KEY POINTS:
Sam Totman grew up in Masterton where he got into heavy metal, and now he's one of the fastest guitar players in the world.
For a self-confessed drunken lout his nimble fingers are like lightning. With Herman Li, he makes up the twin guitar attack of British power
metal six-piece Dragonforce.
When Dragonforce play Auckland's Powerstation next Thursday it's sure to be an entertaining night with more than a few chuckles. This is theatrical, frilly and fast heavy metal. You could even say flowery.
"I've heard some people call it a cross between Slayer and Bon Jovi," says Totman. "I quite like that, but unless people know both of those bands it's not really much help. Or perhaps, a cross between Journey [70s and 80s arena rockers] and Slayer. You know, happy choruses and that sort of thing. Without trying to be too big-headed I think it's the best kind of music all rolled into one and that's why I like it."
Totman came to New Zealand in the early 80s when he was 4 because his mother's parents lived here. He got into heavy metal in his teens, played in bands, and then formed the black metal act Demoniac, who recorded two albums in New Zealand before moving to London.
"Me and my mates just got bored and we moved over to England and never came back," he laughs. "The main reason I left was because I wanted to see more bands, and because - and I don't know how much it's changed - no one really came down to New Zealand much then.
"We'd drive up to Auckland to see bands but I'd always read the English magazines and see how many were playing and I just thought, 'I've gotta go over there'."
They recorded another album in Britain, which had hints of what Dragonforce would become, and toured Europe. Although, says Totman, they got drunk every night and it was a shambles.
"We did quite good albums and stuff but everyone said we were crap [live]. So the only reason we got Herman into that band was to have another guitarist so I could get really drunk and someone else would still be playing the guitar."
When Demoniac ended, Totman and Li decided to carry on and recruited "a proper singer" by the name of ZP Theart after seeing the vocalist's ad in Metal Hammer magazine.
Totman insists he doesn't leave the playing up to Li nowadays and says with a laugh that he only drinks beer now.
Last year Dragonforce released their third album, Inhuman Rampage, and it is the slickest to date.
What makes their brand of metal even more fun are the sounds Totman and Li make up with their guitars to add to the songs. An elephant noise and Pac Man (Totman is an 80s games addict) are prominent on Inhuman Rampage.
"In the old days there'd be gaps and then we thought, well, let's just fill them up with funny things," he laughs.
Fun is the key for Dragonforce and their over-the-top stage antics and flowery playing appeal to non-metallers.
"When I see the queues of people at gigs, if I saw them in the street I wouldn't have guessed that they'd like us because there's such a mixture of people. That's what I was hoping for right from the beginning.
"So yeah, I think non-metallers can like it because we've got nice melodies, a tune, and if you strip it back and take away the speed of the songs, it's not really that different to a pop song. A good melody never goes out of fashion."
Who: Dragonforce
Where and when: The Powerstation, Mt Eden Rd, Thursday