DRAGONFORCE – Extreme Power Metal

Dragonforce have never managed to…well, how to put this? The truth is that I have always found these guys an utter bore and their particular brand of cheesy and overblown power metal is comical for all the wrong reasons. It is not that this ensemble cannot play, because they most certainly can, and in terms of speed and technicality, this awful 10-track offering is quite impressive, but what good is that when there is hardly a trace of anything worthwhile or entertaining to be discovered here? It does possess energy, aggression, and a strange sense of intensity, but the tunes are pompous, the melodies are annoying, and regardless of whether “Extreme Power Metal” is trying to be serious or funny, it fails on pretty much every level. Things were not always as bad as they are now, but the album lacks all sense of inspiration and creative spark, which is a shame and damn frustrating. The sterile and lifeless sound of the affair does not do it any favors either.

The record ends with two of the worst songs that I have ever come across, one which is entitled “Remembrance Day” and the other a most dreadful cover rendition of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”. The latter flushed my day right down the fucking toilet when I heard it. As much as I cherish and dig power metal (and that sometimes include the more ridiculous and wildly exaggerated kind), “Extreme Power Metal” by Dragonforce is abysmal. I wish that I could tell you that it is either epic and drenched in atmosphere or that it is a hilarious parody on the genre that will crack you up, but it is neither of the two. I fail to see the charm here and this one does not exactly mark a new chapter in powerful artistry in any conceivable way whatsoever. This is totally dreadful, really.

https://dragonforce.com/band/