Dragonforce – Warp Speed Warriors – 2024

Warp Speed Warriors is the ninth studio album by the Power Metal band Dragonforce. The title itself fits perfectly. Dragonforce has always delivered fast Power Metal and I have usually liked it. At least to a point. But there’s also a limit to it. Just playing fast for the sake of it is usually not a good thing. When the notes start to create a blur instead of individual notes you have a problem. I think this problem is over Warp Speed Warriors from the very start, through most of it, and until the end.

Of course, there are passages that has mid-tempo and so on, but the main part is just as fast as it goes. And, it might have worked if there was some more power to it. If it were a little bit heavier sounding. But the sound is what you expect coming from Dragonforce. It’s fast… There’s no emphasis on a heavy sound. Of course, the guitars are distorted and so on but that’s about it. it’s just a wall of sound and the melodies get lost in the mix.

I’m teaching my point to the maximum of course. There are more nuances than I want to admit. There are nice melodies on the album too. But for me, it all gets overshadowed by the superfast guitar and drum work. One more quick remark before I call it quits. Doesn’t Doomsday Party (which features Elixze Ryd) remind us a little too much about the old Boney M hit Rasputin? Unfortunately I can’t unhear it and I love the Boney M disco classic from the 70s.