Ultra Beatdown

Last updated

Ultra Beatdown
Dragonforce - Ultra Beatdown.jpg
Studio album by
Released26 August 2008 (2008-08-26)
RecordedNovember 2007 – April 2008
StudioThin Ice Studios, Surrey, LamerLuser and BATMAM Studios, London
Genre Power metal
Length58:11
Label Roadrunner, Spinefarm
Producer Karl Groom, Herman Li, Sam Totman
DragonForce chronology
Inhuman Rampage
(2005)
Ultra Beatdown
(2008)
Twilight Dementia
(2010)
Singles from Ultra Beatdown
  1. "Heroes of Our Time"
    Released: 4 July 2008
  2. "The Last Journey Home"
    Released: 21 January 2009
  3. "Reasons to Live"
    Released: 15 June 2009

Ultra Beatdown is the fourth studio album by British power metal band DragonForce, released on 20 August 2008 in Japan through JVC and on 26 August 2008 worldwide through Roadrunner Records [1] and Spinefarm Records. [2] Ultra Beatdown was the band's last studio album to feature vocalist ZP Theart and their first to feature bassist Frédéric Leclercq.

Contents

Overview

On 4 July 2008, the first single from the album, "Heroes of Our Time", was posted on their MySpace profile. [3] On 8 July 2008, the music video for Heroes of Our Time was released onto their MySpace profile. The songs "Heartbreak Armageddon", "The Fire Still Burns" and "A Flame for Freedom" were all played on 106.1 Rock Radio during an interview with ZP Theart on 15 July 2008. [4] On 14 August 2008, the album was made available for pre-order in the DragonForce official web store. On 18 August 2008 the album became available for streaming on the band's Myspace page.

The music video for "The Last Journey Home" premiered on the Xbox Live Network on 21 January 2009. [5] Frédéric Leclercq announced that they may release a live DVD in 2009–2010. [6] This did not happen however, though in September 2010 a live CD was released titled Twilight Dementia .

Ultra Beatdown is the final album featuring lead vocalist ZP Theart and the first album to earn the band a Grammy nomination.

Sound

Before the release of Ultra Beatdown, the band members were interviewed upon the topic of the album's structure and deliverance. Totman, Theart and Li all generally stated that the sound of Ultra Beatdown would not vary much differ from their previous records but would improve in some categories.

It's not going to be majorly different. But hopefully the melodies will be nicer, the guitar solos will be better, the production will be better. You just try to improve in every area.

Sam Totman, [1]

There isn't much to change, but yet there is. The last three albums have been very much guitar-oriented, and this one probably will be as well, but I want to try to do some extra colouring in with the vocals.

ZP Theart [1]

Bands always say, 'Our new album is faster and heavier,' and then it's never true, so we're not gonna say that. But playing fast just works for us. People who say we play too fast are probably right, but guess what? There's a million other bands that play slow. People listen to DragonForce and go to the show because they know that we're doing something other bands aren't doing.

Herman Li, [1]

Touring and support

The first round of DragonForce's Ultra Beatdown World tour started on 25 September 2008 in The Zodiac, Oxford with Turisas. The US/Canada tour also includes Powerglove. The band toured almost constantly up until April 2009 in several countries with support by Dååth and Cynic. They had planned to carry out their world tour to Latin America in May 2009, but delayed their arrival to November 2009 due to the swine flu epidemic as well as "exhaustion" according to what Herman Li stated in an interview.

The band had planned to release a live DVD in summer 2009 but instead released a series of videos entitled "DragonForce TV" which showed the band on tour as well as pro-shot footage of their performances at Graspop 2009 and Loudpark 2009. It also featured backstage footage of the band rehearsing and just hanging out. The rumoured DVD was never released due to lack of time when the band was touring. The DragonForce TV: Season 1 footage was uploaded during a break before the next-to-final leg of the tour in Latin America and North America. However, to make up for the false DVD, the band recorded the audio from every show on the final leg of the Ultra Beatdown World Tour to release the best cuts on a live compilation album. Herman Li stated in a 2010 interview regarding the album:

"The idea was to record every single show from the last leg of the tour, so we could pick the best take of each song without needing to do any overdubs in the studio; keeping the whole thing 'LIVE' like all the classic live metal albums.

"These recordings really capture the raw sonic energy of a Dragonforce show in fine detail. It is so real that you can hear the noise of the crowd and experience the show as it was that night – you can even hear the guitar pedals being stepped on!"

The album's official announcement was made on 22 June 2010. Titled Twilight Dementia , it was released in September 2010.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 77/100 [7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [8]
Alternative Press Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [9]
IGN Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Metal Hammer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Now Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [13]
SputnikmusicStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [14]
Thrash HitsStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [15]

The song "Heroes of Our Time" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance, losing to Metallica's "My Apocalypse". [16] On 28 August 2008, the album charted at No. 9 in Japan [17] it also entered the Australian charts in the first week of September at No. 19 [18] and in the same week at No. 18 in both the UK Albums Chart and the Billboard 200. [19]

Initial critical response to Ultra Beatdown was generally positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 77, based on 8 reviews. [7] Both AllMusic and Alternative Press [9] gave it four and a half stars out of a possible five. AllMusic gave it an "AMG Album Pick" and, in the opening sentence of the review, likened the band to a juggernaut: "Look up the word "juggernaut" in the dictionary and you may just find Dragonforce's photo alongside the definition. Not only does it aptly describe the nature of their hyperkinetic "extreme power metal," but also their vertiginous ascent from utter music community obscurity to new media, errr...juggernaut, when their breakthrough single, "Through the Fire and Flames," became first a YouTube sensation and later a keystone of the Guitar Hero video game phenomenon". [20]

Track listing

The ultra edition physical copy of the album contained a bonus DVD with the music videos for "Heroes of Our Time" and "The Last Journey Home", as well as videos The Making of Ultra Beatdown and The Making of the E-Gen Guitar.

