Release date: 27.09.2019
Label: earMUSIC Records
Album length: 52.50 min
Producer: Damien Rainaud
Genre: Power Metal
Rating: 8.0 / 10
Dragonforce have finally gone and slapped a parody label on one of their studio albums too. It became clear years ago that the valiant British Nintendo metallers had grown into a parody band, or rather a self-parody band, and that very fact somehow carves out a special place for them in power metal. They’re extreme on several fronts, funny enough, but it’s also true that in recent years the label “extreme” has earned them more mockery than respect.
Ever wondered what comes after “fast,” “faster” and “fastest”? Behold: “Dragonforce”!!! Okay, they haven’t been the fastest for quite a while, but the beauty of it is that they cling to clichés for dear life and rip through them at extreme speed in a genre where nobody comes close to them. And that’s really their entry visa to recognizability and, to a degree, even “unusualness,” although that’s almost too harsh a word, more like “quirkiness.” Honestly. If you’re into power metal, you’re still better off following new Dragonforce albums than Powerwolf. If nothing else, you’ll have a blast while listening.
Your mouth just automatically curls into a grin when you hear all those cheerful major scales and “hali hajlo” melodies that are so fantastically predictable you could hum them from memory during the worst night-time wake-up call. That’s the opener, the spiky, longest track on the album, Highway to Oblivion, which could easily swap places in the #1 slot with the album’s fastest track Troopers Of The Stars (the one that definitely kicks off the B-side of the vinyl version), sitting in the middle. Sam Totman and Herman Li aren’t giving up. The solos are hellishly pointy and are, as ever, the main attraction in enjoying the new release. That sound in the transitions and endings of the solos, when the two of them start hanging off the tremolo bars, is a particular treat. Marc Hudson isn’t as charismatic as his predecessor ZP Theart (maybe because he doesn’t have that famous gap between his front teeth, I hope you’ll forgive the cynicism), that’s just a fact, but he gets the job done in line with the required standard and discipline of the band’s musical direction, which is entirely satisfactory. Dragonforce come across like a band living in a soap bubble. They’ve built their own fantasy world, put themselves at the center of it, and the music, of course, remains tailor-made to serve as a backdrop for third-generation video games. So, hand on heart, it’s an open question whether these guys ever peek out into the real world. Or whether they ever needed to (at any point).
With this album, Dragonforce, perhaps even more than ever, put themselves at the center of their own fantasy world, where their theatrical over-the-top-ness, built largely on a display of ferocious, hellish technical polish and virtuosity, gives the feeling that they really are coming from the beyond . The guitars shriek extremely high once again. And they have to. Otherwise this wouldn’t be Dragonforce. In the arrangements, though, Dragonforce occasionally reach for more complexity, with more variety in the motifs, plus shifts in atmosphere with jumps between different rhythmic keys. No broken rhythms, don’t worry. This is best captured by Cosmic Power of Infinite Shred Machine, which counts as the most ambitious composition on “Extreme Power Metal.” It’s not all poisonous full-throttle. In that respect, Last Of the Dragonborn is a mid-tempo moment where the cliché in the phrasing and orchestral touches pulls toward the old-school approach of the likes of Edguy. Dragonforce can also cleverly develop musical greediness and bombast that doesn’t immediately feel generic. One of the more successful epic choruses comes from Heart Demolition, and it’s not another one of those cookie-cutter tunes of happy dwarves marching off to the mine, but a great chorus, deftly contrasted with vocal harmonies too. No question. Over the years the band has matured in writing arrangements, even though the new songs by no means reinvent the wheel. Rememberance Day, an absolute “clichéd kitsch-fest,” owes quite a bit of inspiration to HammerFall in its “triumphant” stance.
The keyboards on the album were played by seasoned Coen Janssen, a member of symphonic power metallers Epica, who did the job with feather-light ease. In bringing more neo-classical tangibility and orchestral pomp, the classically trained Janssen proved to be an excellent solution. This is also the last Dragonforce album with Frederic Leclercq on bass. The band hasn’t yet confirmed his replacement.
“Extreme Power Metal” is an album that will satisfy all fans of the band. In that respect, Dragonforce have served up exactly what could be expected and demanded of them. They remain masters of “their own metal breed” in what they do. Once again they’ve very skillfully “packaged” their recipe and served up a fresh speed-fueled power metal blitzkrieg.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Highway to Oblivion
2. Cosmic Power of the Infinite Shred Machine
3. The Last Dragonborn
4. Heart Demolition
5. Troopers of the Stars
6. Razorblade Meltdown
7. Strangers
8. In a Skyforged Dream
9. Remembrance Day
10. My Heart Will Go On
Line-up:
Marc Hudson – vocals, backing vocals
Herman Li – guitar, backing vocals
Sam Totman – guitar, backing vocals
Frederic Leclercq – bass guitar, backing vocals
Gee Anzalone – drums, backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Coen Janssen (Epica) – keyboards
Clive Nolan (Arena) – backing vocals
Emily Ovenden – backing vocals
Kalen Chase Musmecci – backing vocals
Steve Francis – additional backing vocals on track 5
Ross Mallon – additional backing vocals on track 5
Josh O’Brien – additional backing vocals on track 5
Paul Roberts – additional backing vocals on track 5
Tim Mekalick – additional backing vocals on track 5
