Tuesday, February 25, 2003

Valley of the Damned / DragonForce (2003)


1. Invocation of the Apocalyptic Evil
2. Valley of the Damned
3. Black Fire
4. Black Winter Night
5. Starfire
6. Disciples of Babylon
7. Revelations
8. Evening Star
9. Heart of a Dragon
10. When Dragon Rule

I still clearly remember the first time I listened to this band. I heard track 2 from the radio. I do not say this band was the best new comer of 2003 but surely had the biggest impact to me that year. Their music style is a mix of blast beat like death metal with high tone vocal. They really stuck with speed. I thought some one would have done this kind of music, but actually no one had. They were definitely one of the most unique metal bands from debut. Except the ballad, track 5, they showed their excessive determination to speed. It is not only drum beat but also, guitar solo and keyboard solo as well.

To be honest, I thought their music was unrefined at that time. The vocal is not strong enough. Some drum parts are not steady. The guitarists are surely skillful, but the sound production is not great. Another factor that makes this band unique is long instrumental parts. Out of 10 songs, 5 of them go beyond 6 minutes. Some of the song progression and arrangements are not very refined, yet they showed good songwriting abilities. They have a lot of cool riffs and twin lead. I could tell that those two guitarists were good teammates. This debut album was something made me expect of something greater with the next album.

☆☆☆

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