DragonForce: Reaching into Infinity (Special Edition)
It wouldn't be fair to suggest that I come to this album without a bias towards liking it. I have been a fan since the beginning and Valley of the Damned is one of my all-time favourite albums. I don't think that the band has ever replicated the sheer majesty of the debut since but I have always found their output to be more than worth my time. Reaching into Infinity gives us everything a DragonForce fan could want and…whisper it…something which might even be construed as…a bit different!
Obviously one expects and gets seriously, ridiculously fast guitar work which despite its intricacies is actually fairly predictable (and that's not a put down,) Vadim Pruzhanov likes to put his stamp on things with weird (sometimes downright ridiculous) keyboard flourishes and big choruses abound – "Hatred and Revenge", one of the bonus tracks, is currently haunting my dreams but in a good way. The brutal power of "Midnight Madness", pounding "Judgement Day" and big ballad "Silence" all give the impression that it is business as usual despite the presence of a pretty impressive cover of Death's "Evil Dead". Then up pops "The Edge of the World", which as many have already noted is the longest song ever recorded by the band and shows some actual progression in the band's direction. Yep, you read that right, it's somewhat different than the rest of their output.
Marc Hudson, the band's lead singer is a huge fan of prog and guitarist Herman Li loves Dream Theater so this is not an unexpected about turn although Hudson's growled vocals were a tad of a surprise for this listener. If this is all too much for you then be assured the rest of the record is very much what you expect – now excuse me whilst I sneak into the corner and pump my fists at an imaginary audience whilst "Midnight Madness" pumps out of the speakers!
Track Listing
Reaching Into Infinity
Ashes of the Dawn
Judgement Day
Astral Empire
Curse of Darkness
Silence
Midnight Madness
WAR!
Land of Shattered Dreams
The Edge of the World
Our Final Stand
Hatred and Revenge (Bonus track)
Evil Dead (Bonus Track)
Added: May 22nd 2017 Reviewer:Simon Bray Score: Related Link:Band Website Hits: 1579 Language: english
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It wouldn't be fair to suggest that I come to this album without a bias towards liking it. I have been a fan since the beginning and Valley of the Damned is one of my all-time favourite albums. I don't think that the band has ever replicated the sheer majesty of the debut since but I have always found their output to be more than worth my time. Reaching into Infinity gives us everything a DragonForce fan could want and…whisper it…something which might even be construed as…a bit different!
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