Dragon Force Singer Leaves Band

The U.S. branch of Roadrunner Records released a story at approximately 6:03 p.m. EST today (Monday, March 8) via its official web site (and distributed through the site's official RSS feed) containing the following text (Note: The story has since been removed from the site):

"DRAGONFORCE have split with lead singer ZP Theart. The band issued the following statement regarding the matter:

"'It is with great regret that DRAGONFORCE announce a parting of the ways with singer ZP Theart. This is due to insurmountable differences of musical opinion but the rest of the band sincerely wishes ZP great success with his future projects.

"'While the creative core members have begun writing the fifth album, they have also started a worldwide search for a new vocalist.'

"'We are looking for a powerful, melodic singer to write a new chapter of DRAGONFORCE with us,' said guitarist Herman Li.

"Anyone wishing to audition for the vacant position should apply following the instructions right here."

A screenshot of the story as it appeared in Google Reader (a web-based aggregator, capable of reading Atom and RSS feeds online or offline) can be viewed below.

DRAGONFORCE's latest album, 2008's "Ultra Beatdown", sold 24,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 18 on The Billboard 200 chart.

DRAGONFORCE had its first two studio albums — "Valley Of The Damned" and "Sonic Firestorm" — reissued on February 22, 2010 via Spinefarm Records U.K. Both titles were made available with updated packaging and bonus audio/DVD content, some of it exclusive to these releases.