Search - Dragonforce :: Inhuman Rampage

A strong contender for the best album of all time

Bodom J | Bethpage, TN United States | 06/23/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Believe the hype. I never hype up bands. But I will hype up this band until the day I die. EVERY good review about this band, specifically this album, is 100 perecent TRUE. After hearing this album, you pick your head back, put it on your shoulders, and then go ram your frickin' body through a granite wall. This is probably the fatest album I've ever heard (other than origin or something) and it amazes me how fast this band plays. And it's not just masturbating and seeing how fast they can play before the friction causes their flesh to burn: they actually make coherent lead, riffs, and melodies that somehow are understandable when going through your head about 56565656565 miles an hour. This album is so fast that my cd player caught on fire and then later on my cat did because he realized that he will never be as cool as this album.



I feel very very bad for my other music. I'll never play it again. Dragonforce has indeed ruined every cd ever, past, present, and future. Actually, I feel bad for every item I own, even my house. My house SUCKS compared to this cd. Their next release might beat it but I think the world might end then because if this cd is already god then what is the next cd going to be?



By the way, it's obvious that i'm exaggerating but I AM NOT being sarcastic. This is seriously one of the greatest metal albums ever or album in general. If you don't like this then you have no soul. I'm so sorry. Just get this album. Tracks 1 through 7 are in your face fast attacks with the last track being a pretty ballad feature slower, but no less specatular, guitar playing.



Dragonforce...i love you. Not in a gay way. Oh i'm not done yet. Keep reading, woman.



Yes, you may hate power metal. But you won't care when you hear this. The vocals are not over the top like most power metal bands, the singer sings at just the right pitch with very few actual falsetto yells. He sounds like the journey singer more than he does an opera singer. Oh and the drums are insanely insane too. THe lyrics are DEEPLY rooted in fantasy based elements but somehow they take these corny subjects and make them moving and emotional with the vocals and crushingly awesome with the instruments.



If had a g/f, she would break up with me because I would be like, "sorry, baby butt cakes, but we can't make love. I'm listening to Dragonforce".



she would reply, "freak"



but i don't care. I got this album!"

CRY FOR ETERNITY!!!

Shadow Seer | Belgrade, Serbia | 05/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I like Dragonforce. They are one of the many things which make this life worth living. Especially when someone drives by with hip-hop or rap making the windows shake on every car and every building in the immediate vicinity. Because in such moments I think of Dragonforce and I realize how much grander, more majestic, and more evolved the music of Dragonforce is than the primitive bass booms, grunts, and swearwords which I am being temporarily exposed to in that moment.



Also, other reviewers who complain of the lack of song structures need to think again. Usually in a song you have: INTRO - VERSE - CHORUS - VERSE - CHORUS - SOLO - CHORUS - OUTRO (usually repeating and fading out CHORUS). Can you name a non-instrumental song from any genre of music that doesn't follow this general structure more or less? Maybe there's a third verse, maybe fourth, but almost always there is the chorus after every verse, and a solo after the second or third chorus. When there is no solo, the "artist" simply isn't enough of an artist to play one. Also, I see that Dragonforce, just like myself, is SICK of the 4-measure solos which are in most mainstream songs just for tradition's sake. These guys know what they are doing. Also, in most of these songs the SOLO part lasts 3 minutes or more, and any one of these solos contains more skill, melody, and ART, than ANYTHING you will EVER hear on the radio. Oh, and remember, somewhere on this planet there are human beings who actually have the ATTENTION SPAN which allows them to listen through these solos and actually enjoy them. Think about that.



Dragonforce also adds short, but rich solos at the end of almost every chorus. It is a very good way to make your songs last 7:30+ without them getting boring. True, their lyrics aren't quite the most original or the most imaginative, but hey, this is METAL!!! Who CARES about the lyrics in most metal songs anyway - especially in songs as fast as this??? I don't know most of Dragonforce's lyrics and I don't care about them. They are about shining steel, dragons in the sky, and soaring, and winning battles and things like that. I listen to Dragonforce for the melody, speed, and POWER, not for lyrics. If you must have some sort of relevant lyrical content go listen to a radio talk show or something.



1. (9/10) Through The Fire And Flames starts with an accoustic guitar. I wish they would use more of it, but at such speed it simply doesn't belong. Overall nice, powerful vocal lines and chorus melody, and of course, a lovely solo (HIGHLIGHT - check out the 5:18 mark) that just simply takes you away and puts a smile on your face. If it doesn't, you're in the wrong genre.



2. (9,5/10) Revolution Deathsquad. Yes, the title is stupid. The song is far from it. In my opinion easily the second best song on the album. Definitely a HIGHLIGHT. Especially when the solo starts. There is this melody, somewhere around the middle of the song, which repeats a few times, and it is one of the happiest and most positive metal melodies I have ever heard. And it's slow enough that you can WHISTLE it, whereas most of Dragonforce's music simply cannot be whistled. That melody, in and of itself, makes life worth living. Especially when you haven't had enough sleep and you're in the car going to work. By the end of the solo you will be awake AND happy, I guarantee it. I turn up the volume just for that melody and then I lower the volume for the rest of the solo. But it still takes me away, no less.



