DragonForce have said that Marc Hudson is stepping back from singing for the band. The reason is tinnitus, it has been getting worse, and it takes him out of the coming album and out of the touring planned for 2026 and 2027.
He is not leaving. The statement puts him with the management side, working on things the band say will surface later this year, and Herman Li's words are about keeping him rather than losing him: “Protecting his hearing isn't something we'd 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.” Fifteen years of that voice, Li notes, are a large part of what the band sounds like.
The replacement is not a stranger either. Alessio Garavello was Hudson's own vocal coach, and he takes the male half of what will now be a two singer band, next to Alissa White-Gluz out front. The album is being written for both voices, and the first songs from it are due next week.
Hudson has been missing shows over his hearing for months, including the band's first performance with White-Gluz in May. This is the first time the arrangement has been given a name and a length.