February 25, 2003 - DragonForce and Valley Of The Damned

On the same day as my last release a new band joins my library when DragonForce released their debut album "Valley Of The Damned" on February 25, 2003. But who are DragonForce? They are a six-piece power metal band from London, England consisting of lead singer Z.P. Theart, guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman, bassist Diccon Harper, drummer Didier Almouzni and keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov. DragonForce play a style known as power metal with some of the fastest metal you'll ever hear, long songs and long guitar solos, and fantasy-themed lyrics that make every song feel like an epic quest! Let's see what DragonForce are all about! 

The first song is titled "Invocation Of The Apocalyptic Evil", but it's only 14 seconds long and it's just a high pitched noise that sets the stage for the title track "Valley Of The Damned". Words are always going to fall short with this kind of music: no matter how many times I say that they play some incredibly fast guitars it could never fully capture the speed at which these guys play. And it's not just the guitars! Harper and Almouzni provide the fastest rhythm section you could ask for and the super speedy but still on time drums are quite impressive. One of Li or Totman plays a slower, epic lead guitar riff while the other joins the rhythm section with the speedy backdrop. Theart enters to sing his first verse and his regular singing voice is decent but nothing special, but when he goes really high he sounds way better and pretty epic! Things roll right into a similarly epic chorus and it's hard not to headbang along to this very fast and pretty cool music. After a couple rounds it's solo time, and solo time with DragonForcr lasts about three whole minutes! Totman and Li exchange a couple short but pretty wicked guitar solos, Pruzhanov delivers a super fast and wicked keyboard solo, then there's some more guitar solos for good measure! What an amazing solo time! This leads nicely into a final chorus before they really slow things down for the final minute with a slower version of the epic chorus. One of the guitarists delivers an excellent shredding solo overtop this slower music and that's a pretty neat finish to a perfect introduction into what DragonForce is all about! Track 3 is "Black Fire" and they dive right into another super fast rhythm riff with some slower (by their standards, still very fast by most people's) lead guitar that adds an eloc layer to the blindingly fast music. Theart sings a high and epic verse that fits the mood nicely and he holds some solid longer notes. The chorus follows along the speedy lines and once again words just fall short of properly describing the intense speed and precision that these guys play with. After another relentless round they switch gears with a cool new melodic riff that has some nice keyboards, bass and drums all setting things up beautifully for solo time. Both Li and Totman deliver in two slightly different styles which keeps each solo sounding fresh and mix in a short but wicked keyboard solo by Pruzhamov and you've got yourself another pretty awesome solo time! Then they predictably finish things off with a final epic chorus. The next track is "Black Winter Night" and they dive right into an uplifting-sounding riff with some epic, upbeat guitar, some dreamy synths in the background and a nice heavy rhythm section keeping the pace in the background. Eventually the other guitarist enters with a lightning-fast new riff and everyone else picks up the pace to match as things sound relentlessly cool! Once Theart enters for a high, epic verse the guitars stop temporarily, then nicely return with some more lightning fast stuff, including an early dual shredding solo where Li and Totman sync up while shredding, it's pretty sweet! The chorus is pretty epic once again with Theart nicely leading the way overtop the relentless guitars, bass and drums. After another pretty cool round one guitarist just starts to shred it up and somehow this shredding is setting the stage for solo time (seems like it started early)! Then we get our typical(ly awesome) dueling guitar solos that are all pretty awesome, and Pruzhanov plays some great keyboards as they segue from here back to an epic final chorus. They packed a lot of awesomeness into this one! Track 5 is "Starfire" and it's the first song that is intentionally slow, and also a bit sappy. Pruzhanov leads the way with some softer piano that is very light compared to the rest of the album, but it's still some pretty cool piano even if it is on the sappier side. Theart sings a slow verse to match the sappy mood and he hits some pretty high notes as the verse progresses and finally the guitars, bass and drums join the mix with a pretty