Album Reviews : Dragonforce – Ultra Beatdown

Dragonforce bring about their forth studio album to the metal masses entitled “Ultra Beatdown”. The album represents everything that is Dragonforce frominspirational vocals, rapid fire drums and the quintessential sounds of Herman Li and Sam Totman’s guitar’s which have the reminiscent stylizing of a Nintendo entertainment system.

I was quite impressed with their last release “Inhuman Rampage”. It seems Dragonforce have improved and outdone themselves on their latest offering as it packs in groovier melodies, powerful vocals which uplift the spirit,and of course more insanely and over the top guitar solos. I got the sense that the album is to uplift the spirit, as almost every song has lyrics which motivate and inspire the soul. It’s cheesy with a dash of light heartened humor.

Most bands in the power metal genre either take themselves to seriously and don’t really leave much to the imagination or just sound so cheesy you want to vomit violently but I’ve always found Dragonforce to be consistent in a happy medium.

The album may seem as nothing more then a rapid fire assault on the brain as it relentlessly offers a barrage of nothing more than super fast solos yet there are moments of melodic clarity.  ‘The Last Journey Home’ is a great slow number which infuses some great keyboard and guitar elements. Having said that, his song rarely slows down as Dragonforce can never seem to take a steady pace.

I was a bit confused with the selection of artwork however. It doesn’t really seem like something you’d find on a typical power metal album. Its more like something you’d find in a 1980’s science fiction book. You know the ones?…Where they try and show pictures of what the 23rd century would look like, from a 1980’s perspective.

The album artwork  is by no means going to tarnish the quality of the music as it seems to improve with every release these lads put out.

If your one of many who likes your music insanely fast and over the top then “Ultra Beatdown” is surely for you. You may however want to step away if your looking for something with a bit of complexity as this is a typical Dragonforce release and doesn’t really offer much to someone wanting an in-depth and multilayer album.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that “Ultra Beatdown” is actually a major improvement on “Inhuman Rampage”. Everything on the new album is just faster, more dynamic and solid. What an amazing album. 8/10

Band: Dragonforce
Album: Ultra Beatdown
Year: 2008
Genre: Power Metal
Label: Roadrunner Records
Origin: Great Britain
Myspace: www.myspace/dragonforce

Track listing:
1. Heroes of Our Time
2. The Fire Still Burns
3. Reasons To Live
4. Heartbreak Armageddon
5. The Last Journey Home
6. A Flame Of Freedom
7. Inside the Winter Storm
8. The Warrior’s Side