Herman Li, one half of DragonForce's guitar hit-squad, never stops trying to better himself. The UK-based "extreme power metal" group have just released their fourth album, Ultra Beatdown, and during recording, Li and Sam Totman (also guitars) routinely clocked in 20 and 30 takes - sometimes more - trying to nail their solos. "We're trying to reach a level of playing that nobody has ever heard before," says Li. "That doesn't come easily." With a year-long DragonForce tour looming, Li sat down with MusicRadar to discuss Guitar Hero, the intricacies of recording, his brand-new Ibanez signature E-Gen 18 guitar, and why Fall Out Boy sits next to Steve Vai in his CD collection. For more DragonForce and the best music news, reviews and tuition, head to www.musicradar.com.