The Power Within

It is here.

Obviously, the big question The Power Within faces is: Does [new vocalist] Marc Hudson measure up to ZP's legacy? Is he a good fit for the band? Is he sufficiently metal?

Now, having listened to the album about six times in the past two days, I can happily say that the answer is a solid yes. Marc has amazing vocal range and power, sings with every bit of ZP's passion, and keeps the band's general cheesiness at roughly the same level. If he'd been DragonForce's vocalist since the beginning and was replaced by someone else, I think I'd have just as much trouble adjusting as I am now. He tends to sing lower then ZP did, but is quite able to go as high or higher at will.

One nerd point for each one you can identify.

New vocalist aside, how is the rest of the album? Well, if you are a true DragonForce fan, you of course weren't hoping for them to change at all, besides their lineup. Nonetheless, this album does contain at least some musical exploration--instead of all sounding just like each other, the songs comprise more of a survey of power metal, varying from the hyperfast, quintessentially DragonForce "Fallen World" to the much slower "Cry Thunder", which reminds me of HammerFall, to "Wings of Liberty", one of their more progressive songs to date (and, as far as I can tell, it has nothing to do with StarCraft II)

The other thing that jumped out at me about The Power Within, besides its awesomeness, was the song lengths. Prior to this album, DragonForce had only released one song less than five minutes in length, and technically it was a rerecording of a song written before they were DragonForce. The Power Within has six songs under five minutes, and only one over six. ("Wings of Liberty") According to this interview with guitarist and bandleader Sam Totman, he was concerned with how their seven-plus-minute epics were faring with listeners' shrinking attention spans, so they tried to pare down the extended instrumental sections. It's a somewhat disappointing choice, as I would listen to anything DragonForce made, no matter how long, but if it makes more fans out of people, I guess it's worthwhile. Anyway, they tried to add more instrumental action under the vocals to compensate for the shorter solos.

I hope I'm not making this album sound like a letdown, because it most definitely isn't. on "Holding On", Marc's introduction to the world is via an amazing, almost Halford-esque metal scream just before the twin-guitar riffing and frantic, super-precise drumming assure us that the DragonForce we know and love is still very much alive. Marc does a great job singing this one, and I find myself missing ZP less and less with each listen.

After that, "Fallen World" is a storm of metal insanity. (That almost sounds like one of their lyrics) Sam says in the interview that it's DragonForce's fastest song ever, as 220 BPM. (Only the songwriter of DragonForce would perceive such a tangible difference between writing at 220 and 230 BPM) This song is a bit heavier/less melodic than "Holding On", with some of the best drumming on the album. "Cry Thunder" is considerably more sedate, almost seeming like a nod to lesser power metal bands with its pace and fantastical lyrics.

On the rest of the album, "Give Me the Night", "Seasons", and "Last Man Stands" continue DragonForce's experiment of writing songs that are about things other than fantastical heroes, battles for the fate of humanity/the universe, and the power of friendship; respectively, they address addiction, a breakup, and everyday heroes. "Give Me the Night" is almost as furious as "Fallen World", though a bit slower; "Seasons" is one of their more accessible songs, with remotely non-ridiculous vocals and a slower beat. (Single bait, but it's pretty good)

"Wings of Liberty" fakes you out by starting like the album's ballad, but quickly turns into an epic that will thrill fans of DragonForce's earlier albums. At 7:22, it has time to throw in a quieter guitar/piano section in the old-style instrumental section. This album in fact has no ballad, with an acoustic version of "Seasons" filling the mellow song role quite well.

My notes for "Heart of the Storm" and the similarly-named "Die by the Sword" just say "awesome" and "classic", respectively. That's pretty accurate; for another band I might have written "filler", but DragonForce has no filler, only more awesome songs.

Conclusion: The Power Within doesn't explore much new musical territory, but it's a solid release and probably DragonForce's most accessible yet. Marc Hudson proves himself to be ZP's true successor, Dave Mackintosh takes his drumming to the next level, and the guitarists are fantastic as usual. Still, the shorter song lengths are somewhat hard for a longstanding fan to accept, so I'm giving it a 4.5/5. Song to check out if you're on the fence are "Holding On", "Fallen World", "Give Me the Night", and "Seasons".