3. (7,5/10) Storming The Burning Fields. Promoting barbarism, are we? Well, the song is shorter, still a worthy one, but the solo goes a little bit into the progressive territory and I have always considered "progressive" just to be a polite term for "weird". The song is still high above the average metal song, but it just doesn't compare to the highlights of the album.



4. (8,5/10) Operation Ground And Pound. A fitting, if stupid, title. This one also has a melody somewhere in the solo, which is almost as good as that melody in Revolution Deathsquad, but still not good enough to make this song a highlight. A good song, and one that I rarely skip, but not good enough for shock-therapy.



5. (8,2/10) Body Breakdown. Very nice vocal melodies in the verses, but I don't like the high notes at the end of the chorus. An interesting solo. Also one that I don't skip often.



6. (500/10) Cry For Eternity. This is why God has sent his only son to Earth. So that our sins will be forgiven, that some of us may live to write and play music such as this, and that the rest of us may live to listen to it. After a 30-odd second intro part with a lovely drum buildup, begins the starting melody, the most lovely piece of METAL I have EVER had the immense pleasure to hear, bar none other than the outro of this song. NOBODY and NOTHING out there compares to this. Rhapsody, Blind Guardian, Stratovarius, Therion, Gamma Ray, Helloween, Sonata Arctica, HammerFall. Old or new, everything pales before this. The vocal lines in the lyrics are just as great, and the chorus is even better. Yes, "our steel will shine forever" alright, but honestly, forever may it shine!!! This song truly is an experience beyond reality, and I haven't even gotten to the solo. The solo starts with a buildup, a keyboard melody, and then another one of those lovely slow and whistle-able guitar melodies, and then it goes into true inhuman rampage. The solo in this song WILL take you away, into a better world. And in the middle of it, they turn off the distortion and pull off one of the most daring, and most pimpin', clean guitar solo parts, before they go back to the rampage. This is something that needs to be appreciated. A lot. Then the chorus comes to pass again, followed by the most AMAZING outro EVER!!! Herman Li does the tapping, and after him Sam Totman does the wah-wah, and then it's over (at almost 8:30) and the impact is unbelievable. After listening to this song, one simply has to take a few minutes to recover, and to thank God for Dragonforce. This song will give you one of those experiences after which you want to start wearing orange robes and give up all your worldly possessions because they no longer matter. Life IS worth living when you can listen to music like this. After hearing this song, NOBODY will EVER be able to get you to listen to any lesser music like rap or pop or punk. It simply will not happen.



7. (8/10) After the previous song, everything pales. This is not by any means a weak song, but they should have made the "Cry For Eternity" the last song on the album. This song also has a bit of a progressive intro and general feel to it, but overall it's approximately on par with, say, "Body Breakdown".



8. (6/10) Dragonforce should not do ballads. This is also not a bad song, but again after the "Cry For Eternity" it really doesn't matter. It's not as good as the "Dawn Over A New World" from their previous album "Sonic Firestorm", for example.



YOU MUST GET THIS ALBUM!!! With one divine achievement, two highlights, one almost highlight, and four above-average songs, this is easily one of the best overall albums of any genre out there. The music is amazing - melodic, powerful, happy, positive, fast, uplifting, you name it. It simply makes life worth living. The axemanship and drumming are unreal, and I hope these guys will live to become far bigger than Metallica ever was. In my mind, they already are (and it was Metallica's song "Enter Sandman" which got me into the genre of metal to begin with).



If you don't like what Dragonforce is doing, think again. This album makes life worth living. And if you really need song structures, go look for song structures in Britney Spears' cleavage, between Jessica Simpson's knees, in hip-hop "music", or in the new punk "music" or something. I'm sure you'll find them there. Good luck!"

Frenetic, Compelling, Driving, Incredible

Pooh Guy | Redmond, WA | 06/30/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just to give full disclosure--I'm an old fogey. At the ripe old age of 48 I don't care about anything other than does the music drive me? This does.



How do I judge a CD?



Will it keep me awake and will it get my son ready to rock and roll when I'm driving him to a 6 a.m. hockey game that will be over before the sun comes up?



Yes.



If I play it in the locker room on a boom box before a game, will the guys go out and intimidate the other team with their energy and violence?



Yes.



Do I play the CD over and over and over without getting tired of it?



Yes.



Does it sound better the louder you play it?



Yes.



Is it just guys playing really really fast?



No.



Do I think people who talk about "musicality" and all that crap are morons when it comes to this kind of music?



Yes.



Do I think this album is musical and all that crap despite its insane driving beat and rhythn anyway?



Yes.



It's so refreshing to buy an album that is a full hour long instead of 35-40 minutes. It's unheard of that there is no song I want to skip; all the songs are hard-rockin' and catchy. It's so nice to just put this disc on, hit play, crank itup, and go. The only song that is "slow" is the final "ballad," which is actually quite nice. It's at the end, so you can use it as a coda to end things, or as a cue to restart the CD.



Bottom line: if you want music that is hard driving without being just idiots banging away, you absolutely must buy this CD. You will not regret it."