DRAGONLAND TRIVIA
Trivia
Dragonland was formed in 1999 in Gothenburg, Sweden. In the words of its current label, Scarlet Records, the band became 'a bonafide power metal institution' across the 2000s, and it has since spent more than two decades crafting meticulously arranged, fantasy-rooted symphonic power metal.
The band's first two albums, The Battle of the Ivory Plains and Holy War, form a single fantasy story they call The Dragonland Chronicles. Keyboardist Elias Holmlid has said the tale was then set aside for two records: on Starfall and Astronomy, newly using software synthesizers, the band moved toward a more modern sound and different lyrical themes, before Under the Grey Banner (2011) returned to the saga.
The fifth album, Under the Grey Banner (2011), is full of guest voices. Holmlid has said the story's antagonist is sung by the musical-theatre actor Fred Johansson, whom he thought of after seeing him play Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar. Three singers then in AMARANTHE — Elize Ryd, Jake E and Andy Solvestrom — also took part, and Anna Mariann Lundberg co-wrote some of the lyrics and provided the voice-overs on 'Shadow of the Mithril Mountains' and the vocals on 'Ivory Shores'.
Guitarist Olof Mörck kept a busy parallel career alongside DRAGONLAND. BLABBERMOUTH.NET has described him as 'the guitarist of AMARANTHE, DRAGONLAND and NIGHTRAGE'; AMARANTHE, the band he co-founded, went on to considerable success after its self-titled debut in 2011.
In July 2026 DRAGONLAND announced the departure of its longtime guitarist Olof Mörck. The band called it 'a unanimous decision, and should not come as a surprise', citing his success and workload with AMARANTHE, and added that he is 'an old and dear friend' with whom they remain on the best of terms.
As a parting gift from Olof Mörck, Prophecies includes a track he wrote with keyboardist Elias Holmlid back in 2013. The band describes it as 'kind of a lost chapter' that felt 'truly special' to finally bring to life in the studio.
Prophecies, the band's seventh studio album, was produced, mixed and mastered by the veteran Swedish producer Fredrik Nordström at his Studio Fredman. It was not their first time together — the band notes they worked with him 'once again' — at a studio known for landmark records by IN FLAMES, ARCH ENEMY and HAMMERFALL.
The CD and digital editions of Prophecies close with a bonus track that is an unexpected choice for a symphonic power metal record: a cover of 'Running In The Night' by FM-84.
In December 2025 DRAGONLAND signed a multi-album deal with Scarlet Records. Keyboardist Elias Holmlid said they were excited to begin 'a new chapter in the Dragonland saga', that the album was already 'fully written', and that they would once more work with producer Fredrik Nordström.
The cover artwork for Prophecies was created by Pedro Sena, whose credits also include work for AMON AMARTH and KREATOR.
After Under the Grey Banner (2011), DRAGONLAND went more than a decade without a new album. The Power of the Nightstar (2022) was the comeback: a concept album built on a fresh, space-set science-fiction storyline, separate from the fantasy saga, and mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen.
The way DRAGONLAND wrote 'The Old House on the Hill', the trilogy that closes Astronomy, was unusual. Holmlid recalls that Olof Mörck had written the whole story in advance, and that the band went through it with a green marker pen, highlighting the exact sentences they wanted to set to music before writing a single note.
The first song written for Starfall (2004) was 'In Perfect Harmony'. Holmlid has said the idea that became its intro riff was bound up with his first use of software synthesizers, that the result was clearly not traditional power metal, and that it pushed the band toward new lyrical themes as well.
In September 2018, almost two decades into its life, DRAGONLAND played the Australian east coast for the first time. Ahead of the shows, Holmlid said in an interview that free time would be scarce but that he hoped to sample an Australian barbecue and to pose in front of the Sydney Opera House.
The follow-up to Under the Grey Banner (2011) was slow to arrive, but ideas kept moving in the interim. In a 2018 interview Holmlid said there were 'definitely plans', that a handful of songs had already been written in the years since Under the Grey Banner, and that discussions over the album's format were still open, so he could not name a date.
Olof Mörck is also a well-travelled guest player. He once recorded a guest solo for an album by the German thrash-metal veterans DESTRUCTION, saying it was an honour to appear with 'one of the first bands I started to listen to' and that cutting a solo in an old-school thrash style had been great fun.