DragonForce – “Ultra Beatdown”

After 2 years DragonForce return with Ultra Beatdown. Well DragonForce… I hate you. I don’t want to play my guitar anymore. Seriously, how the hell do you write guitar solos that are ridiculously long, ridiculously fast, ridiculously amazing and yet make it look so easy? As you can tell by now, I actually like DragonForce and have nothing but good things to say about them.

DragonForce, still have the same sound that you would expect. If you were to take away the fast double kicks, and make less intense guitar, you have the perfect Asia, Styx, perhaps some Journey-like sound. Overall a very late 70’s early 80’s metal sound mixed with some Late 80’s/90’s video game music transformed into keyboards and epic guitar solos.

DragonForce kick it up past 11, taking Inhuman Rampage’s favorite song “Through The Fire And The Flames” (or the boss stage of Guitar Hero III) and speeding up the guitar even faster, even crazier, and even more epic. From track 1 they go right into the epic, fast, intense, roller coaster of metal that truly is DragonForce. Four minutes in, you hear (probably) the fastest, craziest, longest guitar solo DragonForce ever made, one minute and thirty two seconds long. Pretty sure if it’s on the next addition of guitar hero, kids will end up breaking there fingers trying to play it. Other good songs are “The Last Journey Home”, “The Warrior Inside”, and probably my personal favorite “Heartbreak Armageddon” featuring a very nice, soft melodic guitar solo.

The whole album pretty much sounds exactly like different parts of the “Through The Fire And The Flames”. Very good, yet very repetitive, it reminds me of a giant dud firework… you light it and run but than nothing happens. A good example is “Heartbreak Armageddon” you listen to the song and get into a really, really huge heavy build up going faster and faster, and than it suddenly goes soft and loses its intensity… this happens to a number of the songs. Much like many epic bands, the songs are just way to freaking long. Good, but just long.

If you are a DragonForce fan, you won’t be disappointed. In my opinion it’s probably the best DragonForce album yet. If you’re a fan of classic metal, or new metal it is a must have CD and probably a solid CD to listen to while taking a really long drive or trip. Overall, one word to describe “Ultra Beatdown” EPIC! 8 and a half broken guitar strings out of 10.

Track Listing:

01. Heroes of Our Time
02. The Fire Still Burns
03. Reasons to Live
04. Heartbreak Armageddon
05. The Last Journey Home
06. A Flame for Freedom
07. Inside the Winter Storm
08. The Warrior Inside

Run Time: 58:20
Release Date: August 26, 2008