Dragonforce - Warp Speed Warriors (Album Review)
Dragonforce – Warp Speed Warriors
Released: March 15, 2024
Line Up
Herman Li – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Sam Totman – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Marc Hudson – Vocals
Alicia Vigil – Bass, Backing Vocals
Gee Anzalone – Drums, Backing Vocals
Online
Dragonforce holds a special place in the metal hierarchy. As a celebrated extreme power metal band, many fans were introduced to them via the video game classic Guitar Hero, a circumstance which both suits their fast and melodic sound and leaves them ripe for criticism from more serious metal heads. What’s never in doubt is that Dragonforce can flat out play. On their ninth album Warp Speed Warriors, they show no desire to pander to critics and seek only to shred harder and faster than anyone has before.
If you’ve ever encountered Dragonforce before then songs like ‘Astro Warrior Anthem’ will meet your expectations. It’s an instant reminder that Herman Li and Sam Totman believe they can tap notes faster than the speed of sound. They come close too, blasting away for most of the 7 minutes as it’s left to vocalist Marc Hudson to sing alongside them and make sure there’s a recognisable chorus for the audience to sing with, rather than just stare with awe. It does feature a cool change in pace that includes the first of many sci fi elements.
As if the album cover wasn’t enough of a hint, Warp Speed Warriors really doubles down on the video game themes, both musically and lyrically. ‘Power of the Triforce’ takes inspiration from The Legend of Zelda and adds a layer of cheese. It’s incredibly fun with Hudson wailing about “master swords”. The backing vocals are on point too and will encourage audiences to sing along. It takes a different kind of courage to pull this kind of song off and singing it like you mean it is the only way to make it work. In that sense, Hudson nails the brief.
As much as I enjoyed the first couple of tracks, I couldn’t get into the slower ballad ‘Kingdom of Steel’. It starts with a cool atmosphere with the synths and drums but it never kicked into a gear that made me want to sing along. In my opinion it’s a song crying out for a more traditional and soulful solo, which is pretty far removed from what Li and Totman do.
Things get back on track with the bananas rhythm and speed of ‘Burning Heart’, a song that maximises the band’s talent for breathtaking performance. It’s catchy too with cool keyboards. It’s topped by the glorious ‘Space Marine Corp’, with a chorus that’s even more uplifting. It’s a different kind of battle anthem to a band like Sabaton, but still has a military precision to the playing and should be a real treat live. Equally extravagant is the blinding tune ‘The Killer Queen’, which ups the BPM and note count again. New bassist Alicia Vigil gets to carry part of the verse, which is cool, but the chorus is naturally bedlam again. ‘Pixel Prison’ on the other hand starts as a ballad before thundering away and doing a cool soft/heavy thing between verses and choruses.
So most of the album is much of the same territory Dragonforce has tread before, but like KISS and Nickelback before them, they’ve decided that their brand needed an injection of disco boogie. And I’ll be damned if it isn’t a good time. ‘Doomsday Party’ is utterly ridiculous but a complete joy as drummer Gee Anzalone hits the disco beat with Vigil keeping the groove and the Li/Totman duo showing remarkable restraint. Your mileage may vary greatly but it’s pretty hard not to crack a smile and nod along. I suspect the experience will only be enhanced with beer in hand.
The album closes out with another Dragonforce cover. Having previously given their extreme power metal treatment to ‘My Heart Will Go On’ and ‘Ring of Fire’ they jump on the Tay Tay bandwagon with ‘Wildest Dreams (Dragonforce’s Version)’. I don’t know that anyone was wondering what Taylor Swift x Dragonforce would sound like but if you’ve heard their other covers you know they keep the melody and blast away on the tune. That’s exactly what happens here and I’ll admit they do a fine job with one of Swift’s best tunes. Again, it’s really a bit of fun but your mileage may vary.
Dragonforce just keeps on going. Warp Speed Riders is another example as to why they’re a necessary part of the power metal scene. The frenetic pace of their playing is unparalleled but the album has memorable tunes with anthemic choruses and, if nothing else, you’re going to shake your butt to ‘Doomsday Party’.
Dragonforce – Warp Speed Riders tracklisting
1. Astro Warrior Anthem
2. Power of the Triforce
3. Kingdom of Steel
4. Burning Heart
5. Space Marine Corp
6. Prelude to Darkness
7. The Killer Queen
8. Doomsday Party
9. Pixel Prison
10 Wildest Dream (DragonForce’s Version)
Rating: 7 / 10
Warp Speed Riders is out March 15 via Napalm Records. Pre-order here.
Review by KJ Draven (Twitter X and Instagram).
