Hear Dragonforce’s Through The Fire And Flames in the new Despicable Me 4 trailer

Photo of Dragonforce onstage, next to a screenshot from Despicable Me 4

(Image credit: Daniel Knighton/Getty Images | Illumination)

Classic DragonForce song and scourge to a generation of Guitar Hero players, Through The Fire And Flames, has been prominently featured in a new TV spot for Despicable Me 4.

The UK power metal band’s signature track first appeared on their 2005 album Inhuman Rampage, but found greater fame when featured on Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock the following year due to its incredible difficulty.

Now, the song is in a teaser for the fourth entry in the Steve Carell-led children’s film series, embedded below.

The spot, which aired in the US during an NFL football game on Sunday (January 28), seemingly references Through The Fire And Flames’ notorious technicality for gamers, as it opens with animation of a girl and a cat trying to perform the track on a Dance Dance Revolution-like arcade machine.

Dragonforce guitarist and co-founder Herman Li acknowledged the TV spot on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday (January 29).

He wrote: “Dragonforce music on NFL playoff prime time TV ad? Yes, it happened with @DespicableMe 4. ❤️ Thank you!”

Dragonforce are currently due to release their ninth studio album, Warp Speed Warriors, on March 15. It will be their first full-length release of new material since 2019’s Extreme Power Metal.

When Warp Speed Warriors was announced in October, Li commented: “After four years of creative incubation, we are beyond excited to release what we believe to be our most ambitious and grandiose record yet.

“This album showcases multiple facets of our artistic abilities, and we invite metal aficionados from every corner of the genre to discover something captivating within its layers. We can’t wait to share this chapter of our musical journey with you, it’s going to be EPIC!”

Despicable Me 4 was produced by Illumination Entertainment and will be released by Universal Pictures on July 3, 2024.

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.