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Review: DragonForce - Extreme Power Metal
DragonForce
www.dragonforce.com
Extreme Power Metal

Label: Metal Blade Records
Year released: 2019
Duration: 52:55
Tracks: 10
Genre: Power Metal

Rating:
3/5


Review online: September 23, 2019
Reviewed by: Michel Renaud
Readers' Rating
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Rated 3.18/5 (63.64%) (11 Votes)
Review

It had been so long since I listened to DragonForce (when they started going "speed for the sake of speed" to the point of sounding ridiculous), that when this album landed here I decided it was time to give them another look.

Well, I can't really speak for the past few albums, but while this is rather speedy power metal, Extreme Power Metal is largely more about happy, upbeat, singalong power metal than it is about breaking some speed record. I'm largely reminded of some of the "happy power metal" bands out of Germany such as Freedom Call, though overall the vocals bring more Mob Rules to mind (no, I'm not throwing Mob Rules into the happy category). They throw in a lot of stuff in their songs and sometimes the result sounds really unfocused, while at other times it's actually pretty cool.

The album is decent, but that's about it. These guys have been around for about 20 years and here they don't really do anything all that different from many other power metal bands and, sadly, the other guys do it better. It's fast, kind of catchy but somewhat lacking, and there are other bands I'd rather reach for when I want this kind of power metal.

The album closes with a cover of Céline Dion's "My Heart Will Go On." I'll let that sink in for a moment... Alright. I'm traumatized. I don't know if it's the cover or the fact that I live in Canada where the entire populace suffered from the psychological trauma of having her songs playing all over the place, all the time. Well, now that I've mentioned it, you have to hear it, if only out of morbid curiosity, rightð Maybe the album should have a Canadian Edition that omits this song? Alright, moving on...

When I reviewed Valley of the Damned in 2001 (back when they were Dragonheart and topping the metal charts on mp3.com), I said they'd need to do more to distinguish themselves from the crowd. I guess that's what they tried to do after that with their hyperspeed power metal, and that worked for some people. Extreme Power Metal sees them going into a more crowded territory and, well, this is OK but definitely not essential.

More about DragonForce...
Review: Inhuman Rampage (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Reaching into Infinity (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Sonic Firestorm (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: The Power Within (reviewed by Christopher Foley)
Review: Twilight Dementia (reviewed by Bruce Dragonchaser)
Review: Ultra Beatdown (reviewed by Bruce Dragonchaser)
Review: Ultra Beatdown (reviewed by Larry Griffin)
Review: Valley of the Damned (reviewed by Christian Renner)
Review: Valley of the Damned (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
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