It’s been two years since DragonForce, the power and speed metal band from London, England, released an album and they have returned with their newest album titled, “Extreme Power Metal.”
Did DragonForce really give us their most extreme album yet or is all the hype only in the title alone?
This album does get off to a good start with the first song on the album called “Highway to Oblivion.” Being a power and speed metal band, DragonForce is known for playing its music in a very fast pace style from the guitar, bass and drums.
And with that very first song of the album they do indeed keep that DragonForce style of music that metal fans like myself all know and love. After that one song I wanted more and I am happy to see there are still nine more songs on the album to listen to.
Another stand out is “The Last Dragonborn.” When I read the song title, I recognized it was a reference to one of my favorite video games,“The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,” where the main character of the game is called the Dragonborn. Lead singer of DragonForce, Marc Hudson, did confirm in a live performance the song does pay homage to Skyrim.
Listening to this song brings back so many great memories playing Skyrim and with DragonForce’s style of music, this song can get anyone pumped up and his or her adrenaline rushing. The lyrics make you want to put your fist in the air and start headbanging to the awesome sound from this song.
Obviously this song can make someone want to start playing Skyrim again, especially with its lyrics that perfectly describe the action in this game. “To the mountain we must go / flash of steel will crush our foes / to the fires of hell below / we’re the last Dragonborn.” This song is very catchy and could be one of those songs that you just can’t get out of your head.
One thing I must point out though, especially to anyone who isn’t familiar with DragonForce or even this genre of music, these songs have a long run time. There are only 10 songs on this album but when I listened to it in full, from front to back, I didn’t get to the fourth song of the album until around the 20-minute mark.
While for me that wasn’t an issue, especially with how long I’ve been listening to this band, not everyone may be interested in listening to six-minute songs about fighting dragons.
However, if that isn’t for you there may actually be a song on this album that is because the last track on this album is called “My Heart Will Go On.” Yes, that’s right. They made a cover of the Celine Dion song that was featured in the film “Titanic.”
DragonForce, a power and speed metal band, took a slow-paced love song and turned into a metal song of their style. As a fan of this band I was confused at first, but after I listened to it I was very impressed! I’m still baffled on how or why they decided to cover this song, but they found a way to make it work.
It’s still the same lyrics from the original song, but singing it at a much faster pace and with a wicked guitar solo to go along with it. Maybe now we can expect a DragonForce and Dion collaboration.
So does “Extreme Power Metal” live up to its name? This album surprised me in more ways than I ever expected. DragonForce tried something new but they stayed true to who they are with their style of music that they had since day one.
This album does live up to its name and then some. This is by far my most favorite album of 2019 and I encourage anyone who loves listening to metal music to listen to this album. You won’t regret it.
