Album Review: Dragonforce - Ultra Beatdown
I was fortunate enough to grow up with a metal head as an older brother, which meant when he was babysitting, so were Iron Maiden and Megadeth. Not to mention, my bed time stories were tales from The Arsenal of Megadeth and interviews of Soundgarden with Ricki Rachtman on Headbangers Ball. Needless to say, I was raised as, and will always be at heart, a metalhead myself. The new millennium brought us a sort of drought (and waning interest) of classic metal, possibly caused by the rise of “scream” and “post-hardcore” movements. Dragonforce brought a new light to the metal world with their 2003 release of their debut, Valley of the Damned. Then, with the rapid smashing of green and yellow buttons, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, gave Dragonforce an overnight boost of fans and popularity with their infamous (and incredibly difficult to play) track, “Through the Fire and Flames.”
So, of course the metal world, myself included, became overjoyed with the news of their latest release, Ultra Beatdown. I really didn’t know what to expect with this new album. It’s pretty hard to follow up the ridiculously insane and beyond technical guitar riffs from the soon to be legendary Herman Li. What I was greeted with upon my first listen of Ultra Beatdown was a mix of emotions. I first felt a bit disappointed as it sounded nearly the same as their first three studio albums: heavy guitar riffs, incredibly fast guitar solos, and incredible vocals. After the second listen, however, I realized these were forces to be reckoned with and provided something no other metal band has today.
Ultra Beatdown is like a melting pot of all the sub genres of the metal movement. It provides everything from meaningful and powerful lyrics of Iron Maiden, to the melodic yet hard hitting choruses of rock ballads, to guitar riffs that would make Joe Satriani and Steve Vai cringe at the very sound of a single note from Li. Dragonforce has taken on the task of bringing the metal world together and back to mainstream, and have done so in a powerful way.
The first single from Ultra Beatdown, “Heroes of our Time” hits hard on every note and every hundredth of a second those notes are hit on. The album opens with a fast bang and doesn’t stop there. The snare drum in this track rings on like a machine gun firing out of your speakers. ZP Theart’s anthem-like lyrics blossom through the track, bringing back memories of so many metal anthems of the past.
Not since Iron Maiden’s “Run for the Hills” have powerful lyrics hit as hard as Ultra Beatdown’s final track, “The Warrior Inside.” It took over 25 years to bring life to lyrics in metal, but Theart has single handedly pulled it off. “Take my hand! This one last time!” will be ringing in your head for days, along with the incredible guitar and piano tracks. Other notable tracks include “The Fire Still Burns” and “The Last Journey Home.”
Dragonforce’s fourth studio album brings you what you expect; beyond epic guitar playing, incredible timing on drums, and lyrics that will haunt you for weeks to come. Ultra Beatdown is nothing out of the ordinary for Dragonforce, but does bring something new to the table for metal fans. I never imagined the likes of all metal genres being represented in 8 tracks on one album, but Dragonforce pulls it off in a way that does nothing short of impress fans and new listeners alike.
Rating: 
Check Out:
“Hereos Of Our Time”
Ultra Beatdown was a good album, it actually has an identity other than incredibly droning guitar riffs that are all played on one string (I’m talking to you inhuman rampage) also the lack of videogame noises is a welcome change. I especially liked “Strike of the Ninja” which had the oriental sounds in it which i thought were brilliant. This album definitely gives dragonforce the right to be called Metal. Their frist 3 albums were pretty terrible though. and btw Iron Maiden has 3 guitarists so DF having 2 is pretty reasonable.
dragonforce is the most overrated band of all time and I’ve never really liked golden cheddar grain waves too much. otherwise, bring on the game grapes.
Oh and by the way. Horse fucking sucks. They have got to be among the worst bands I have ever heard. The fact that they even have a fan base is completely beyond me.
