DRAGONFORCE — Valley of the Damned (review)

DRAGONFORCE — Valley of the Damned album cover Album · 2003 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
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.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
aglasshouse wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I agree with Khaliq, it doesn't exactly bring out SF's quality, but it is pretty good.
Unitron wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Nice review. I think it's a good album, but it certainly can't compare to 'Sonic Firestorm' which is my favorite album by them.

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Maleficium - Part 1 Death Metal
PANZERCHRIST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Strategic Offensive Metalcore
STRATEGIC OFFENSIVE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Power Train Power Metal
MAJESTICA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Plague of Rats Power Metal
BRAINSTORM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Bone Collector Power Metal
GRAVE DIGGER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 4 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 4 days ago
Sunmancer - Doom Temple (Official Music Video)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 4 days ago
Sunmancer - Chasm Darkly (Official Music Video)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 4 days ago
Sunmancer - Revolver (Official Music Video)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 4 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed