Through the Fire and Flames

"Through the Fire and Flames", often abbreviated as TTFAF, is a song by British power metal band DragonForce. The song is acclaimed as the most successful song by the band. The song was the lead single and opening track from DragonForce's third album, Inhuman Rampage. It is known primarily for its rapid twin guitar solos by Herman Li and Sam Totman.

"Through the Fire and Flames"
Single by DragonForce
from the album Inhuman Rampage
Released3 August 2006
Recorded2005
GenrePower metal, speed metal
Length
  • 7:21 (album version)
  • 5:00 (radio and video edit)
Label
Songwriter(s)Sam Totman, ZP Theart
Producer(s)Sam Totman, Herman Li, Vadim Pruzhanov
DragonForce singles chronology
"Fury of the Storm"
(2004)		 "Through the Fire and Flames"
(2006)		 "Operation Ground and Pound"
(2006)
Music video
Through the Fire and Flames on YouTube

The song peaked at #86 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #61 on the Canadian Hot 100 in 2008, making it the band's only single to reach either chart.[1] It also enjoyed briefly renewed popularity in March 2015 when a cover version (Tina S.) uploaded to YouTube became popular, sending the song to number 13 on the Rock Songs chart. It has sold 1.1 million copies in the United States alone and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.[2][3]

While the song had appeared as a background track in several video games, the inclusion of a playable version of "Through the Fire and Flames" in the rhythm game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock as one of the most difficult songs in the game helped to raise the popularity of the song, and it has appeared in numerous rhythm games since.

Composing and recording

This song is written in the key of C minor (but in standard E tuning), and like most other DragonForce songs it is written in a fast tempo of 200 beats per minute with a common time signature (170bpm in the first half of the guitar solo). Near the end of the recording, guitarist Herman Li broke one of his guitar strings.[4] Despite this, the band decided to keep this recording and left it on the final album version.[4]

Music video

The track was used in the first music video by DragonForce. For the video, a shortened version of the song was used, lasting only five minutes.

The simple video primarily shows the band performing the song in a dark room illuminated by amber lights. After the rapid intro riff, guitarist Herman Li holds onto his Ibanez S series guitar with just the whammy bar. During the guitar solos, the camera focuses on Li and Sam Totman alone, with an inset shot of the current player's fretboard. During Li's solos, Totman stands to Li's left drinking. At the start of the solo, a Pac-Man sound is played by Li, after which he throws the whammy bar he used to make this sound into the air.

The music video circulated through YouTube and various music video channels, including MTV2, and was shown on the monitor screens during the band's performances at Ozzfest 2006.

Personnel

Although Frédéric Leclercq appears in the music video as the bassist, he did not play it on the studio recording of the song.

Charts
Chart (2008–2015) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[5] 61
UK Rock & Metal (OCC)[6] 13
US Billboard Hot 100[7] 86
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[8] 13
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[9] 34

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[10] Silver 200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[11] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Compilation appearances

The song appears on two compilation albums: The short version of the song, misnamed as "Through the Fire and the Flames", appears on MTV2 Headbanger's Ball: The Revenge, released on 11 April 2006.[12] The full version of the song appears on Salvation, Vol. 1, released on 23 October 2007.[13]

Use in video games

Through the Fire and Flames has also appeared in several video games, first appearing in ATV Offroad Fury Pro around the time of the song's release. In the Guitar Hero rhythm game series, the song first featured in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock as an unlockable bonus song, and later appeared in Guitar Hero Smash Hits and Guitar Hero Live. In a 2022 interview, Li stated that the band only saw about $3,000 from royalties for the inclusion in Guitar Hero, despite the series having revenues in the hundreds of millions of dollars.[14] The song also featured in Rocksmith 2014.[15] It is a playable song in Konami's band session arcade games GuitarFreaks and DrumMania V6, and part of the soundtrack for Brütal Legend. It is also one of the most popular songs used by Audiosurf players.[16] The song was also made available for download for Rock Band 3 on 29 March 2011 for both Basic rhythm, and PRO mode which can utilize real musical instruments.

References
  1. "DragonForce - Through The Fire And Flames - Music Charts". αCharts. 13 February 2008.
  2. White, Emily (13 March 2015). "Brandi Carlile Scores Multiple Career Highs on Rock Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  3. "American certifications – DragonForce – Through the Fire and Flames". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  4. Herman Li. DragonForce!. Blender.com Online Video Channel. Event occurs at 2:45-3:02. Archived from the original (Flash) on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2008. ...at the end of the song we actually break the string. I broke the string and in the album we left it there
  5. "DragonForce Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
  6. "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  7. "DragonForce Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  8. "DragonForce Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard.
  9. "DragonForce Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard.
  10. "British single certifications – Dragonforce – Through the Fire and Flames". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  11. "American single certifications – Dragonforce – Through the Fire and Flames". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  12. "MTV2 Headbanger's Ball: The Revenge > Overview". Allmusic Guide. All Media Group. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
  13. "Salvation, Vol. 1 > Overview". Allmusic Guide. All Media Group. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
  14. Ko, Crystal (5 April 2022). "HERMAN LI SAYS GUITAR HERO ONLY PAID DRAGONFORCE "ABOUT $3,000" FOR THROUGH THE FIRE AND THE FLAMES". Guitar Magazine. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  15. "Through the Fire and the Flames now playable in Guitar Hero Live!". 3 February 2016.
  16. "Audiosurf". Audiosurf. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
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