DragonForce - Inhuman Rampage
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Free Music Notes for Inhuman Rampage
Free Music Review: I Know I Shouldn't Like This, But...
Hit: 4 Stars
I was never a metaller when I was growing up in the 1980s. All my friends were into Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Manowar and so on, but yet I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. Said friends went far beyond the call of duty to get me to understand why True Metal was a concept worth fighting for. And they failed miserably. I guess I just wasn't ready or receptive enough to the idea. No matter. Even if it has taken me over twenty years to fully appreciate the Majesty Of Rock and the Mystery Of Roll, I get it now thanks to Dragonforce.
To the uninitiated, the Dragonforce experience will seem daunting. Take a nice, well scrubbed classic rock song with a proper tune and a chorus even the most tone deaf of milkmen could whistle. The kind of tune that would charm the panties off your Fleetwood Mac loving mother and make your dad-rock father suspicious that someone has been performing immoral acts with his Dire Straits CDs. Make sure that the lyrics are meaningless AD&D themed twaddle that Thrudd The Barbarian (yet alone Conan) would dismiss as hackneyed. Get the [...] son of Ronnie James Dio to sing them, ensuring that every lyrical clanger is crystal clear to even the most casual of listeners. Add two guitarists and a keyboardist incapable of playing a simple riff without tweedle-deeing all over it at break-neck speed and alarming precision. Then get a drummer who would certainly fail an Olympic drug test to drum as fast as (in)humanly possible over the resulting confusion. And there might be a bassist there too. Perhaps. Play said song for six or seven minutes at 78rpm with a truck driver gear change for the last chorus, repeat to fade.
None of this should work. These ingredients should result in an unlistenable mess, but somehow they don't. Admittedly the first time you hear Inhuman Rampage you may beg to differ, but give it time. By the third or fourth listen, the solos will start to show their nuances and the drumming, while frenetic, starts to appear, well, oddly sensible. Of course Mr Drummer needs to blast beat for six minutes continuously! How else could he play? By the sixth or seventh listen, it's much, much too late. You see, Dragonforce have three not so secret musical weapons in their armoury.
One, they fully understand the evil concept of earworms. If you make a tune catchy enough the poor unfortunate listener will wander around all day with your tune playing on an infernal internal loop. Given what Dragonforce sound like, that's no mean achievement.
Two, everything sounds bland, boring and slow after Dragonforce. I listen to music on my MP3 player on shuffle and believe me, Dragonforce in the middle of my usual mix of indie, alternative and electronica is the aural equivalent of a pneumatic drill in the nads.
Three - Dragonforce evidently love what they do and their enthusiasm draws in and captivates the listener. Every twiddle, every bomp and every keyboardy flourish has been lovingly crafted, cogitated over, considered and executed with evident care for detail. Their music may be fast to the point of parody, the lyrics stupidly banal tripe and I doubt very much they were wearing trousers when performing these solos, but goddam it, these guys are good. You need one Dragonforce album in your life, so you might as well choose this one. That or Sonic Firestorm.
Finally, a word of warning. Dragonforce are something to be sampled in small doses - a bit like fine Belgian dark chocolate. Listen to 'Operation Ground And Pound' or 'Cry For Eternity' in isolation and afterwards you'll feel ready to knock seven shades of poo out of any marauding orcs that may be lurking outside your suburban semi. Listen to the whole album in one sitting and you'll find yourself cowering like a sissy girl while six hairy men laugh at your inability to handle True Metal.
And don't drive listening to this stuff. Just don't.
Free Music Review: Remember when Metallica's "Ride The Lightning" did this 24 years ago?
Hit: 1 Stars
If I could give this album 0 stars I would, it's almost unlistenable. What's even worse is that these guys have to be THE most Studio band in history. I can't believe someone said these studio losers are better than Iron Maiden (best band EVER)!
I heard Through The Fire And Flames on Guitar Hero III, and I began laughing my arse off through the whole thing. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, it was so bad. A couple days later a friend lent this album to me and throughout listening to the album, I broke out laughing. This was the corniest CD I've ever heard. The songs are WAY too long. Not only are the songs stupid as hell and unlistenable, THEY ALL SOUND EXACTLY LIKE EACH OTHER, with the exception of the last track. Example: "Through The Fire and Flames" and "Operation Ground and Pound" are the EXACT SAME SONG! The only difference between the two is the key, the intro and the second part of the chorus. Either way, they're just re-writing the same song over and over.
