Songwriting is an area where the band has greatly improved over the years, managing to make their last three albums more varied than their first four, while still providing a ton of fun, speedy power metal, and this latest release is no exception. IРІР‚в„ўd say this album is slightly more accessible and less complex than Reaching Into Infinity, but it still has a ton of stuff going on, and there are quite a few fresh ideas here, while still giving longtime fans everything they want to hear. Overall, the songwriting isnРІР‚в„ўt quite perfect, but thereРІР‚в„ўs certainly a lot of variety, compared to some Dragonforce albums, and the band has struck a nice balance between the overall simplified, more melodic approach of their first two albums with Marc, and the more extreme, adventurous sound of their first four albums. Otherwise, fans can still expect plenty of high octane power metal moments, as well as some rather surprising moments on a couple of tracks, which help bring the РІР‚СљExtremeРІР‚Сњ part of the name back into focus. In fact, contrary to what the name might suggest, this album is actually fairly tame at points, with some slower than average Dragonforce tracks, including a couple of ballads, both of which are excellent, emotional and driven by incredible performances, both from the musicians and from Marc, who just sounds incredible on both songs. Vocalist Marc Hudson is also in top form, at this point proving himself to an excellent power metal vocalist, being equal parts intense and epic at times, while also being able to sing very smoothly during some surprisingly soft tracks.

If anything, he at times give the music even more of a cheesy, 80РІР‚в„ўs feel than ever before, which fits in perfectly with the overall direction of the album.Р”Р„ll musicians are in top form, with dual guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman delivering the same blistering leads, glorious melodies and insanely impressive solos they have always been known for, while the keyboards are cheesy but very effective, and everything sounds perfect, as always. There has been one lineup change since the release of Reaching Into Infinity, that being the departure of longtime keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov, and while he hasnРІР‚в„ўt been officially replaced yet, the band brought in EpicaРІР‚в„ўs Coen Janssen to record the keyboards for this release, and obviously his contributions are excellent, and very much up to par with what fans would expect. Their eighth full-length release, the indeed boldly titled РІР‚СљExtreme Power MetalРІР‚Сњ, is almost upon us, and it sure lives up its name, as itРІР‚в„ўs equal parts extremely fun, extremely fast, extremely catchy, extremely melodic and extremely cheesy, in all the best ways possible!Р”Р‡or better or worse, Extreme Power Metal represents everything Dragonforce stands for, while at the same time allowing a bit of room for experimentation, so listeners can certainly expect a ton of very high speed, high energy power metal, with some heavy riffs, some insanely upbeat melodies, some excellent choruses, some occasional cheesy moments, some very retro sounding keyboards, and of course some very lengthy, technically impressive instrumental sections. While IРІР‚в„ўve always struggled with some of the bandРІР‚в„ўs earlier works, IРІР‚в„ўve been very pleased with their past three releases, especially Maximum Overload, and so I always look forward to hearing more from them.

Jokes aside, though, while the band is certainly an acquired taste, they picked up a rather large fan base over the years, releasing seven albums to date, with each of them being highly enjoyable. РІР‚СљExtremeРІР‚Сњ and РІР‚СљPower MetalРІР‚Сњ generally arenРІР‚в„ўt words one would expect to see placed together, as the genre is generally known to be on the light, catchy and fun side of things, as far as metal goes, and yet one band has deemed themselves as being so daring, so adventurous and so far ahead of the pack, that their music is worthy of being called РІР‚СљExtreme Power Metal.РІР‚Сњ That band is, of course, British band Dragonforce, who has always been a very divisive band, most notably for the fact that their first big success came when their song РІР‚СљThrough the Fire and the FlamesРІР‚Сњ was included in Guitar Hero III.

Dragonforce album cover artist