martindavey87 With the obvious talent and potential to become one of the greatest power metal bands of all time, the thing that makes DragonForce stand out the most is also the thing that annoys me about them. They’re too fast.

‘Valley of the Damned’ has a very promising start, with the title track producing some very nice riffs, accompanied by some incredibly catchy vocals, however, this is as good as it gets, as halfway through the song the band, in particular, guitarists Sam Totman and Herman Li, decide to disregard any logical tune and just shred away. It quickly becomes apparent that this is the formula for all of their songs.

With bands such as Dream Theater and Symphony X being top influences of mine, it’s clear that shredding isn’t a problem for me. What bothers me when DragonForce start wailing away, is that it’s so fast and flashy that there is no distinguishable melody. Every solo, and I mean EVERY solo, sounds exactly the same, and by that I mean a flurry of notes where the main focus is flashy acrobatics over actual substance. As a result, it's hard to really care once they get started.

It’s a shame, because this band has a lot of potential, and in the very few cases when they do slow down their music is awesome. Songs like ‘Valley of the Damned’ and ‘Disciples of Babylon’ have some really kickass moments and memoable vocal melodies, but then descend into the standard DragonForce routine of ruining a perfectly good song with stupidly fast solos that lack any sense of musicality.

As a fan of shred guitar playing, it saddens me to say this, but in the case with this band, ‘speed kills’.

aglasshouse DragonForce is a band that will bring the experience of fantasy and sprawling lands of adventure, all with the power of, well, power metal. Based in the early 2000's, DragonForce's first release of Valley of the Damned has all of the elements of a DragonForce album: long epics that conduct the music in an almost orchestral way and show off every piece of majesty that they can, lyrics speaking of realms far beyond our own, and of course the rage of smashing speed metal to accompany it all.

The one problem that can happen in a DragonForce album such as this is a sense of great repetition, especially in the drumming area. Every song, give or take one or two, have the same beating, insane drum beats. These are of course enjoyable, however it can get slightly stale when the time comes around to listen to the whole album. Because of this you'll probably end up looking for more variation in the vocals from Theart, who is fantastic. His voice fits perfectly in the songs. Even if they all follow the same general composition, he makes up with it for his different styles. Disciples of Babylon, Valley of the Damned, Black Fire, and on several of the other tracks Theart makes everything sound unique, especially on the first song I listed.

In simple terms, Valley of the Damned is a fantastic first effort from DragonForce. Even though much repetition is noticeable, it is something that was cured in the later releases to be sure. A great start to an awesome metal journey.

siLLy puPPy After releasing a demo turned EP in 2000 with the same exact album title but then known as DragonHeart, the band changed its name to DRAGONFORCE. Right from the getgo this was a guitar oriented band formed by guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman who amazed and dazzled with their super fast and dizzying guitar solos that evoked electronic sounds that remind of retro video games. This is certainly a controversial band evoking lots of love and probably even more contempt. It's true that power metal has a certain cheesy haughtiness that evokes a fantastical triumph of forces and although DRAGONFORCE is no exception to the rule, the fact is that for me personally I can listen to the music if its good despite having a storyline or lyrical content that is a little shallow and predictable.

A major complaint about these guys is also that the tempo is way too fast. Personally that is one of the reasons I like these guys despite the cheese factor in the delivery of the vocal performance. The reason I can't rate this album any higher is more of sameyness for the most part. As we go through track by track each is performed amazingly well but there is little variation between tempo, cadence or content (with few exceptions like “Starfire” being a ballad in the midst of the speedfest). That alone is the main problem for me with DRAGONFORCE in general. This debut album sets the stage for a pattern that is replicated throughout their career and despite the amazing talent on board, there is a sense of playing it safe throughout not only this debut but the many albums to follow. Still though with all this in mind, it's a decent listen albeit not one that I choose to throw on regularly.

arcane-beautiful For most bands, debut's can be a real hit or miss time. Most bands (especially metal bands) I know really show themselves on their second albums. Now, some bands can get lucky and release a stellar debut album...and then fade into existence.

Dragonforce I believe are very much a band that really propelled with their second album (with Sonic Firestorm being my personal favorite album from these guys). But, I always find that a bands debut for me is like a guilty pleasure, and I must admit...this album is a guilty pleasure. I have to admit, some of the tunes on this album are

Musically and lyrically the band are pretty much what you expect. This is their first album, so their sound hasn't changed too much from there future sounds, but this is the genesis of the band, showing off what they can and can't do. I have read some reviews of this album with people comparing them to Spinal Tap, and I can kind of see why. Dragonforce are a band for fun, and you really don't need to take these guys too seriously.

One criticism I have with the album is the mixing. Now to be honest, as a first try this is pretty decent, but with most Dragonforce albums the vocals are way too low in the mix and the guitars are up way too high, and with this album this statement is exceptionally true.

The opening title track is probably one of my all time favorite Dragonforce songs. Opening with a kick ass riff, the song takes many nice twists and turns. The song is really propelled though by ZP's incredible vocals. Some killer guitar solos in this track too.

One of my personal favorite tracks on the album has to be “Disciples Of Babylon.” Probably one of the most interesting compositions Dragonforce has written, with a bit of a different take on melodies followed by an instrumental section which mixes progressive rock with some jazz fusion and folk rock moments. The track also has a pretty epic chorus to boot.

A Dragonforce album wouldn't be complete without a cheesy power ballad. “Starfire” is a pretty decent ballad for the band, but it is incredibly cheesy. It does break the mood of the album slightly and it is pretty obvious what the band where trying to do, but this is a pretty enjoyable bit of cheese.

The album's final track “Heart Of A Dragon” is very much an official anthem for the band. With a cheesy chorus and some fist pumping multi layered vocals, the song is like the bands theme tune. Don't think this is a major live staple, but I could imagine the band signing off with a song like this.

In conclusion, this album is a pretty brilliant debut. Yes, the band aren't the most serious metal band on the planet, but power metal isn't exactly the most serious genres out there. A great debut with some absolute tunes. This would definitely be up there with my favorite Dragonforce albums.

8.2/10

Genres: Power Metal, Speed Metal, Fist, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock

Country of origin: England (With members from South Africa, Hong Kong & Ukraine)

Year of release: 2003