Dragonforce - Inhuman Rampage

*=Staff's pick	Through The Fire And Flames* Revolution Deathsquad* Storming The Burning Fields Operation Ground And Pound Body Breakdown Cry For Eternity* The Flame Of Youth Trail Of Broken Hearts

Genre	Power Metal	ZP Theart	Vocals
Tracks	8	Herman Li	Guitar
Runningtime	56 Min.	Sam Totman	Guitar
Label	Noise Records	Adrian Lambert	Bass
Release	09 Jan. 2006	Dave Mackintosh	Drums
Country	England	Vadim Pruzhanov	Keyboards
Similar artists	Freedom Call, Power Quest

"Midtempo is gay".
Sam Totman, October 2005.

With that said, it is the pedal to the metal once again for british supersonic band Dragonforce. Merely seconds into the opener Through The Fire And Flames there is no doubt about what band you are listening to. Their characteristic sound is intact and this takes off where last album Sonic Firestorm (2004) left us but with the difference that it sounds slightly more confident and mature this time. It is a bit more intense, a bit harder and even faster at times while there are some - but not many - slower and progressive parts. In order to stand out a tiny bit this time there are a lot of tiny sound effects and according to the band they are all made on guitar even though it is hard to believe sometimes.

Through The Fire And Flames and the following Revolution Deathsquad are real pearls in the genre and are close to individual top scores. A very nice mixture of great refrains and riffs and of course an abundance of solos and leads. I especially like the irish/folk touches here and there, and the bit starting at 4:05 into Through The Fire And Flames is just delicious. Next song out is a more standard piece where its main asset is the refrain which has a lot of Power Quest in it. Did I mention that it is kind of fast, by the way?

The following track happens to be a fast one. Good intro, nice verse, a bit cheesy refrain. Its strenght is the guitar work (as often is the case with Dragonforce songs...) with great solos and a groovy but short midtempo (!!) section, which I welcome more in the future even if just for a few seconds like in this case.

After this follows an uptempo song. And another one. And then a fast one. And everything is rounded off with a ballad. No need to go more into this, other than saying that they are variations of the first half of the album. Well crafted variations, however. I personally like this album, but then again I am a major appreciator of harmony solos in all forms. But even for me this is a bit of an overload at the end of the day. It works very well during the first half of the album while you still are eager and hungry for it but you become a bit fed up with it at the end. One thing that has to be mentioned about the second part of the album is the first minute of Cry For Eternity. Imagine an uptempo intro that Iron Maiden wish they had done during their golden years. I can only dream of how mighty this will be live in the future.

Power Quest have to excuse, but Dragonforce are the current masters of british power metal. However, while Power Quest manage to pull off whole albums, Dragonforce are more suitable for the mcd format. I would love to experience this live, though, when you get the whole package with both the visual and the musical. I have heard they are a smashing live act and I have no reason to disbelieve that.

Production	Vocals	Compositions
8	7	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Tommy