DragonForce Extreme Power Metal
Album Review By Adam McCann
earMusic Record/Power Metal
DragonForce, the band which conjures up images of blisteringly fast guitars, singalong chorus’ and Guitar Hero video games; but who would have thought that that was thirteen years ago? Since then DragonForce have become a parody of themselves, bloated and excessive before disappearing, changing vocalist from ZP Theart to Marc Hudson and returning as a much stronger band delivering a string of well-received albums, the latest of which ‘Extreme Power Metal’ was released this year.
To name an album ‘Extreme Power Metal’ is a bold statement and with DragonForce, it actively means that you’re never really too far from the truth; ‘Extreme…’ thunders forward at the breakneck speed that has come to be expected from this band. Conversely, Herman Li and Sam Totman have pushed the band to the limit with this album, their virtuoso guitar playing is jaw-droppingly incredible. Tracks such as ‘In a Skyforged Dream’, ‘Remembrance Day’ and ‘Razorblade Meltdown’ stand tall as some of the best work done by the band. Yet, it is ‘Strangers’, ‘Highway to Oblivion’ and ‘Cosmic Power of the Infinite Shred Machine’ which go beyond the general remit of DragonForce; the latter begins as a pretty standard DragonForce song before fading out and returning with the full fury of an early 90’s 16-bit video game that has all the ability to make a certain generation thoroughly enjoy.
However, this album is not entirely flawless, the introduction vocal melody to ‘Highway to Oblivion’ is highly reminiscent of ‘I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday’ by seasonal botherer’s Wizzard, whilst the closing cover of ‘My Heart Will Go On’ by Céline Dion is just not needed and would lead the album to be a lot better without it . Yet, at 52 minutes, this is an album which flies by, it’s fun and enjoyable and is just the way that something calling itself ‘Extreme Power Metal’ should be.
Rating : 81/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
