Double Dragon was a heavy metal band from

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, Australia. Their name is a homage to the 1980s cult video game ''

Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals. The origina ...

''. Double Dragon's musical style is heavy metal, but has also been described variously as melodic death metal or metalcore, featuring twin

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

harmonies In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

, prominent lead guitar solos, and both clean and screamed vocals.

Band history

Double Dragon was originally formed in 2002 when upon the demise of his previous band Screwface:13, guitarist Matthew 'Roady' Johnston decided to create a new project that focused more on melody than the down tuned style of 1990s nu metal. After starting rehearsals with friend Danial Busch on drums, then bass player Jason Moon soon after, the three began writing material. Eventually, they recruited Busch's long-time friend Shane Christford as their singer. After recording a two-track demo (unofficially dubbed 'Pirate Metal' due to its homemade skull and crossbones style artwork), Christford left the band during mid-2003 due to personal differences. Whilst still searching for a replacement frontman in late 2003, they were joined by lead guitarist Ben Murphy, who had previously been a member of Adelaide hardcore–metal band Three Chain Break and death metal band Scorched Earth Policy before that. Murphy also later spent a brief period playing with Adelaide screamo band Hi End Audio. Within two months of Murphy's addition to Double Dragon, the band was joined by ex-The Undamynd frontman Lee (Liggy) Gardiner as their vocalist. With the lineup now solidified, Double Dragon performed regularly to local audiences, and in the latter half of 2004 recorded their first 5-track demo/EP "Have Them Destroyed" (a name the band considered before settling upon 'Double Dragon'), which was eventually released independently in January 2005. In between a successful CD launch and beginning to tour interstate on a regular basis, the band continued writing material for their next recording. However, in August 2005 singer Gardiner was injured in a domestic house fire, suffering third-degree burns to both thighs and hands. During his rehabilitation period, the remaining members of the band began writing heavier and more aggressive songs – some of which would eventually be lyrically based around Gardiner's injuries and the impact it had on the band. These would be the songs that made up their official debut EP, "Scars of Fire", which was recorded from late 2005 to early 2006 with producer Ian Miller. Upon its completion, the band was signed by Adelaide-based record label Truth Inc Records. "Scars of Fire" was released Australia-wide in June 2006. Following the success of their debut EP, Double Dragon went on to headline shows Australia wide, as well as earning the opportunity to support international tours featuring bands such as Slayer,

Arch Enemy Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharis ...

, Dark Tranquillity, The Black Dahlia Murder,

Cephalic Carnage Cephalic Carnage is an American death metal band formed in Denver, Colorado in 1992. The band comprises vocalist Lenzig Leal, guitarists Steve Goldberg and Brian Hopp, drummer John Merryman and bassist Nick Schendzielos. Cephalic Carnage has re ...

, and

Mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of th ...

. The band also played on the Local Produce stage at the 2007 Adelaide

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

. Double Dragon received airplay on

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

's Full Metal Racket as well as community radio nationally. Their debut film clip for "Dead But Still Killing" appeared several times on music programs Rage and on music channel

Channel V Channel '' ("V" standing for the letter, not the Roman numeral "5") is a Chinese and former Asian pay television musical network originally launched by Star TV Hong Kong (now Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific). It was part of the unit of Disne ...

. Double Dragon was also part of V energy drink's promotions on Channel V to coincide with their performance at the 2007

. In late 2007 Double Dragon began recording their next album, "Devastator", eventually released through Truth Inc Records in July 2008. Again engineered and produced by Ian Miller, the album featured ten tracks stylistically varying from traditional heavy metal, death metal, straight out hard rock, as well as two ballads. Track seven, "

Breathing Fire ''Breathing Fire'' is a 1991 American martial arts film directed by Lou Kennedy in his directorial debut, and co-directed by Brandon De-Wilde. The film stars Ke Huy Quan, with a supporting cast of Eddie Saavedra, Ed Neil and Jerry Trimble. The f ...

", featured additional guest vocals by

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

singer-songwriter Emma Dean. The album debuted at number one on the SAMIA Adelaide charts, and the band received a nomination for 'Best Metal Act' in local street press magazine dB Magazine's annual poll. The album's official launch show in Adelaide in July 2008 marked the farewell performance for lead guitarist Ben Murphy, who decided to leave the band to spend more time with his family. He was briefly replaced by former 'A Thousand Nightmares' guitarist James Cunningham, but eventually, the position was permanently filled by 'A Red Dawn' guitarist Davin Buttery. In 2008 Double Dragon was the main support act for Australian tours by Swedish metal bands The Haunted and Soilwork, as well as opening for

Carcass Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to: *Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc. *Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being *The str ...

from the UK in Adelaide. In December 2008, Double Dragon was mentioned in ''

Blunt Blunt may refer to: * Blunt (surname), a surname (and list of people with the name) * Blunt (cigar), a term used in the cigar industry to designate blunt-tipped, usually factory-rolled cigars * Blunt (cannabis), a slang term used in cannabis cult ...

'' magazine's "25 Australian bands to watch in 2009". On 27 February 2009 the band performed on the metal stage at the Adelaide leg of the Soundwave tour alongside Lamb of God, In Flames,

DevilDriver DevilDriver is an American heavy metal band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 2002, consisting of vocalist Dez Fafara, lead guitarist Mike Spreitzer, drummer Davier Pérez, bassist Jon Miller and rhythm guitarist Alex Lee. The band was ...

