DRAGONFORCE SLIGHTLY EXCEED YOUR EXPECTATIONS ON ULTRA BEATDOWN
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 at 11:44am by Sammy O'Hagar
DragonForce, like most good bands, either hits you the right way or doesn’t. And one could totally understand how their music could hit someone the wrong way – when looking at DragonForce from a distance (unendingly optimistic metal played at relentless speed, nuts-in-a-vice vocals, keyboards straight out of Mega Man 4, the fact that the name of the band is DragonForce, etc.), they are undoubtedly obnoxious on paper. But as those of us who like them know, the band’s execution usually ascends that obnoxiousness to come up with a seemingly infinite canon of uplifting, complexly performed power metal songs. So it’s good to know that at the very least, DragonForce haven’t done anything drastic to their formula for their latest fell length, Ultra Beatdown. In fact, in its best moments, the album showcases the band’s most enjoyable material, which for a band that is at the moment best known by the general populous as the hardest part of Guitar Hero III, is quite refreshing.
All that being said, let’s not mince words here – DragonForce, on paper and off, are one of the most absurd bands that have ever existed. They’re essentially a home for the ideas every other metal band passed on for being too kitschy or obnoxious. Their music is, at its best and worst, a wall of ridiculous sound, like being charged at by an army of anime chimps in medieval armor and/or space suits. And make no mistake, this sound is still the one that undeniably rules ULTRA BEATDOWN!!! (The title of the album will now be referred to in caps and accompanied by three exclamation points for the rest of the review, as I feel it warrants it). And not only are the songs absurd, but they’re also relatively long: six of ULTRA BEATDOWN!!!’s eight songs top seven minutes in length.
So how do the band avoid the pitfall of being, I don’t know, the worst fucking band you’ve ever heard? For one, the songs, though admittedly irritating in theory, are also really, really fucking good. The band have been dubbed “Journey on crank” or “Bon Jovi on speed,” depending on which article you read. And all the catchiness and overall lovable nature of the aforementioned bands lies in DragonForce’s uncanny ability to write infectious songs. For a band so seemingly packed with virtuosos, they also manage to come up with material that won’t leave your head for the better part of the decade. And on top of all that, the group seem to take themselves as seriously as they need to be taken: they’re by no means a joke band, but they also acknowledge that taking this kind of music completely to heart makes you, well, kind of a huge tool. There are other bands that demand your rabid devotion and insist their releases change your life; DragonForce, God for-fucking-bid, just want you to have a good time.
Now, none of the preceding two paragraphs are news to people that have been following – or, hell, even to people that have had a fleeting awareness of – the band over the last few years. So much like Motorhead, Slayer, AC/DC, or the Ramones, how does a band that essentially puts out the same album over and over again make an album that’s better than all their other ones? In the case of ULTRA BEATDOWN!!!, the band just do everything they’d already been doing, but slightly better. Instead of just being the cheesy power metal machine they’d been in the past, the band have honed what they do, notably paying closer attention to their songwriting skill. My issue with their last effort, Inhuman Rampage (perhaps one of the most un-aptly named albums in metal history), was that their shtick got old: they pulled out the same stops on each song, piling sped up Maiden and Priest riffs with “woah-ooh” breakdowns and big, hopeful choruses with a minute or three decicated to guitar wankery. This was a blast at first, but eventually lead to a mush, albeit a glitzy mush, of same-y sounding songs. By adding even a shred of variance to the mix, ULTRA BEATDOWN!!! is automatically better than DragonForce’s previous output. But this is by no means makes the record good by default; it’s an impressive effort by a band that were seemingly a one trick pony (or armored steed). They alter some things without moving too far from the sound that made them likable to begin with, making them less abrasive to newcomers and still very, very appealing to previous fans. It’s easily the first DragonForce record that’s not a chore to sit all the way through.
