Dragonforce Puts the “Fun” Back in Fun-da-Metal

by Todd Maternowski

In the opening chapters of J.R.R. Tolkien's Silmarillion, the earth springs forth from the singing of the elder gods, or Ainur, whose heavenly chorus spawns the material world. So to does London-based extreme power metal band Dragonforce create new worlds of musical enjoyment with their singular combination of blisteringly fast guitar work and fantasy-laden lyrics. After the grunge and nu-metal movements of the early 1990s killed off the party-and-good-time-based metal of Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, and David Lee Roth, it seemed metal would become ever more serious, narcissistic and dripping with angst. Thankfully, flying directly into the teeth of these movements is Dragonforce.

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At Wednesday's sold-out show at Fort Worth's Ridglea Theatre, Dragonforce took a truly all-ages crowd and slew the hobgoblin of nu-metal with a battleaxe +1, +4 versus irony. To begin with, the band is incredibly fast: between guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman, each 7-8 minute song might experience up to 6 Slayer-esque guitar solos and double-guitar duel harmonies. Rather than muddling the sound, the two guitarists' classically-inspired interplay results in axe-wielding that seems twice as fast as anything previously seen in the metal scene. And when you throw in drummer Dave Mackintosh's death metal blast beat --not normally done in the guitar-heavy speed metal genre-- you get a sound so fast it makes Death Angel sound like listening to an oomph band at slow rpm underwater.

It's the content of the lyrics, however, which truly distinguish this power metal band from the pack. After a decade of metal bands singing about drugs, teenage angst, abuse and death, it's positively refreshing to hear a band sing about battling evil in the fields. Dragonforce's lyrics (and CD cover art) are an instant warning to serious, mopey metalheads. And lead singer ZP Theart's soaring vocals are full of so much 80s-style emotion you'd really think he was leading a brave force of rock paladins to fight evil in the temples of metal.

Although the A/C was not working for most of the show, the crowd at the Ridglea was treated to an amazing display of technical prowess, Jack Black-inspired rock posturing, and the kind of arena-ready rock that infuriates joyless music critics and enchants old-school metalheads.

Staff
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Anonymous

Mike Orren, says:

"and slew the hobgoblin of nu-metal with a battleaxe +1, +4 versus irony"

Well played, sir.

Staff

3 years, 4 months ago
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Todd Maternowski, says:

Some British metal magazine [I forget which] had this to say: "Most metal bands want to be bigger than Metallica. Dragonforce has the chance to be bigger than Star Wars"