, Lacuna Coil,

36 Crazyfists 36 Crazyfists were an American metalcore band formed in Anchorage, Alaska in 1994. The band's name comes from the Hong Kong martial arts film ''36 Crazy Fists'' (1977) starring Jackie Chan. To date they have released eight studio albums. Histor ...

Every Time I Die Every Time I Die was an American metalcore band from Buffalo, New York, formed in 1998. For most of the band's career, the line-up was centred on brothers Keith (vocals) and Jordan Buckley (guitar), as well as rhythm guitarist Andy Williams wit ...

, Poison The Well,

Evergreen Terrace Evergreen Terrace is a five-piece American metalcore band from Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 1999, they are named after the street inhabited by the Simpsons. The band's sixth and latest studio album '' Dead Horses'' was released on Decembe ...

Unearth Unearth is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 1998, the group has released seven studio albums. History Early career (1998–2002) Unearth was formed by Trevor Phipps, Buz McGrath, Ken Susi, Mike Rudberg, an ...

and All That Remains. Also performing at the festival were acts Nine Inch Nails,

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

The Bloodhound Gang The Bloodhound Gang was an American rap rock band from Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1988 by rappers Jimmy Pop and Daddy Long Legs (now in Wolfpac) as a hip-hop group, before branching out into other genres as their career pr ...

The Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan was an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of odd time si ...

and many more. Double Dragon spent the latter part of 2009 playing at the annual Against The Grain metal festival in Adelaide, this time in its fifth year, as well as opening for U.S. metal bands Slayer and Megadeth around Australia on their October 2009 national tour. In

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Slayer vocalist

Tom Araya Tomás Enrique Araya Díaz (; born June 6, 1961) is a Chilean American musician, best known as the vocalist and bassist of American thrash metal band Slayer. Araya is ranked 58th by ''Hit Parader'' on their list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocali ...

had a throat illness, which led to Double Dragon vocalist Gardiner doing the vocals for Slayer song " Hate Worldwide". After supporting Obituary in Adelaide in November 2009, the band toured the country as special guests on U.S. metal band

Chimaira Chimaira () is an American heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in August 1998, the group was a member of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal scene. The band's name is derived from the word Chimera, a monstrous creature in Greek my ...

's 'Spreading The Infection' Australian tour in January 2010. After a brief hiatus beginning in July 2010 in which the band temporarily dissolved, Double Dragon reformed in September of the same year with new drummer Liam Weedall and new bass player Josh Lamont. In December 2010 through to July 2011, Double Dragon recorded their second album "Sons of Asena" at Adelaide's Against The Grain Studio with engineer Andy Kite. Based on a fictional story written by Gardiner, with loose ties to an ancient Turkish wolf myth, the album featured 11 songs that displayed a different direction to the band's previous work, stemming from a wider songwriting collaboration between the band's members.

singer/songwriters

Kate Miller-Heidke Kate Melina Miller-Heidke (; born 16 November 1981) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Although classically trained, she has generally followed a career in alternative pop music. She signed to Sony Australia, Epic in the US and RCA in th ...

and

Keir Nuttall Keir Francis Nuttall (born 1975) is a Brisbane-based guitarist-singer-songwriter. He is a founding mainstay member of the rock trio, Transport, which formed in 2001. He married Australian singer-songwriter and actor, Kate Miller-Heidke, in 2007 ...

appear as guest musicians on the closing track "Asena".
Kill your stereo) Jason North from fellow Adelaide band Truth Corroded appears on the track "Transfusion". The album was mixed and mastered by Dan Murtagh at Melbourne's Sing Sing Studios in November 2011, and released for free digital download from the band's specifically created website www.sonsofasena.com on 4 December.

Influences

Double Dragon is heavily influenced by bands such as

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

and Judas Priest,

new wave of British heavy metal The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term i ...

acts like

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

, thrash metal bands Slayer and Pantera, death metal pioneers

and Entombed, alternative acts Faith No More and Mr. Bungle, Swedish metal bands like Soilwork and The Haunted, and to a lesser extent progressive artists such as

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

and Opeth. The band is also influenced by a wide range of non-metal performers such as

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

, Pink Floyd and

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

, to name a few.

Band members

*Lee Gardiner – Vocals *Matthew Johnston – Guitar *Davin Buttery – Guitar *Joshua Lamont – Bass *Liam Weedall – Drums

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Sources

Double Dragon – ''Myspace'' site
*https://web.archive.org/web/20081221230603/http://www.beat.com.au/review.php?id=1399 *https://web.archive.org/web/20081231142753/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=111637 *https://web.archive.org/web/20080802222714/http://www.dbmagazine.com.au/403/iv-DoubleDragon.shtml

*http://www.tsunamimag.com/?process= *https://web.archive.org/web/20080926161457/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=103866 *https://web.archive.org/web/20081221230603/http://www.beat.com.au/review.php?id=1399 *https://web.archive.org/web/20081122035212/http://www.musicsa.com.au/artists/doubledragon *http://www.spirit-of-metal.com/groupe-groupe-Double_Dragon-l-en.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20080810175540/http://www.dbmagazine.com.au/352/mr-DoubleDragon.shtml *http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/events/6598/Arch-Enemy-Double-Dragon—Fowlers-Live-Adelaide-191006.htm *https://web.archive.org/web/20080723064813/http://ripitup.com.au/stateofsound/1081 *https://web.archive.org/web/20080820042050/http://www.ravemagazine.com.au/content/view/9243/82/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Double Dragon (Band) Australian heavy metal musical groups