Alissa White-Gluz Says Her DragonForce Team Up Was Supposed To Be Obvious

When DragonForce officially revealed Alissa White-Gluz as part of their expanding future, plenty of metal fans treated it like a genuine surprise.

According to White-Gluz, though, that reaction caught everyone involved off guard.

Speaking with Finland’s Chaoszine, former Arch Enemy vocalist Alissa White-Gluz explained that the collaboration had been developing in plain sight for longer than people realised (per Blabbermouth).

“I was surprised that people were surprised, actually, ’cause we thought that people knew.”

She added:

“That’s why we made this video and we were, like, ‘Hey, the rumors are true,’ because we thought that people thought this was happening already. We were walking around together. I mean, people took photos of us together for months already. We were surprised that nobody knew.”

Commitment to building a full scale live experience

For White-Gluz, the appeal goes beyond simply stepping into another established metal act, she pointed to DragonForce’s commitment to building a full scale live experience as one of the biggest reasons the collaboration feels natural.

“Everybody’s, like, super involved,” she explained, praising the band’s attention to production, visuals and performance details.

That approach aligns closely with her own background working in theatre before her music career took over, musically she says the challenge is completely different from anything she’s done before.

“DRAGONFORCE is super heavy in a different way. They’re heavy because they’re so fast.”

She described performing with the band as physically intense, joking:

“Take one breath before I get on stage, ’cause I’m not gonna be able to breathe again until 45 minutes from now.”

White-Gluz also confirmed she’s continuing to build her newly launched project Blue Medusa alongside her work with DragonForce, describing the ability to create without compromise as creatively refreshing.

The collaboration isn’t stopping at live appearances, reflecting on the chemistry that emerged after recording an alternate version of DragonForce’s track “Burning Heart”, she said the group eventually realised there was potential for something bigger.

“We were pretty confident, but then listening back to it, we were, like, ‘Ooh, okay. We’re really on to something here.’”

DragonForce’s massive North American run celebrating 20 years of Inhuman Rampage begins later this year, and if White-Gluz’s comments are anything to go by, this partnership is only just getting started.