Before we start, go back and take another look at the cover art.
Go on, I’ll wait.
See, while some bands go for a subtle or even abstract “don’t judge a book by its cover” approach, other bands are Dragonforce. Everything emblazoned on the cover to ninth full length studio release Warp Speed Warriors (Napalm Records) is represented here through the medium of eardrum destroying sound. No room for understatement, metaphor or artifice – just a bold, blinding explosion of light, colour and comic book action.
After a restrained start, opener “Astro Warrior Anthem” leaps into the fray with all the subtlety of a flying kung fu kick to the face. Sticksman Gee Anzalone makes road drills seem slow in comparison, there’s more whammy bar dive bombing than a Dimebag Darrell convention and yet vocalist Marc Hudson still manages to display his range while barely given room to breathe between lines. Slowing down at the midpoint, the song comes into its own with a more dramatic groove before the reliably predictable, insanely fast guitar duel between original members Herman Li and Sam Totman take up the next minute and a half before blasting back into full speed sonic hyperdrive.
Swamps of evil, magic seals, master swords, and mystical trees; if you hadn’t already guessed, “Power of the Triforce” is based on the Legend of Zelda games and blasts your face off with four glorious minutes of warp speed cheese. The epic sweep of extreme power ballad “Kingdom of Steel” might suggest Manowar from its truest of true metal titles but in reality it sounds more like Devin Townsend wrote the soundtrack for an eighties movie set in a video arcade.
Not a cover of the classic Survivor track from Rocky IV, “Burning Heart” is another one that blasts along at Ludicrous Speed, the song containing a proggy Steve Vai flavoured guitar solo preceded by some sterling work from Californian bassist Alicia Vigil. And then more notes played per second faster than the human mind can comprehend. Again.
The jaunty and occasionally Helloween-esque “Space Marine Corp” features gang vocals, a supremely silly chorus and an even sillier section just past the halfway point, all of which will probably remain lodged in your brain for longer than you’d probably want. Atmospheric synthwave interlude “Prelude to Darkness” segues into the Gloryhammer party of “The Killer Queen” but is quickly eclipsed by the infectious Eurobeat vibe of “Doomsday Party”. Boasting bigger hooks than a whale shark fisherman, this contagious dance metal monster is easily the most memorable five minutes on the whole record, “Pixel Prison” no slouch either, the last original song on the album reinforced by some old school Dragonforce melodies.
And so to “Wildest Dreams”. Television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, MAGA rallies, the Super Bowl, can we not go five minutes without Taylor Swift being mentioned or referenced in some way? Apparently not, and Dragonforce end proceedings with a suitably ridiculous cover version that thankfully only resembles the mawkish original during the chorus. Expertly performed but only really fit for a quick laugh, the album ends on a joke that should have stayed firmly in bonus track territory.
As for actual bonus tracks, we get four alternative versions to songs featured on the track listing, one instrumental (“Power of the Triforce”), the others including some surprise guest appearances. “Astro Warrior Anthem” features Matthew K. Heafy of Trivium, and guitar virtuoso Nita Strauss,
“Burning Heart” has Alissa White-Gluz from Arch Enemy singing and roaring for all her worth, while Elize Ryd From Amaranthe somehow makes the already brilliant “Doomsday Party” even better.
Wickedly sharp melodies, an almost relentless blur of drums, and more shredding than at the offices of an outgoing government… We all know Dragonforce can play faster than the speed of light but many of the record’s best moments arrive when their collective foot is lifted off the accelerator. Fun, fast and over before you know it, Warp Speed Warriors is power metal wham, bam, thank you, ma’am with all the two handed tapping and bleep bloop bleeps you can dream of.
Buy the album here:
https://dragonforce.com/
7 / 10
GARY ALCOCK