standard, slow backing riff. After a louder verse they move into a slow but loud and epic chorus with Theart really belting out some high stuff. There's a cool melodic guitar solo after the chorus, then it's off on another slow round. The next solo is longer and a little flashier, but still fairly tame by DragonForce standards. They wrap things up with a final chorus and this sappy stuff is definitely the worst song on the album. Up next is "Disciples Of Babylon" and we're back to some super fast guitars leading the way with some epic synths in the background as they Fire right into another typical(ly sweet) main riff. There's some cool stop-and-start guitar from one guitarist and some pretty epic lead stuff from the other guitarist that combines for some cool stuff. Theart sounds epic overtop in both the verse and the loud and powerful chorus and of course there's a short but pretty wicked solo between the long rounds. After the next round things completely drop off and they shift gears big time to a new riff with some acoustic guitar and some soft but really cool piano by Pruzhanov leading the way. It's still fast and melodic and pretty cool and it sets the stage perfectly for some nice shredding guitar solos by both Li and Totman, three solos in total that are all pretty incredible! They tie it smoothly back to the chorus and actually end the song with a keyboard solo, and a pretty sweet one at that! Another pretty sweet tune! Track 7 is "Revelations" and they dive right into another epic main riff with one guitarist playing some melodic lead stuff while the other and the rhythm section provide the speedy backdrop. Theart sings a typically epic verse overtop and it leads rigjt into a similarly speedy chorus with both guitarists and Harper all playing so fast! After another round the end of the chorus leads beautifully into a new marching riff with some nice drums by Almouzni. It builds and builds with a nice new verse by Theart until it's inevitably time for a long series of solos! Totman, Li and Pruzhanov all get in on the fun in this two-plus minute epic of awesomeness that words couldn't possibly describe, but it's all pretty awesome! A final chorus and then a classic metal flourish ending makes this another jam-packed epic! The next track is "Evening Star" and it seems like it might be another slow song with some soft piano to kick us off, but it's a red herring as they move into a more typical DragonForce riff with the usual speedy everything! It's got all the hallmarks you'd expect from another speedy main riff and chorus: lots of cool guitars, nice backing keyboards, a furious rhythm section and a solid, epic verse by Theart. I can say that after another round it's solo time again and there's several really cool guitar solos along with a pretty sweet keyboard solo, and this sounds like I'm describing every other song on the album. While it follows the same formula, it's another unique and very cool song that is jam-packed with shredding and just good metal! Track 9 is titled "Heart Of A Dragon" and if everything else wasn't already, this is the epitome of what DragonForce is all about as Theart dives right into a loud and epic fantasy chorus before they settle into another typically speedy (and cool) main riff. Theart belts out a great verse and hits a couple pretty high notes and things couldn't be anymore DragonForce! I think you know what follows the second round, it's time for a few solos! No keyboards this time, just trading guitar solos between Totman and Li and of course they both play some pretty incredible stuff before they wrap things up with a predictably epic chorus. The final song on the album is "Where Dragons Rule" and it opens with a minute-long softer part with Pruzhanov playing some really epic and cool piano while Theart sings a soft opening verse and chorus overtop. After this quiet opening round they somehow slam into a super fast version of the same riff and it's relentless as always with some incredibly fast guitars, bass and drums! Theart is now belting nice and high with the new riff and everything sounds predictably pretty cool. They follow the same formula, but believe me when I say they turn it up to an even higher level for this one as the main riff is phenomenal, and of course the solos are jaw-dropping. They end it as it began with the same cool piano part and this was a pretty sweet way to finish things off.

That is the end of "Valley Of The Damned" and I thought it was a pretty awesome debut album by DragonForce! Every member of this band has to be relentlessly precise, and they all deliver in such a harmonious way that it makes them such an incredible band! Yes, the songs kind of blend together with the same formula, but every one of them contains so much great music! I can't wait to see where these guys go from here!