Dragonforce Announce New Album Details

Have I accidentally downloaded Inhuman Rampage? No?

There are so many better bands than Dragonforce, it's ridiculous. How the hell are they so popular when the regurgitate their own riffs on every release? They attempt a few new tricks, but ultimately they're only there to attempt to make the listener forget that everything else is identical to what they've done before.

If you have Sonic Firestorm or Inhuman Rampage, you don't need Ultra Beatdown. It's a rehash of both.

Realistically, the only song I like is Heartbreak Armegeddeon. I got to the final two tracks and my concentration faltered, to the point where I didn't actually realise I'd gone from one song to the next.

Inhuman Rampage made me question Dragonforce, and this release has left me shaking my head. Repetitive and self-indulgent. If you like listening to Herman Li and Sam wank over their guitars for minutes on end, I guess you'll love this release. You can look forward to ZP's usual fare, empty abstract fantasy lyrics, the same fast-drumming and I think the bass is in there somewhere too.

In reality, most of these songs should be around the 4 minute mark, not 7 or 8 minutes. They're purely that long to showcase the usual guitar wankery we've heard millions of times before. Master of Illusion, as an example, blows Ultra Beatdown out of the water. Hands down, a better album by a better band, yet Dragonforce occupy a position far higher than PQ and unfortunately, even after releasing this album, essentially a SF/IR remix, still will attain this position.

Suffice to say this is not an album I will be purchasing.
 
You have to at least give them credit that they know what kind of style they play in, it's not like the constant love/hatred thing is a shocker to them. It's how they play, I mean it's just the kind of style that Dragonforce is known for and it's what they do. They're not known for progressive mid-tempo catchy songs like the songs Sonata Arctica puts out. They're known for speed, it's just what they do.

I'm just a little startled at how former fans have grown to loathe Dragonforce. You saw their first two albums come and go, and they had all the same elements as Inhuman Rampage and Ultra Beatdown, never had a problem with the constant shredding then. Granted, the first two releases were better, but still...
 
When the first two albums are similar you can accept it but when the next two are complete carbon copies it becomes a bit annoying that you're dishing out good money for exactly the same songs... you expect bands to be different. Sure it's what they do (not that they're even that good at it when you see videos on youtube) but that doesn't mean they can get away with doing it all the time and not doing anything different, it's boring! Decent bands actually try new things and change their sound and don't rely on just one thing such as speed and stupid 8-bit video game noises...

They're just a fad really, they suck you in with their amazingly innovative sound but that's it, that's all there is to it, there's nothing more, they just copied video game themes and didn't actually innovate anything themselves and haven't moved on from that and probably never will!
 
I like DragonForce but i don't think i will be purchasing this album (I may change my mind) it has already been said that this album is a carbon copy of IR and SF and i already have those albums so what's the point? i shall give it a good listen before making my mind up completely but i'm not expecting to be very impressed.

Valley of the damned was an amazing album but really DF can't win, if they stay the same (As we all know the have and most probably will continue) then they are criticized for playing safe or being 'boring', if they do change their style then they will be criticized for being commercial or 'selling out'.

I believe i will buy Immortal by Pyramaze instead.
 
Ok after listening to the album in its entirety I can now give a critical review:

The Fire Still Burns was a good song - credit where credit is due
The intro to reasons to live was shite but i did like the rest of the song
The slow sections were a nice break – so they can do more then just tap and
hammer :p the break in Heartbreak Armageddon was particularly good
Last Journey Home – slightly too long IMO
A flame for freedom – too cheesy and very similar to another song of theirs :lol:
Overall I Actually quite like it as it resembles 80’s metal (Vad’s synth and keys mainly),yes, it’s similar to IR but it’s definitely more diverse – not just one speed all the way through
ZP manages to alter his delivery in this release, although a lot is still at the same pitch
OMG drums were…..yeah pretty much the same
Is it me or does the break around the 4min mark in ‘Inside the Winter Storm’ sound like a riff from neverworld?
The last track was just Inhuman Firestorm – nothing new here whatsoever apart from a really lame keyboard opening
the last tracks were totally smoked when my playlist played Dream Theater's 6:00 straight afterwards :lol:

I think they went over the top with the game influences this time, almost at the expense of quite a good album, but that's DF :rolleyes:

Still not sure whether to buy it but I think it’s worthy of 7/10
 
Right, after some sleep and my initial reaction of anger I've listened to the album a few more times and it isn't so bad... as a stand alone album. However, as I said before, if you already have SF or IR there is absolutely no need to buy this album as you've heard it all before.

Heroes of Our Time - could be put on Inhuman Rampage and considered a medicore track.
This Fire Still Burns - Okay, this is actually pretty good... reminds me of Sonic Firestorm, actually. Cool opening.
Reasons to Live - Standard DF fare, it's alright. A ridiculous break around the 3 minute mark which sounds really dumb.
Heartbreak Armeggeddeon - Best song on the album, great chorus and the song has a nice flow to it. Plus a very nice break in the middle.
The Last Journey Home - About 8 minutes 15 seconds too long. Not good.
A Flame for Freedom - sounds like a tribute to starfire, just nowhere near as good.
Inside the Winter Storm - tedious in that it's the same old shit as before... a couple of spots in here which are cool, but as I mentioned previously, these spots only exist to mask over the fact the rest of the song is everything you've heard before. The song crashes down when the guitar wankery starts, cos it's been done to death in the previous songs.
The Warrior Inside - Beginning riffs, believe it or not, sound identical to a number of other songs they've played before. They go on to steal from a number of their own songs to complete this track.

