: : REVIEW : :

Before I listened to "Valley of the Damned", I looked at the cover.  And with one look, I knew exactly what I was getting into.  The cover sports comic book style art of a beautiful woman astride a golden chariot with two black stallions.  Ah, the glory of Euro-Power Metal!

And as far as that goes, all the necessary ingredients are here. Clichéd song titles like "Heart of a Dragon".  Lyrics about hearts, swords and stars.  The pitter-patter of galloping drums.  Soaring high-pitched vocals, and keyboards that are way to prevalent in the mix.  There are three guitarists in the band.  For the whole album, their hands are racing up and down the fret board so fast they would give Yngwie Malmsteen muscle cramps just listening to it.  And of course there is the prerequisite drippy power ballad.
 
Ever since Hammerfall exploded on to the European scene a few years ago, there has been an over abundance of bands in this now tired metal genre.  Just as America has seen an avalanche of nu metal Korn rip offs, our brothers in true metal "across the pond" are choking in a sea of second and third rate Helloween wanna-be’s.  The only thing that seems to set this band apart from all the rest is that they are from the UK and have three guitar players.  For whatever reason, most of the bands playing this style of music “hail” from Germany or Sweden. 

Now that's not to say that this album is all bad, because it's not.  The track "Black Fire" has some great heavy guitar chugging, which is pretty unique for this kind of band.  But it lasts all too briefly before heading back to their standard formula of speed/power metal. "Disciples of Babylon" is actually a really good track, with a catchy chorus.  The song is mid paced with some basic but heavy guitar riffs throughout.  It stands out from all the other songs on the album because they all sound a little too close to each other.  But one good song hardly makes a good album. 

This band claims to be the “world’s fastest melodic speed power metal band”, and they just might be.  They are absolutely faster than a lot of other power metal bands, but that’s the problem.  The songs whiz by and are entirely forgettable.  Had they slowed the tempo down and given me songs that stuck in my head, I would have enjoyed it more.  Just because they are the fastest, certainly does not make them the best.

I can’t really recommend this too highly, it’s all just too fast and generic.  If you are looking for really good European style Power Metal, there are plenty of good bands out there.  Pick up some albums by Stratovarius, Primal Fear, Rhapsody, Helloween or Gamma Ray, and steer clear of this. 

Rating:  5 keyboards out of 10
Reviewer: Chris Alo


Visit the artist website: Dragonforce

Record Label - http://www.noiserecords.com

: : Discography : :
Performing as DragonHeart
Valley of the Damned (DEMO) - Self Release / 2000
Valley of the Damned - 2003