Review Summary: New singer Marc Hudson breathes new life into Dragonforce, as they release their tightest, most concise and most traditionally steeped record yet, borrowing from bands like Blind Guardian and Children of Bodom while remaining cheerful and speedy Dragonfor
Dragonforce has been coasting on the power metal speed wagon since the release of 2006′s tepid Inhuman Rampage. The genre of power metal isn’t exactly the most creatively flexible of art forms, but there is no excuse for writing the same album four times in a row and expecting each one to be received as well as the last. The Power Within is such a surprising success because it deviates from the road of rehashed material that the band has been following.
This new album most closely resembles the band’s first, Valley of the Damned. Valley contained that freshness and youthful spirit that you would expect on a band’s debut album, but also showcased the band’s struggle towards finding that truly epic sound..This led to a set of diverse tracks that ran the power metal gamut. So while Valley wasn’t a particularly focused album, it was a step towards finding their own perfect power metal formula, which they did discover sometime between Valley and their next album, Sonic Firestorm. Unfortunately, they proceeded to run said formula into the ground on every subsequent release up to their last, 2008′s Ultra Beatdown.
The Power Within has that same diversity that Valley of the Damned had, except this time around, Dragonforce are a much more mature group of musicians, and are revitalized by their change in lineup. New singer Marc Hudson is an absolute beast on vocals. He is a straight upgrade from their previous singer and has an unbelievably large and powerful range. In the opening theatrics of the record’s first track, “Holding On”, Marc screams up to a G5. He also reaches lower notes quite well, which gives him the ability to design really cool vocal lines, as well as create dynamic levels in the intensity of his singing, which I’ve never heard before in Dragonforce’s music. It’s refreshing to hear songs that aren’t ceaselessly pounding at 110 percent. Marc is undoubtedly the band’s missing link.
Dragonforce are also changing things up stylistically. About half of the tracks on this record move along at a less than average tempo than we’re used to hearing from the band. “Cry Thunder” is an anthemic powerhouse that gives me memories of Blind Guardian. In fact, most of this album feels very inspired by Blind Guardian, especially the song “Die By The Sword”, which couples the quadruple layered vocals that Blind Guardian often uses to achieve that men’s chorus effect with folky vocal hooks, resulting in a solid attempt at viking metal. “Give Me The Night” is largely reminiscent of Follow The Reaper-era Children of Bodom, with its jackhammer riffs and neo-classically inspired keyboards. And other songs like “Heart of the Storm” and “Fallen World” are straight up Dragonforce speed metal, with the latter song being touted by the band as their “fastest song ever”. When the band released “Fallen World” as a single last month along with that claim, it made me uneasy. Writing music with the sole intention of bragging about its speed is no way to write. I feared The Power Within would be just another disappointing effort. Fortunately, the album more than makes up for its weak points. But perhaps it says a lot that the weakest parts of this album are the parts where the band isn’t borrowing from their peers.
I think one of the most disappointing aspects of the album was the lack of attention to lyrics, which Dragonforce is notorious for. They still follow the old throw-darts-at-a-wall-of-power-metal-buzzwords method of writing. Also, Dragonforce’s keyboardist, Vadim Pruzhanov, is severly underutilized for the entirety of the record. I swear this guy can shred as well as Herman Li or Sam Totman, but he only gets two solos total here. He does make his presence slightly known, by trading out his cheesy synth pads for some much more fitting orchestral swells, but it’s simply not enough.
Overall, this is a step in the right direction for Dragonforce. This effort features the most concise material they’ve ever written, that sometimes borrows from other power metal luminaries but manages to stay classic Dragonforce. The variety here is outstanding, considering who we’re talking about. I am surprisingly pleased by The Power Within.
