{"id":44417,"date":"2014-08-28T20:39:21","date_gmt":"2014-08-29T01:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=44417"},"modified":"2014-08-28T20:39:21","modified_gmt":"2014-08-29T01:39:21","slug":"dragonforce-maximum-overload-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/dragonforce-maximum-overload-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Dragonforce | Maximum Overload<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Jenn Carbaugh<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"DragonforceDragonforce has released their latest contribution to their over-the-top, power metal collection. The speeds and technicality of their music is always a topic of interest for metal fans. Whether or not it is pure skill or studio deception, their music is certainly in a category of its own. With the departure of ex-singer ZP Theart, some worried if Marc Hudson could drive the band to keep their unique sound. Matt Heafly adds to the vocals on a few tracks as well. There are also bonus songs and a few noted covers on their new album Maximum Overload<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Each song on the album seems to have an introductory section, but then as the song continues, it begins to sound like every other Dragonforce song. It is insanely fast and the verses tend to blend together. Finding the chorus of a song starts to feel like a chore. There aren\u2019t many tracks that stand out or could stand alone except for maybe one. \u201cSymphonies of the Night\u201d is a little different. There seems to be more detail in this song. Dragonforce doesn\u2019t typically skimp on detail, but this song feels like they attempted to step outside of their box. They didn\u2019t succeed completely, but they didn\u2019t fail either. <\/p>\n

The rest of the songs begin to bleed together for the rest of the album. Metal played at hyper speeds can get boring and almost exhausting, but they always have clean instrumentals. They attempt some mid-paced music, but Maximum Overload<\/em> is a good title to describe this album. The three singles from this album are good samples of the consistent sound that they tend to put out. \u201cThe Game\u201d is the opening tract, and if you don\u2019t remember what Dragonforce is all about, this song will definitely remind you. \u201cDefenders\u201d and \u201cRing of Fire\u201d are the other singles. \u201cRing of Fire\u201d is of course a Johnny Cash cover. They didn\u2019t do much justice to the legend. Dragonforce literally just made the song forgettable. The lyrics are there, but the rest sounds like the quick paced Dragonforce songs on the rest of the album. They seem to attempt to add a bit of diversity, but it is not enough to set the tracks apart from the others entirely. <\/p>\n

Dragonforce is still playing the same music they have always played, and they certainly own their style. They are still overly technical and immensely fast. Even with the covers, featured vocals, and bonus tracks; they still sound monotonous and like the same old Dragonforce. A change up in the band members didn\u2019t cause them to lose their sound at all. If you are a fan, then the album is worth listening to. They do have outstanding skill, but their style isn\u2019t for everyone. <\/p>\n

Genre: Power Metal <\/p>\n

Band:
\nMarc Hudson \u2013 lead vocals, backing vocals
\nHerman Li \u2013 guitar, backing vocals
\nSam Totman \u2013 guitar, backing vocals
\nVadim Pruzhanov \u2013 keyboard, piano, backing vocals
\nDave Mackintosh \u2013 drums, backing vocals
\nFr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Leclercq \u2013 bass, backing vocals <\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n01.\tThe Game
\n02.\tTomorrow\u2019s Kings
\n03.\tNo More (feat. Matt Heafy)
\n04.\tThree Hammers
\n05.\tSymphony of the Night
\n06.\tThe Sun is Dead
\n07.\tDefenders
\n08.\tExtraction Zone (feat. Matt Heafy)
\n09.\tCity of Gold
\n10.\tRing of Fire (Johnny Cash Cover)
\nSpecial Edition Bonus Tracks
\n11.\tPower and Glory
\n12.\tYou\u2019re Not Alone
\n13.\tChemical Interference
\n14.\tSummer\u2019s End
\n15.\tFight to be Free (Shadow Warriors Cover)
\n16.\tGalactic Astro Domination (Instrumental) <\/p>\n

Label: Metal Blade Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.dragonforce.com<\/a> <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven Rating: 4\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jenn Carbaugh – Columnist — Dragonforce has released their latest contribution to their over-the-top, power metal collection. The speeds and technicality of their music is always a topic of interest for metal fans. Whether […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":44438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,541,9908,2255,1097],"class_list":{"0":"post-44417","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-dragonforce","10":"tag-maximum-overload","11":"tag-metal-blade-records","12":"tag-power-metal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}