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43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Sonic Firestorm Is An Understatement, August 6, 2005
The band Dragonforce is a very interesting unit indeed. They not only combine the factors of being musically diverse along with a completely technical level of play; but they include a level of speed that at times will make you surely think that your CD is skipping instead of playing. I was literally blown away when I first heard "Sonic Firestorm" and as you listen yourself you will find that you are in the musical equivalent of a hurricane. Starting off with "My Spirit Will Go On", you are quickly brought into the band's world and what they opt to accomplish on a record. As I said there are blistering fast moments and there are bands that play for the sake of speed sake alone. Not so in the case of Dragonforce, for throughout each song the members never seem to lose pace with one another. The song maintains its structure and does not ever seem to fall apart where you could expect such action to be the case under these conditions. It was really something to close my eyes and envision this being done in a live sense. In most cases playing music fast simply for the sake of it will not impress me all that much so it was refreshing to see this level of speed being showcased on top of killer technical prowess. Chops would be an understatement for Dragonforce.
A lot of the album follows along the same course of speed as the first track, but that does not mean to be taken as the songs sound all alike. They just use the same formula on the entire CD. There is one track that effectively serves as the ballad of the disk and that is "Dawn Over A New World" . The tune is nicely done and being in the middle of the disk it allows you a breather before the ass-kicking again. Holding only 8 songs you might feel a bit cheated, however most of them are over 7 minutes in length with "Soldiers Of The Wasteland" running at just under 10. This track in particular even has a section with a very Iron Maiden feel to it. One can easily take Dragonforce as the Dream Theater of Progressive Power Metal; a title I am giving them since the music defies the normal genre classification for me at present. I also liked "Fury Of The Storm" and "Once In A Lifetime". The band truly did not really remind me of anyone else so I cannot really draw comparisons to them. In one sense this is great as it stands as being a little more on the unique side.
The lineup consists of ZP Theart (Vocals), Herman 'Shred' Li & Sam Totman (Guitars), Adrian Lambert (Bass), Dave Macintosh (Drums) and Vadim Pruzhanov (Keyboards). It was impressive to also see a large lineup be able to pull all this together. Playing Metal at this rate is not so easily done in my opinion. Overall this was an enjoyable CD and I think fans of speedier power metal as well as creative use of lightning fast shredding will enjoy the work that these guys have delivered to us. Check it out, bands like this deserve more exposure.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing power metal..., January 31, 2005
On my first listen of the track "My Spirit Will Go On", I could not believe what I was hearing. The drummer sounds like he's on speed, the singer hits all the high notes, and the guitars...well lets just say they are nothing short of phenomenal. Herman Li and Sam Totman are the axe-wielding duo who tear up this album with their twin-blast tapping (Fury of the Storm) and hyper-shred harmonizing (pretty much every track). You can tell the band is full of energy and loves what they are doing. I suggest you have a free, open mind when listening to this album, and just have fun. Here's a rundown of the individual tracks:
1. My Spirit Will Go On- This is one of the classics on the album, and I think one of Dragonforce's most well known song (if they have one). The intro starts off clean and then in come the keyboards and the thundering double-bass. There's a nice little guitar harmony and ZP comes in singing the first verse. I cant say much for the lyrics, but I don't take them seriously. The solo in this song is jaw-dropping. There's tapping, sweeping, ultra-fast harmonizing and everything in between. Oh yea, Herman loves to use his whammy pedal too. If you are a fan of shred, you will enjoy this solo. Overall great song and album-starter, 9/10.
2. Fury of the Storm- Starts off with another great harmony, then a blast beat by the drums behind it. This song has a more "dark" sound to it, but the chorus is pure power metal glory. The solo is great, and has an amazing "twin blast" tapping section where Herman and Sam harmonize. Fun song, and great solo 9/10
3. Fields of Despair- This might be my favorite off of the album. The mood is more "gloomy" I guess, but I love the vocals on this song. Solo is nothing short of amazing, and I give this song 10/10.