Hey nick are you trying to say that these guys don’t actually play live? That’s a pretty ridiculous accusation to make. I’ve literally been less then a foot away from Li and Sam when they were playing. I can assure you that they play every single note from every single song they have composed.
have you ever thought of the fact that there are 2 Guitar players..
oh wendi, you better be joking. also, the last time i saw dragonforce was because horse the band was opening, and when dragonforce came on, herman fell on one of his trampoline jumps, and the guitar kept playing even though his hands werent on the guitar.
rudy117041, what do you mean ‘aspect that isnt much needed’, bass is one of the most important instruments in a band, havent you noticed how ALL bands have a bassist, bass gives the notes in a song body, if dragonforce didnt have any bass or any other band to that matter, the music would sound very hollow and empty.
good review but how come just a 3?? I just want to say that Dragonforce is da sh*t of heavy metal of today. no one else better than them.
Yeah, but when you take into account that everyone in the band also does backing vocals, that adds a bit of stuff to every song. In the whole scheme of things, ZP is an okay singer, but he’s got a great supporting cast of vocalists.
Also, Herman Li is only a backing guitarist. (And a DAMN good one at that!) Sam Totman is the main guitarist, as well as main composer. You look at the composer for each song on the album, and Sam Totman is in every one. Together, they make a FREAKING good team.
Dave Mackintosh, I can’t say enough about that guy. You can’t find a better drummer than he is. The speed and accuracy he has is just amazing.
Also, Vadim is just epic. He’s amazing on keyboards.
Their Bassist, Frederic, kind of sits in the background, but he brings something to the band that’s not-that-much-needed, which is bass. Dave takes most care of that with the drums. I’m sure if Frederic wasn’t in the band, Dragonforce wouldn’t be as good as it is today.
As far as live performances go, I’m not too sure. Every live Dragonforce song on Youtube sounds like Grade D sh*t, but we’re talking about a compressed video file that’s what? A couple dozen kilobytes per second? So, I’d appreciate if everyone that hasn’t actually BEEN to a Dragonforce concert would stop hating on them, because if you actually open your ears when listening to it, you can sort of hear past all of the garbage that Youtube’s compressed audio makes. Plus, if Dragonforce SUCKED live, why would there be so many people going to Dragonforce concerts?
All in all, a kickass band that is just below Chuck Norris in terms of kickass-ness and invincibility.
I remember seeing these guys in VA, and I am happy they put out this grandiose piece of musical artistry. It is as excellent as seeing them live, with all of the epic capacity present and then some.
PS - check out my interview with bassist Frederic Leclerqc previously during the Mayhem Festival coverage…and picture trying to converse with a hungover Frenchman. It’s hilarious.
just a great album. bloody epic!
Man, I’ve been listening to the tracks on youtube, and I have to say that it’s my favorite Dragonforce album. It’s got so much more variety than the others - different rhythms and time signatures, weird guitar effects (more less-complicated parts that simply sound good as well as the over-the-top solos), more vocal melodies, and even slow parts with clean guitar. Yeah, I’m very impressed with the record, and yes the lyrics are better. They’re more cohesive and actually make some sense.
It’s also the happiest Dragonforce album. Everything sounds really cheerful, which is unusual even more melodic speed metal.
Oi, Zatzbatz, wth is that supposed to mean?
well anyway, this album gave me the exact same first impression it gave JR, yes, it does sound exceedingly similar to the other 3 albums - but Ultra Beatdown has perfected everything that was off in it’s older siblings…
I find that I’m listening to this album alot more than the others now, it’s like I dont need them after Ultra Beatdown.
Great job, JR!
Loved the introduction. I’ll probably give the album a listen, but it really doesn’t sound my style whatsoever.
No matter how much he liked it, it’s still a Dragonforce album.
If you liked it so much, why does it only get a 3?
Mar 4th, 2009 at 11:30 am
[...] eight months since unleashing Ultra Beatdown, Dragonforce is still going strong, as no more evident by its newly unveiled North American tour in [...]