And though it’s a cliché to anoint a breakthrough record as “everything the band did, but better!,” that’s exactly what ULTRA BEATDOWN!!! is. Those big choruses are bigger and much more tuneful; the band only uses the “woah-ooh” trick on a few songs instead of all of them, essentially moving the trick from the “tired” column to the “Holy shit! I love it when bands do that!” column; when put into the context of real, interesting songs, the blistering guitar work of Herman Li and Sam Totman seems effective instead of masturbatory (well, most of the time); the band only slows it down for one song (“A Flame for Freedom”), keeping the record’s momentum almost constant. And let’s not shit ourselves: this is still some of the cheesiest music put to tape. But much like Styx, which ULTRA BEATDOWN!!! recalls more than Journey or Bon Jovi, if you take the band with a grain of salt (or in this case, a salt mine), it’s great and bound to at least put you in a good mood. And unlike most power metal, the band seem to be in on the joke; the guitar/keyboard tradeoffs on “Reasons to Live” and the beginning of “The Warrior Inside” must be a wink to ULTRA BEATDOWN!!!’s audience. In a time when enjoying oneself in music must either be done either through irony or novelty, it’s good to see a band that recognizes how ridiculous they are manage to be pretty damn awesome in the meantime.
(3 ½ out of 5 horns)
-SO
you’re kidding right? this is the most ridiculous review I have ever read. Are you guys related to someone n DragonForce? that’s all i can come up with to explain your love of this awful, awful band that can’t play their songs live because it is all so over-mixed and processed.
Epic levels of “Blahhh” and “Mehhh” come to mind.
I just puked 3 times. Shit review, shit band.
I’ve heard the cd as well……this review is on the money….great songs
Daniel, you’re a shit human being.
I saw this band live on the Killswitch Engage/ Chimaira tour last spring and let me just say that they looked like a fucking circus act on stage. I could not even take them seriously nor give an applause for such fucking horseshit. They should just write songs for upcoming Guitar Hero games. The fact people can put this cd on in their car, gym, wherever they listen to metal and enjoy it boggles my fucking brain. I mean seriously who the fuck cares if Herman Li can shred faster than any human being isnt song writing and how it sounds way more important? This band gives RoadRunner a bad name
Word up.
This silly little band gets way too much hate.
They are fun and formula and energy.
People that take the Metal too seriously should slinker off with their Kamelot albums.
Why all the hate? I mean, I can well understand people that don’t like Dragonforce, for the guitar “wankery” or any other reason, but why berate someone that like it? You might not be into Pantera, but that doesn’t make you less of a metalhead – you’re just not a fan of Pantera that’s all.
I’m wondering where all the people that were saying they liked the new song went to.
Regardless, I like the new cd. It’s not so much different as more refined than their previous stuff. If you like DragonForce, it’s by far their best release…if you don’t, well this sure won’t change that.
How anyone can stand these guys for longer that one song is beyond me.
3.5 out of 4 horns?! Was that a typo for out of 5 horns?! You gave this album a near perfect score?!
RayRay, Andres,
Right on.
Jeremy Rosen,
Nice.
Sonata Arctica are way better than this. I don’t like Dragonforce for the same reason I don’t like Stratovarius.
Wonderfull musicians, over rated material.
aren’t these the guys who can’t play any of their studio shit live, and then blame it all on alcohol? i got nothing against getting fucked up and doing a gig, but i’m pretty sure it’s always 4:20 for the guys in High On Fire, and you never see Matt Pike fuck up a solo as bad as the boys in Dragonforce. further more, how ripped do you think Dimebag was at some shows back in the day? once again, flawless fucking performer who ALWAYS nailed his studio sound live…even if he was lit.
Forget the band, the review needs work. Suffers from tl;dr syndrome. Also needs more pictures. Pop-up pictures would be best. Maybe something from Where The Wild Things Are.
@fantasyh
You’re, WRONG! IF YOU DON’T LIKE PANTERA YOU’RE A POSER!
/elitist metalhead bullshit
You’re right on the money man, some people like some stuff and others don’t, I don’t get the point of hating on any metal band. I’ll take some metal I can’t stand over a shit band like Panic at the Disco any day of the week.
