ALBUM REVIEW: Extreme Power Metal – Dragonforce

The word ‘understated’ doesn’t appear in DRAGONFORCE‘s dictionary. Twenty years since their formation and, via a number of huge records, a couple of high profile tours with IRON MAIDEN and a little something called Guitar Hero, they’re still going strongly. One look at eighth album Extreme Power Metal, released tomorrow via earMUSIC, shows DRAGONFORCE have lost none of their bombast; the album cover is a vintage throwback with bright colours, science fiction lasers and a pixellated dragon that looks like it’s come from a 1980’s arcade version of Mortal Kombat. On a more sombre note, this is the first album not to feature long-time keyboard player Vadim Pruzhanov and the last with bassist Frederic Leclerq before his departure earlier this year to join KREATOR.

Before previous vocalist Z.P Theart had left way back in 2010, DRAGONFORCE‘s lyrical content had begun to shift from the classic power metal theme of medieval fantasy towards something more embedded in science fiction. A new formula found, it’s been stuck with ever since and with opening track – and lead single – Highway to Oblivion, that trend isn’t about to be consigned to the history books. With keyboards that feel like they’ve come straight from a video game, it’s a solid opening that is cemented with the soaring second number, although the less said about the title – Cosmic Power of the Infinite Shred Machine – the better. That said, who else but DRAGONFORCE could get away with such a name?

Outside of a couple of quirkier moments – the oriental theme to The Last Dragonborn and the Scottish vibes of Remembrance Day, to be precise – this is an album that is largely DRAGONFORCE by numbers and doesn’t stray too far into experimental territory. However, don’t let that fool you into thinking that this is an album that has been done with a half-arsed approach; the likes of Heart Demolition and In a Skyforged Dream have been done with a huge amount of energy and a lot of craft, which weirdly help sooth the listener. In a world that is moving at an ever increasing pace, it’s natural to hold onto to the creature comforts in life and, as such, Extreme Power Metal is the equivalent of a comfortable, well-worn armchair, something you can easily sink into, find the crevices that have been formed over many years and relax, safe in the knowledge that what you’re experiencing is something that you’re used to and can identify with.

And then, there’s the final track, which is exactly what you think it is when you see a title of My Heart Will Go On. In recent years DRAGONFORCE have become renown for their cover songs with Ring of Fire making 2014’s Maximum Overload and Evil Dead by DEATH appearing on previous release Reaching Into Infinity. But in taking on Celine Dion, the band may have thrown their biggest curveball yet. In all honesty, it’s a bit rubbish, but somehow that just adds to the fun and silliness of it all, which is most likely the whole point.

If you’ve never been a fan of DRAGONFORCE then Extreme Power Metal isn’t converting you any time soon; but if you’ve been a fan for years you’re going to really enjoy this. It might not be the strongest album in their back catalogue, but this is the sound of an band that know what they’re good at and will continue to produce music that will not only delight those who are fully behind them, but also be of a standard that is never going to be produced by sitting on their laurels and chucking out mediocre riffs to please the masses.

Rating: 7/10

Extreme Power Metal is out now via earMUSIC. 

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