Guitar Hero's most difficult song just got a lot more difficult

Trombone Champ
(Image credit: Holy Wow)

If British power metal band DragonForce ends up with an enduring legacy, it'll be for Through the Fire and Flames. Arguably the band's best-known song, it was its appearance on Guitar Hero 3 that cemented its video game fame. Still considered one of the most difficult tracks of the entire series, the ability to flawlessly complete it is regarded as one of the truest marks of Guitar Hero mastery.

Now, however, it's been given a somewhat different sound. Trombone Champ, the indie rhythm game sensation that reared its head last month, allows modders to make their own brass band tracks in addition to its primarily orchestral soundtrack.

With that in mind, Twitter user DerpyChap took it upon themselves to mod Through the Fire and Flames into the game. The result appears near-impossible; the extreme speed of the song's opening section in particular is exceedingly tricky on the inputs of the Guitar Hero controller. Factor in the deliberately finicky analogue controls of Trombone Champ and it's all-but unplayable.

That said, it does get a little easier around the chorus, when DragonForce gives its guitarist a moment to catch a bit of a breath. Somehow, despite its creator's wonky attempts, some of those involved in Trombone Champ's modding communities are managing to rack up impressive scores.

By the end of the song, our unfortunate tromboner is running out of puff, sweat and spit seemingly pouring from their musical efforts. The final bars - most of which are made up with one brass-bendingly long power chord - are so long that the game simply gives up on your behalf, your avatar's lungs drained with the effort of sustaining that mega-note. That might just make this a literally impossible track to perfect, but I'm sure that a few die-hard fans will be rising to the challenge.

Here's why Trombone Champ makes such bad music sound so good.

CATEGORIES
Ali Jones
News Editor

I'm GamesRadar's news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.

Read more
Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero expert finally annihilates world record 200% speedrun of the game's hardest song after trying and failing 50,000 times
This streamer just beat a no-hit run of Dark Souls 3 with a saxophone controller, and they've got their sights set on Monster Hunter Wilds next
Elden Ring
Watch in awe as an Elden Ring master, playing with a saxophone that goes "doot," finally wrecks Malenia in 45 seconds without getting hit
Monster Hunter Wilds trailer screenshot showing a young woman with long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail smiling slightly, pumping her left fist in the air
Elden Ring saxophone speedrunner thanks Monster Hunter Wilds devs for "creating doot-based gameplay" as he uses his jazzy controller to power the action RPG's giant sax weapon
Crazy Taxi
AGDQ 2025's musical streak continued as a live band rocked out in sync with a chaotic 19-minute Crazy Taxi speedrun
Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree
"A lot of the joy is in the difficulty": After spending 400+ hours dying 15,000 times in a painful Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree run, streamer admits challenges have "ruined normal gaming" for him
Latest in Games
Final Fantasy 16 protagonist Clive uses magic in closeup screenshot
Despite fans begging for Tifa, Final Fantasy 16's Clive is "significantly more popular" than any other Tekken guest fighter
Assassin's Creed Shadows Butterfly Collector Naoe squatting next to butterfly on tree
How to complete the Assassin's Creed Shadows Butterfly Collector quest
Mario faces the camera with a thumbs up pose in Super Smash Bros. Ulimate.
Nintendo Direct March 2025 live – all the Switch news, trailers, and reveals as they happen
Batman: Arkham Knight
Rocksteady's rumored single-player Batman game is in development for PC, PS5, Xbox, and "the next generation of consoles"
The Last of Us Part 1
The Last of Us director Neil Druckmann wanted to make sure the first game "was complete" because "I wasn't sure they would ever let me direct a game again"
Pillars of Eternity
10 years later, in a post-Baldur's Gate 3 and Avowed world, Obsidian is giving its own throwback CRPG Pillars of Eternity a turn-based combat mode
Latest in News
Final Fantasy 16 protagonist Clive uses magic in closeup screenshot
Despite fans begging for Tifa, Final Fantasy 16's Clive is "significantly more popular" than any other Tekken guest fighter
Spider-Man 4
There might be an obvious reason why Tom Holland's Spider-Man wasn't announced for Avengers: Doomsday
Patrick Stewart in X-Men
Marvel fans are already theorizing how Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and James Marsden's X-Men will be integrated into Avengers: Doomsday
Daredevil: Born Again episode 6
Daredevil's Charlie Cox isn't in the Avengers: Doomsday cast list – but Marvel fans have an idea about how he might still show up
Simu Liu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Simu Liu had the best reaction to Shang-Chi’s announcement for Avengers: Doomsday, but fans think it's "criminal" there hasn’t been a direct sequel
Robert Downey Jr. during the Doctor Doom announcement at Marvel's SDCC 2024 panel
There may still be some big names missing from the Avengers: Doomsday cast list, but Marvel teases that "there's always room for more"