4. Dawn Over a New World- This is a slower song on the CD, and probably my least favorite. Not a bad tune, but it gets boring. You wont find any crazy leads here (but the "slower" solo is full of technique), just a lot of piano/keyboards and vocals. 5/10
5. Above the Winter Moonlight- This song is pretty happy feeling. It's fast like most of their songs, but it has more major chords it seems. The bridge is cool with a bass line and keyboards, and it leads into a pretty heavy guitar riff which doesnt seem to fit much into the mood of the song. The solo is pretty catchy, and I cant really say anything bad about it. I just don't like this song as much as the others, 7/10
6. Soldiers of the Wasteland- Another moody song on this album, Soldiers of the Wasteland is powerful and moving, all at 215bpm. I like the vocals on this track, and you can sing along to them. The bridge has a strange "galloping" feel to it, but it fits the song great. The harmonies are very melodic, and the solo is outstanding with some blast beats thrown in and a nice keyboard solo (which I think there should be more of). One of my favorites on the album, I give it 10/10.
7. Prepare for War- This track to me is like a filler. There's not much to it, besides the obvious speed and technicality. The chorus is pretty cool, and I like the bridge, but I dont really get anything out of the song. 6/10
8. Once in a Lifetime- Another happy song here, but it's fun. There are cool harmonies, and some catchy lyrics. Keyboards are more present in this song. I wouldn't go so far to call it a filler track, but its not one of my favorites. 7/10
9. Cry of the Brave (Bonus Track)- Now I decided to add this track in the review as well since I have the bonus version, and more people would read my review in this version. So...this song is great. I wish they would have put it on the regular version in place of Dawn Over a New World or Prepare for War. It is just very good. I suggest you find this track somewhere online and give it a listen. 9/10
That concludes my review. I hope I have given you more insight into the album if you were interested in buying it (which I hope you do). Dragonforce is a great talent that shouldn't be taken too seriously. It is fun music and probably not something you're used to hearing unless you listen to power metal, but even then, these guys are something different. Of course, if you enjoy this album, pick up their debut, Valley of the Damned, which is also great.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awestruck, January 31, 2006
A friend of mine threw this on for me, who's a guitarist. It was "Fury of the Storm" that I first heard. My initial reaction was, "Yeah, yeah...a bunch of notes..." Crazy fast tempo, shredding guitars, double base kicks out the ... I kept thinking the song was over, but no, here came another guitar solo. It was like a roller-coaster ride. You think they are about to let you off, but no! back up again you go. I was literally worn out by the end of the damn thing.
But, unlike most speed metal songs that can just turn into a bunch of background noise, despite the all-out SHREDDING guitars, for me, the song never seemed to lose it's HOOK; the underlying melody was still there.
You see, some bands believe that you can just amaze by thousands of notes at blazing speed. To me, this is synonomous with a movie that goes all-out special effects. But if the acting or plot suck, the overall reaction is poor.
This is where Dragonforce amazes me. Their guitar shredding takes music to a level I have never heard before, yet they still manage to keep the melody & hooks. This is simply one of the best bands I have ever heard, period.
The last CD to really "amaze" me by sheer guitar shredding, where my jaw was literally about to hit the ground, was Megadeth's Rust In Peace. (Before that, it would have to be some of Eddie Van Halen's work...)
Now, in no way do these guys sound like Megadeth, but their melodic shredding is just as groundbreaking. It had me in AWE, just as I had been 15 years back. It was speed metal (minus the Megadeth thrash) taken to an all new level.
Then I heard "My Spirit Will Go On"...
These guys are NO novelty act. It's not just the guitars & speed rifts... I really enjoy the lyrics and vocals, they are a perfect complement to the guitars. Drums & keyboards are right in sync with the guitars, too. (How the drummer's double base keeps up, I'll never know.) These guys just gel EXTREMELY well.
The only drawback I can say is yes, after awhile, the tempo of all the songs tends to blend together. But, if these guys start to incorporate a bit more diversity into their songs, a bit more dynamics, I think you will see them easily among the top bands in the World. They certainly have that potential.
I will end by saying if this CD wears you out over time due to all the fast tempos, fine. But taken on their own, songs like "Fury of the Storm" and "My Spirit Will Go On" easily belong up there with some of the best metal songs EVER written. Yes, I truly believe they are THAT good.
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