:"Olof Mörck"

bar:Elias    text:"Elias Holmlid"

PlotData =

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4)
bar:Jonas    from:01/01/1999 till:end        color:vocals
bar:Jonas    from:07/01/1999 till:10/01/2002 color:drums width:3
bar:Kvist    from:01/01/1999 till:12/31/1999 color:guitar1
bar:Olof     from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2000 color:keyboard
bar:Olof     from:01/01/2000 till:end        color:guitar1
bar:Nicholas from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2011 color:guitar2
bar:Pederson from:01/01/1999 till:08/01/2007 color:bass
bar:Hammer   from:08/01/2007 till:end        color:bass
bar:Elias    from:01/01/2000 till:end        color:keyboard
bar:Olin     from:01/01/1999 till:07/01/1999 color:drums
bar:Rob      from:10/01/2002 till:04/01/2003 color:drums
bar:Lindskog from:04/01/2003 till:01/01/2011 color:drums
bar:Lindskog from:01/01/2011 till:end        color:guitar2
bar:Sorensen from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2014 color:drums
bar:Johan    from:01/01/2014 till:end        color:drums

</timeline>

External links

• Dragonland's MySpace profile
• Century Media's Dragonland page
• King Record's Dragonland page (Japanese)