@Jethro: I happen to really like the first Panic CD. =/
I’m not a fan of their earlier work but this album actually surprised me. The first time I listened to it I made it through about two and a half songs before I shut it off and screamed, “Jesus, do something fucking DIFFERENT!”
I shut it off a little early, because the third track is where they start to stretch out. The middle portion of this album features more mature songwriting with slower tempos and emotive playing. There’s no emotion in pure speed and histrionics. That is Dragonforce’s fatal flaw and what ultimately relegates them to a novelty act. But this is the first album where it seems they may actually progress from show-offs to actual musicians.
You can achieve a mastery of your instrument and competence of theory and still be a shit musician. The over-the-top musical theatrics do absolutely nothing in the long run and relegate the music to a pitiful sameness that undermines its credibility. And if there’s one thing that can be said of the majority of D-Force’s music it’s that it all sounds the SAME. Yet there are moments on this new album where it seems they might actually grow beyond that.
Here’s to hoping…
@Jethro – Thanks man. And accidentally, yes I do not care much for Pantera. It’s not like I don’t like, the music just doesn’t pull me in. Maybe except Fuckin’ Hostile, but that’s because In Flames covered it.
IMO UltraBeatdown is not really a masterpiece in any shape or form. But that said, it’s just good fun, with nonsencial power-metal vocals (though Hansi Kursch is my power metal vocalist of choice) and loads of cool technical playing from Li and Totman. You just can’t say that those guys don’t have some serious skill. Plus all the cool Tom Morello’y stuff that Herman does (f.ex. using the HotHand). And they do some different stuff Reasons To Live, that starts with a deathy/trashy blast intro, and lowers the tempo in rest of the song, making it sound really cool and different from the usual DF stuff. I haven’t listened to the album enough to give my final opinion on it but I like.
But that’s the thing with DragonForce – either you like them or you don’t, you can’t just say “meh, I don’t care for that band”, as the comments for this post show.
Really? So I should check it out then? Because other than putting on Through the Fire and Flames on Expert on face-off mode on GH3 and seeing how many percent I can nail, I’ve really had it with this band.
@Gabe – Actually that’s the funnest thing you can do in GH3 (my record is 65% BTW)
I’d say it wouldn’t hurt to try. If you don’t like it, you can safely give up DragonForce for good knowing that you tried to get into their music
but… the album has yet to be released… and the majority of you are giving it shit…
no no… this doesn’t seem right at all!
Although I have to say the video clip for Heroes of time is Ultra cheezy… and that definately makes me happy. This band is freaking lawl.
Uhhh.. The album wasn’t “good” but the band is good… However The Fire Still Burns.. the first half was almost the same as Through the fire and flames.. the tone and chorus were almost identical. That takes me a lot to say this album is so so, cuz I’m a big fan.. It’s like their other stuff especially the signature track which is the SAME as their other signature track TTFATF
Oh and as for them not being able to do their stuff live, I’m not watching them live, I’m listening to their CD and don’t care how good they’re live.. I haven’t seen them live, probably never will so, who gives a shit? This is an album review not a band review.
I use DragonForce as gateway metal. Most people who don’t like metal can listen to DragonForce. Then you push them little by little into legitimate metal. My friend, who is a lifelong rap fan, now has King Diamond on his iPod.
Thank you, DragonForce.
Wow, DragonForce is a shit band huh? They suck live? Funny, when i saw them live they were pretty fucking close, while running around and having a good time onstage while entertaining the crowd, rather than having the concentration of sitting or standing in one spot like a braindead drone. Are you upset because no matter how much you fail you cannot live up to the speed of dragonforce, or that they are so lighthearted/carefree about such skill on said instruments and that makes you want to go wrist yourself because you fail at said instrument? While the music can be repetitive, and the singer had his testicles removed at the age of 13, does not make this band bad, the review was pretty fair. Don’t cry just because they don’t have some dude growling/screaming like some fucking lung patient on chemo, and chugging boring guitars. Thx.