Ethereal Metal

Ryan Murray | Co-Owner | Chief Editor | Contributor | Photographer

r.m.music84@gmail.com

There are certain voices in heavy music that become so closely connected to a band that separating the two almost feels impossible. For DragonForce, Marc Hudson has been that voice for the better part of fifteen years, helping define the band’s sound through some of its most significant chapters.

Today, DragonForce announced that Hudson is stepping back from the band’s music duties due to an ongoing issue with tinnitus. That means stepping away from the forthcoming album as well as the band’s 2026 and 2027 touring plans, although Hudson will remain involved with DragonForce behind the scenes and continue working with the band’s management on future projects.

The news carries particular weight for me because I’ve had the opportunity to photograph DragonForce twice. I first covered the band at Palladium Times Square in New York City on November 3, 2023, and then photographed them again at Toad’s Place in New Haven on September 12, 2025. From the photo pit, watching Hudson deliver those massive melodies while Herman Li and Sam Totman unleashed their trademark guitar work made it incredibly clear just how much he had become woven into DragonForce’s live identity.

Hudson’s journey with DragonForce began in 2011 following the departure of original vocalist ZP Theart. At only 23 years old, the Oxford-born vocalist was selected from thousands of applicants, bringing a powerful, melodic style to a band already known for its technical intensity and enormous vocal lines. His recorded debut came with 2012’s The Power Within, beginning a run that would continue through Maximum Overload, Reaching Into Infinity, Extreme Power Metal and 2024’s Warp Speed Warriors.

Over those albums, Hudson stopped being simply the vocalist who followed Theart. He became DragonForce’s vocalist, developing a sound and identity that were unmistakably his own. The band’s blistering guitars and lightning-fast rhythms have always been central to its identity, but Hudson’s soaring clean vocals became the melodic anchor that held those elements together.

“For the last fifteen years, Marc has poured his heart into this band, and his voice has become such a huge part of who we are. Protecting his hearing isn’t something we’o ever ask him to compromise on. We’d much rather have him healthy and with us for the long haul than push through now and risk that. He’s still in the room with us every day, just wearing a different hat, and we wish him a speedy recovery.” – Herman Li

When I photographed the band at Palladium Times Square in 2023, Hudson was already more than a decade into his DragonForce tenure, and there was nothing about watching that performance that made him feel like a successor filling someone else’s shoes. He was completely established. When I returned to photograph the band at Toad’s Place in 2025, that same chemistry was still unmistakable.

Unfortunately, the warning signs surrounding Hudson’s hearing had already become public earlier this year.

In May, DragonForce announced Alissa White-Gluz as the band’s newest member and first frontwoman. Her arrival was initially presented as an expansion of the band’s vocal identity rather than a replacement for Hudson, with White-Gluz bringing another dimension to the band’s music while Hudson remained part of the creative picture.

But Hudson’s hearing issues were already affecting his ability to perform. When White-Gluz made her live debut with DragonForce at Welcome To Rockville on May 9, Hudson was absent because of ongoing hearing loss and tinnitus issues. At the time, the band described his absence as part of a necessary break to focus on his long-term health, with Billy Wilkins stepping in for those early performances.

Today’s announcement takes that situation considerably further. Hudson is now stepping away from the forthcoming album and the band’s touring plans, meaning the next DragonForce record will not feature him in the role fans had originally anticipated.

Instead, the album will feature a dual-vocal format with White-Gluz alongside Alessio Garavello, a name that longtime DragonForce fans may already recognize. Garavello has previously stepped in for Hudson, including a 2016 performance at Leyendas del Rock, and his connection to Hudson goes even deeper: he has served as Hudson’s vocal coach.

That makes his involvement particularly fitting. Garavello isn’t being brought in as someone unfamiliar with the band’s catalog or Hudson’s vocal approach. He has firsthand knowledge of the material and the vocalist who has spent fifteen years performing it, while DragonForce has made clear that he will bring his own voice rather than simply attempt to replicate Hudson.

“When we started talking about who could step in, there was really only one name on the list.” said Sam Totman. “Alessio has been part of our story longer than most people realize. He helped shape Marc’s voice in the first place, so he understands these songs from the inside. But he’s not here to be anyone but himself, and he brings his own warmth and energy to everything he sings. Hearing him on the new material has lit a real spark in all of us, and we think you’re going to love him as much as we do.”

The forthcoming album itself is still moving forward, and new music is expected to begin arriving next week. Rather than delaying the record indefinitely, DragonForce is moving into this next chapter with White-Gluz and Garavello sharing the vocal duties, creating a vocal configuration that will sound distinctly different from anything the band has released before.

For fans, that change is going to be impossible to ignore.

But neither is the fact that Hudson’s story with DragonForce is not being framed as finished. The band has specifically said that he will remain involved behind the scenes, and the emphasis throughout today’s announcement is on giving him the time and space to address his hearing rather than pushing him through another album cycle or another demanding stretch of touring.

After fifteen years, that distinction matters.

I’ve watched Marc Hudson command a DragonForce stage from just feet away, camera in hand, twice now. I’ve watched him carry songs that demand enormous vocal range while performing alongside musicians who operate at a ridiculous level of speed and precision, and I’ve seen firsthand how naturally his voice has become part of that equation.

DragonForce is entering a new era, and it will undoubtedly sound different.

Alissa White-Gluz brings an entirely new vocal dimension. Alessio Garavello brings history, familiarity and his own identity to the male-vocal role. Herman Li and Sam Totman remain at the heart of the band’s unmistakable musical machine, and a new album is on the way.

But Marc Hudson’s fifteen-year contribution doesn’t disappear because he needs to step away.

Sometimes the most important thing a band can do for one of its members is give them permission to stop.

For now, DragonForce is moving forward while Marc Hudson takes the time he needs to protect his hearing. And after everything he has given the band, that may be the most important part of this story.

CONTINUE TO GET WELL, MARC!