Ultimately, the problem with Dragonforce is their repetitiveness. They repeat their own material too much. If you've followed them from VotD onwards you shouldn't be impressed with this release, because your praise only gives Dragonforce a free pass to continue churning out recycled riffs and themes.

Dragonforce's problem is that they really suck at structuring their songs. They can't break away from their verse/chorus/verse/break/stupid 3/4 minute-long solos/ verse/chorus base structure. Every song is a variation of that. After 3 albums of it, I'm bored to death of the guitars. They're not innovative or amazing anymore, they're just frustrating and boring. Dragonforce cannot create emotion in their songs, every song is empty and devoid of any real emotion. For me, this means as musicians they are missing a crucial element. There is nothing beneath the surface of what they do. The lyrics are empty and meaningless, the vocals sound the same so often, the drumming is just... fast, bass barely exists, guitars are just wanked over to the max in an attempt to sound 'new'. VotD, when it came out, was awesome and new. But you can't compare VotD and Ultra Beatdown, they're two different animals that should be trying to complete two different objectives. Instead, it becomes painfully clear that Dragonforce are progressing at a snail's pace, and I hope people wake up to this and stop giving them permission to continue along this path to nowhere.
 
Eh, to each his own, you know. I still think this album is great and much more enjoyable than Inhuman Rampage. I'll be looking forward to more music videos from them.
 
I much prefer IR, and that's saying something as I think that album is leagues below VotD or SF.
 
Things that made me :lol: when giving the album my first listen:

1. Album artwork obviously!
2. "Blackened sun/blackended skies/blackened clouds" lyrics - lol wut?
3. 'Black' metal riffage on the start of Reasons to Live only to be followed by a video game sound effect!
4. At 1.34 in Heroes of Our Time supressing the urge to sing "we carry on!". Original melody fail.
5. The rampant U turn at 2.50 in Reasons to Live like the bizarre interlude at 4.54 in Disciples of Babylon.
6. The 'wolf whistle' at 5:06 in Reasons to Live, it's such a comedy track!
7. I dunno about the 4min break in Inside the Winter Storm sounding like something off Neverworld but I thought it sounded like 3:31 in Revelations off VoTD.
8. The first 26 seconds of Warrior Inside sounding like it could be from a Super Mario Bros level :lol:
 
5. The rampant U turn at 2.50 in Reasons to Live like the bizarre interlude at 4.54 in Disciples of Babylon.

Heh, true, except... the jazzy interlude in Disciples of babylon is actually pretty sweet.

Edit: Just listened to sonic firestorm again... honestly, ultra beatdown does not compare to it in any way IMO. SF is a class album... Dragonforce peaked too early with two awesome releases in their infancy.
 
I have grown to like Dragonforce as others have grown to hate them. To me they're perfect when you just want to get an energy boost, when you're feeling low and you need musical sugar. And even though I didn't like Heroes Of Our Time the first time I heard it, I've grown to like it a lot now. I mean, you've come a long way when you expect every fucking song to be catchy and up-beat, but Dragonforce can do it.

This does not mean I can't enjoy me some diversity, that's why I listen to Power Quest. :rolleyes:
 
I have grown to like Dragonforce as others have grown to hate them. To me they're perfect when you just want to get an energy boost, when you're feeling low and you need musical sugar. And even though I didn't like Heroes Of Our Time the first time I heard it, I've grown to like it a lot now. I mean, you've come a long way when you expect every fucking song to be catchy and up-beat, but Dragonforce can do it.

This does not mean I can't enjoy me some diversity, that's why I listen to Power Quest. :rolleyes:

Woo, someone who actually feels the same way I do. :lol:

btw the verses of The Fire Still Burns = awesome
 
I was just downstairs with this playing upstairs so you could hear it but you couldn't really hear what was going on. It really could have been anything off IR or SF and I wouldn't have known.

However, I have realised that I love their sound. I mean, they could just all be playing one big chord all day long and I would enjoy it. Nobody sounds like Dragonforce, that's why they get away with it.
 
This is true. I went into a shop the other day, TTFATF was on my headphones, and the girl at the counter knew it was dragonforce purely through the guitar sound, which was very quiet.

Still, they can't rely on that forever.
 
Off this album, the only tracks i enjoy are Heroes of Our Time, The Fire Still Burns and Heartbreak Armageddon. the rest is just recycled guitar licks and crazy game sounds - i don't honestly think i've ever heard a worse intro to a song than Reasons to Live although Warrior Inside comes very close. some of the slow sections were really good but there isn't enough to cover up the repetition.
 
The intro to Warrior Inside is classic power metal, what the