Dragonforce - The Power Within [2012]

Call it bandwagon-jumping, call it joining a lynch mob, call it whatever the hell you want, but I have always disliked Dragonforce's brand of ridiculously upbeat, speedy power metal nonsense. Granted, I never hated the band with the insane passion 80% of the metal community has since their mainsteam breakout with Guitar Hero (they were never important enough to me to get upset about), but everything I've heard from them did leave me with a seriously bad taste in my mouth, and a genuinely severe headache in addition. That ends with The Power Within, which is actually listenable thanks to a change of pipes and some minor (but noticeable) revisions to the band's songwriting. Interesting, considering that it's all behind some of the blandest, most generic album covers I've ever seen...

I shouldn't imply that Dragonforce's many haters will magically be won over by this new release, because really, little has changed musically in this camp. This stuff is still built upon (mostly) blistering speed, obvious melodies and hooks, an overabundance of rapid fire keyboards, and an insistence to punch the listen in the face with a dense sound containing more instrumentation than the ear can possibly perceive at once. The sheer excess has been limited a bit this time around, though, getting to the point faster with considerably shorter songs, making Dragonforce's polarizing sonic force a bit easier to swallow. The biggest improvement, however, comes in the vocal department. ZP Theart always annoyed me with his grating, nasally singing, but his fortunate departure has yielded the much better Marc Hudson, who delivers vocals with a more restrained, Americanized accent. He knows how to hit the notes and when to hold back, the latter of which I can't claim for any of the other band members.

Individually notable tracks are few and far between in these parts, but I do favor the dashing duo of the more mid-paced (!) "Cry Thunder" and the glorious "Give Me the Night," the best song here and probably the best in Dragonforce's entire discography. All in all, The Power Within was surprisingly enjoyable despite my initial reservations. However, I still don't find this band's style very captivating, myself usually preferring the more powerful crunch of American power metal. Certain bands like vintage Helloween and Labyrinth have broken this negative spell, but I doubt that Dragonforce, even in this reformed state, ever will. Still, it's not the worthless flower metal I might have expected, and I would definitely recommend it to genre fans. Just skip that overstuffed disaster "Wings of Liberty," though.

   Overall: 6.75/10 (Fair)