Dragonforce
Inhuman Rampage

THE REVIEW

What I am about to tell you is the f***ing true story of Dragonforce. It all began on a rainy evening; drunk and tired after a day of pure fooling around, Herman Li and Sam Totman went to Blockbuster to get a silly movie...

Lord Helmet (Dark Helmet): "Ready to fire: 1, 2... Stop!!! What happened, where are they???"
Col. Nunziatella: "They must have boosters on that thing!!!"
Helmet: "And what do we have on our ship, blenders???"
Col. Nunziatella: "No, Sir!!!"
Helmet: "Good, get them!!!"
Col. Nunziatella: "Prepare for light speed!"
Helmet: "No, no, light speed is too slow, we must go to ludicrous speed!"

A knowing glance between Li and Totman and thus Dragonforce is born, aka ludicrous speed in metal. It's the year 2000 and shortly after they release Valley Of The Damned to great reviews. Honestly, I think the most appropriate name would have been "The Uncoverizzables," but it's known that the power genre favors dragons. If within a moniker you can use both power and dragon, damn, then you're on horseback!

Stratovarius? Definitely too slow!

The first time I listened to a Dragonforce song, it was the opener of Sonic Firestorm "My Spirit Will Go On". When I already thought it wasn't humanly possible to go any faster during the solo phase, I watched in stunned silence as the tempo increased and my mouth naturally fell open.

Today I want to very briefly describe their third effort titled "Inhuman Rampage". If possible, they go even faster than before. Simply demonic rhythm section, with a few pauses for accelerations from super fast to insane, while the singer is always forced to chase after lyrics that fly by. Every song is designed to give space to the back-and-forth between Herman Li and Sam Totman as they challenge each other like two sports cars in Fast and Furious. Among the best songs on this CD, I mention the opener Through Fire and Flames and Cry for Eternity, while at other times they come close to self-plagiarism. Personally, after a few minutes, Dragonforce tires me out: the riffs/solos are too similar and the excessive length of the songs does not play in their favor. However, if well measured, they can give some satisfaction.

Although they can be classified within the power genre, they don't risk being confused with other bands. Over time, they've partially hardened their sound by introducing more wild riffs, but hyper speed always reigns supreme and they can't (or most likely don't want to) separate themselves from scale solos. Exaggerated and unique, Dragonforce is a bet already won, destined for an audience that finds their music an exceptional outlet. By now, they will be forced to make the same kind of music until their tendons give out.

A small note on the live performance. I had the misfortune of seeing them live, and it's essential that the sound is finely tuned. Their offering is extreme not only in the solo phase, but throughout the duration of the songs. The singer practically has no breaks, the rhythm section is always under pressure, and we've already talked about the guitars. If the sound does not come out particularly clear and clean, the whole thing goes, forgive the term, to hell and you almost lose the melodies and reference points to have fun.

Dragonforce is often idolized or crucified. I very cowardly hide behind a 2 and a half. In small doses, they're fine by me, but after a while, they break and bore me. However, they should be listened to at least once to be able to hear something close to the human limit in terms of musical speed.

2 ** and a half