Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Christina Vantzou - No. 4 about 18 hours ago
  • The Fangasm: The Midnight Organ Fight by Frightened Rabbit about 20 hours ago
  • Laura Veirs - The Lookout 2 days ago
  • Eels - The Deconstruction 2 days ago
  • A Place To Bury Strangers - Pinned 2 days ago
  • "I am fascinated by art that asks a lot of questions": DiS Meets Jenny Wilson 2 days ago
  • Planet Gear: Erland Cooper 3 days ago
  • Evolution and Equilibrium: DiS Meets Wye Oak 4 days ago
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

Dragonforce

Inhuman Rampage

Label: Roadrunner Records Release Date: 09/01/2006

12206
-Raz- by Raziq Rauf January 10th, 2006

*Dragonforce *have returned with the follow up to 2004’s Sonic Firestorm, which was critically extolled across the board for its instant appeal and ambitious orchestration. With Inhuman Rampage, the ultranational quintet comes equipped with a bounteous bombast and rapid intricacy that many of their continental peers can only dream of.

Guitarist, Herman Li’s overt technical proficiency in the fine art of Shredding earned him the Dimebag Darrell award at last year’s Metal Hammer awards. The mesmerisingly refined antics of the Hong Kong-born axeman lay down the foundations of every song, with the fretboard wizardry underlying every ridiculous wall of overblown, hair-metal tomfoolery that the Londoners build here. And, boy, does he shred, for it is the speed at which he does so that carries this band further than others of their ilk. While other power/hair metallers are happy to continue at their stadium rock pace, Dragonforce seem to settle for nothing less than breakneck. You can only applaud their attitude.

This kickass collection of tunes exudes a certain extravagance that is unseen anywhere else in the British rock market. The lilting, but never wilting, chaos created by Li’s glorious guitarsmanship is magnified by the thunderously thrashed out, time-change rhythm section. ZP Theart’s yowling vocals and Vadim Pruzhanov’s dizzying keyboards lend a dramatic twist to the texture of every song, however spectacular they may have already been. The vocals have improved immeasurably here, losing some of the hideously clichéd streak that haunts so many similar acts that tell bizarre stories about warriors, dragons and other such fantasy. Every song has the impact that begs you to dance, none less so than the album closer. _‘Trail of Broken Hearts’ _gives your Zippo a use beyond your 20 Luckies as you feel your arms rise to a loftier position for this power ballad to end all power ballads.

Their brand of ‘extreme power metal’ has all the hallmarks of The Next Big Thing, but not in this country. No chance. Inhuman Rampage had a big fat export sticker slapped on it well before they inked any deals. See also: massive in Germany. Leather pants in the place of lycra one-pieces dressing this absurdly brazen display of fist-pumping, butt-clenching vigour makes Dragonforce the band that The Darkness could never be.

  • 8
    Raziq Rauf's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Christina Vantzou

    No. 4


  • The Fangasm: The Midnight Organ Fight by Frightened Rabbit


  • Laura Veirs

    The Lookout


  • Eels

    The Deconstruction


  • A Place To Bury Strangers

    Pinned


  • "I am fascinated by art that asks a lot of questions": DiS Meets Jenny Wilson



Left-arrow

The Strokes

First Impressions Of Earth

Mobback
12285
12313

Mogwai Take Control at ICA, London, Tue 10 Jan

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    review


    Christina Vantzou - No. 4

  • 105534
  • Column


    The Fangasm: The Midnight Organ Fight by Fright...

  • 105533

    review


    Laura Veirs - The Lookout

  • 105532
  • review


    Eels - The Deconstruction

  • 105531

    review


    A Place To Bury Strangers - Pinned

  • 105530
  • Interview


    "I am fascinated by art that asks a lot of ques...

  • 105529

    Planet Gear


    Planet Gear: Erland Cooper

  • 105528
  • Interview


    Evolution and Equilibrium: DiS Meets Wye Oak

  • 105527
MORE


    feature


    A Month in Records: August 2008

  • 33467
  • review


    Coldplay - Ghost Stories

  • 95631

    review


    Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

  • 7335
  • feature


    Cursive - Six Recorded Highlights

  • 45147

    review


    Sonic Youth - Nurse

  • 6044
  • review


    Kate Nash - Made Of Bricks

  • 26283

    DiScover


    DiScover: Friendly Fires

  • 93726
  • news


    DiS curates the #IndependentMusicMonday Playlist

  • 101788
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2018 DROWNED IN SOUND