This is not a reinvention, or a reaffirmation, despite what the puzzlingly positive fan response The Power Within has gotten. Even with the disappearance of the glorious, heart-warming choruses that were so mightily prevalent on the first few records, I was satisfied with bombastic guitar heroics, but now those have been removed. I really donвЂ™t require a lot to enjoy Dragonforce. Ok, maybe I am, but I donвЂ™t feel like IвЂ™m asking for much here. Holding On could be the new Pokemon theme song and I wouldnвЂ™t bat a fucking eye. The choruses are not glorious or uplifting, at least not in a way I can relate to, being older than 12, and the verses lack any legitimate creativity or passion. My complaint is quite simple, really: I find these songs to be unrepentantly boring, flowery and sugary to the max, and completely lacking the cheese-addled power of yesteryear.

I will concede that there are some delicious leads and short solos to be found, scattered along the way, but in the face of this unbridled, sparkly mediocrity, they do little to dissuade my resignation. With the absolute dirth of guitar bridge creativity, the songs must now stand completely on the strength of their verses and choruses, and the supporting riffs. To be blunt, this is perhaps the most middling album IвЂ™ve heard all year, and a completely unacceptable release from a group as admittedly capable as Dragonforce. ThereвЂ™s a huge amount of talent here, but itвЂ™s completely wasted on this fluffy, generic swill. ItвЂ™s quite disheartening, as the band can still clearly not suck, if only they so desired. The entire package feels like a third rate caricature of what the band can do, and has done, spiritually akin to the brand new failure from the mighty Ensiferum, though thatвЂ™s a bit unfair to them, in truth. More likely, though, itвЂ™s a combination, a band attempting to bring back the magic of its glory days without the essential burning spirit to do so.

Perhaps it is Hudson, as there is certainly a lack of conviction in his delivery. ItвЂ™s puzzling to write that, since we all know Dragonforce have never been poet laureates, but they arenвЂ™t even trying anymore. Marc Hudson is certainly acceptable as a replacement, even if he lacks a distinct personality, but his contribution here is really of minor consequence in the long run, as his performance is crippled by the insincerity of the music, and its awful, awful lyrics. Just up and vanished, along with long time singer ZP Theart. The monumentally fantastic solos are gone. Well, The Power Within has sacrificed the last interesting aspect in the world of Dragonforce, fully embracing the genre average 4-5 minute song length, likely in an attempt to reinvent themselves in the eyes of a metal world that insists they are growing stale. Hell, that aspect alone made Inhuman Rampage a smashing success. Still, gotta love that insane guitar work. In the old days (on the excellent Valley of the Damned and Sonic Firestorm), when the band was exciting and fresh, the choruses were also a huge draw, but the bands actual songwriting of late has declined into pretty predictable fare. Essentially, this boils down to the solos, generally 3-4 minutes of twiddle-tastic insanity that set the band apart from the hordes of samey, ho-hum happy-rainbow power metal bands the world over. Now, to be fair, IвЂ™d been getting a bit tired of their spastic plastic fantastic formula following the release of Ultra Beatdown, but it still contained plenty of reason to love the band. Unfortunately, the loudest and most penetrating of these seem to have been the detractors, as The Power Within, in an attempt to appease the jaded rockers who likely wouldnвЂ™t like them in any event, have decided to sacrifice any semblance of individuality in a quest of acceptance. It seems as though Dragonforce have been listening to the voices of the people.

The power within dragonforce