And to people thinking "D-Force r teh fastest band evar!!!!!11!!1!"- Listen to REAL metal. Iron Maiden! (early) Metallica! Green Carnation! Children of Bodom! GWAR! H.I.M.! Helloween! Plus what's with the name Dragonforce? Says something, for a bunch of satanist 12-year-olds who sit in their rooms and play Dungeons and Dragons all day. Go Figure.
They don't even play fast either! They just play at normal speed and then speed it up with pro-tools. Then when playing live, they fail BADLY.
Simply put, if you like Dragonforce, I feel sorry for your taste in music.
Free Music Review: AMAZING!
Hit: 5 Stars
I love a wide ranging variety of music, and I've got to rank Dragonforce among my favorites for the power and spirit they pour into their music. Music it is, for there is no screaming senseless metal here... no- these songs are epic adventures that rev you up and push you through the fire and the flames and make your heart and your spirit go on for all of eternity, leaving a trail of broken hearts... to steal some words from their songs. The speed is incredible, but it works. The vocals are wonderfully clear and everything blends together perfectly! Watch the videos and you see not one, but two guitars being played at the speed of light, in perfect harmony.
Side note: I caught them live in DC and they put on a mind-blowing performance- even if the audio engineer at the club didn't have a clue.
Another side note: Their music plays a key role in a book by John Ringo in the Paladin of Shadows series during a helicopter fight. You'll be pumping your fist in the air reading it, and racing to crank up the music!
Free Music Review: Exhilirating, brilliant work of art by Dragonforce
Hit: 5 Stars
I am a newer fan of dragonforce. Ive listened to parts of Valley of the Damned, and the vocals are a major problem. Sonic Firestorm has a solid darker sound, but this is by far the breakout album (3rd times a charm). The highlights of this album include Fast-Paced meloic intros, belting chorus, and a killer 2 to 3 minute solo with guitar riffs and restatement of the melodic theme near the end of the solo with harmonic variations. While some may claim this album is over the top with its near 200 bpm tempo and crazy guitar riffs, it also provides a good mix of musicality. While Herman Li may not be a great vocalist, his mediocrity isn't exposed like in Valley of the Damned. Here are my evaluations of each song:
Through the Fire and the Flames (5 out of 5): Cool opening, great chorus, and a long , versatile solo.
Revolution Deathsquad (3.5 out of 5): Good chorus but only an average solo. Awkward and out of place voice distortions
Storming the Burning Fields (5 out of 5): The best chorus of all the songs, consisting of two parts. Good solo, but not great.
Operation Ground and Pound (4.5 out of 5): Unique blend of songs, interesting intro, but too much falsetto in the chorus. Nice, long song with a good, versatile solo.
Body Breakdown (4 out of 5): Darker sound with a good intro and solid solo with special guitar effects. Maybe too much falsetto.
Cry for Eternity (4.5 out of 5): Average chorus, but a great solo consisting of an alternate, almost electronic country-style guitar (not big into guitars, so I apologize for jargon mistakes). Good intro with musically sound darker elements.
The Flame of Youth (5 out of 5): The under-appreciated gem of the album. Best solo on the album, and a very cool 6:8 time signature intro with heavier background. First two verses are a little long, but it only creates more anticipation for the gem solo.
Trail of Broken Hearts (3.5 out of 5): Good sound, but dragonforce doesn't excel at slower tempos.
Overall (4.5 out of 5): musicality and energy, a rare mix. Better vocals and less falsetto makes this a perfect album.
Free Music Review: Insane. Better of the three in my opinion.
Hit: 5 Stars
While many of the reviews here had me prepared for simply more of the same and while to a certain extent this is true, I really feel that this album is much better than their other two albums. In my case I can't really put my finger on why, other than that I can listen to this one all the way through, and it's spent much longer in my mp3 player in active rotation. I think maybe they simply mastered their style. If you listened to a couple of Dragonforce tracks before, and thought they were too much, then pick this one up. (It's still way over the top, but it's all in great fun.) Oh, and if you ever wanted to conjure an image of rolling D20's in your basement, this band is really about perfect for that... the nintendo effects just add that icing on the cake.