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Heroes of Our Time"Totman7:13
2."The Fire Still Burns"
Totman7:50
3."Reasons to Live"
  • Li
  • Totman
6:25
4."Heartbreak Armageddon"
  • Totman
  • Li
  • Li
  • Totman
  • Leclercq
7:40
5."The Last Journey Home"
  • Totman
  • Theart
Totman8:12
6."A Flame for Freedom"TotmanTotman5:20
7."Inside the Winter Storm"
  • Totman
  • Theart
Totman8:11
8."The Warrior Inside"
  • Totman
  • Li
  • Theart
  • Pruzhanov
  • Totman
7:14
Total length:58:14
Ultra and special edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
9."Strike of the Ninja"
  • Totman
  • Theart
Totman3:18
10."Scars of Yesterday"
  • Totman
  • Li
  • Theart
  • Pruzhanov
  • Leclerq
7:46
Total length:1:09:18
Japanese bonus track
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
11."E.P.M. (European Power Metal)"
  • Leclerq
  • Totman
  • Li
Leclercq7:24
Total length:1:16:39

Notes

Personnel

Band members

  • ZP Theart – lead vocals
  • Herman Li – guitars, backing vocals, producing, mixing, engineering
  • Sam Totman – guitars, backing vocals, producing, mixing
  • Vadim Pruzhanov – keyboards, piano, theremin, Kaoss Pad, backing vocals
  • Dave Mackintosh – drums, backing vocals
  • Frédéric Leclercq – bass, additional rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals

Guest musicians

Production

  • Karl Groom – mixing, engineering
  • Mike Jussila – mastering
  • Android Jones – artwork
  • Matt Read – graphic design
  • Frank Strine and DragonForce – collage photos
  • Paul Harries – photos
  • Steve McTaggart – management
  • Josh Kline – agency representation (North America, with the Agency Group USA Ltd.)
  • Paul Bolton – agency representation (United Kingdom, with Helter Skelter Agency Ltd.)
  • John Walsh and Bruce Reiter – tour management
  • Penny Ganz – legal representation (P Ganz & Co. London)
  • Mark Howe – business management (Entertainment Accounting International Ltd.)
  • Ron Zeelens – visa paperwork (RAZco Visa's, New York)

Charts

Chart (2008)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [18] 19
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [21] 62
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [22] 25
French Albums (SNEP) [23] 119
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [24] 9
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [25] 28
Scottish Albums (OCC) [26] 24
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [27] 50
UK Albums (OCC) [19] 18
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [28] 2
US Billboard 200 [29] 18

Release history

RegionDateFormatLabelCatalogue #Notes
Japan20 August 2008CDVictor EntertainmentVICP-64299All bonus tracks [17]
United States26 August 2008CDRoadrunner1686-179372 [30]
United States26 August 2008LPRoadrunner1686-179371Free download coupon
United States26 August 2008CD, DVDRoadrunner1686-179378Special edition [31]

The album was set for release first in Japan on 20 August 2008 [32] then on 22 August in Germany [33] and the day after, on 23 August, in Australia[ citation needed ] before being released in the United Kingdom on 25 August and globally the following day. [32]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DragonForce</span> British power metal band

DragonForce are a British power metal band from London. The band was formed in 1999 by guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman, and are known for their long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-themed lyrics and retro video game-influenced sound. The band themselves refer to their music as "extreme power metal".

<i>Sonic Firestorm</i> 2004 studio album by DragonForce

Sonic Firestorm is the second studio album by British power metal band DragonForce, released through Noise Records on 11 May 2004. It is the first album to feature bassist Adrian Lambert and drummer Dave Mackintosh. The reissue of this album was released on 22 February 2010, along with a remixed and remastered version of the band's first album, Valley of the Damned. The re-release also came with the bonus track "Cry of the Brave", which was a Japanese bonus track on the original release.

<i>Valley of the Damned</i> 2003 studio album by DragonForce

Valley of the Damned is the debut studio album by British power metal band DragonForce. In 2000, while the band was still known as DragonHeart, a demo of the same name was recorded and sent to Noise Records, subsequently gaining the band a deal with the label. It was then re-recorded in late 2002 and released as a full-length studio album on 25 February 2003, following the band's obtainance of the deal with Noise and change in name to DragonForce. The album was set to be remastered and released with a bonus DVD on 24 September 2007, but was subsequently delayed and eventually released on 22 February 2010, along with the re-release of the band's second album, Sonic Firestorm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Power Quest</span> English band

Power Quest were an English power metal band from Southampton. Prior to the band's retirement in 2023, the line-up consisted of keyboardist Steve Williams, drummer Rich Smith, vocalist Ashley Edison, guitarists Glyn Williams and George "The Kid" Karafotis, and bassist Bradley Edison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skid Row (American band)</span> American rock band

Skid Row is an American rock band formed in 1986 in Toms River, New Jersey. Their current lineup comprises bassist Rachel Bolan, guitarists Dave Sabo and Scotti Hill and drummer Rob Hammersmith. The group achieved commercial success in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with its first two albums Skid Row (1989) and Slave to the Grind (1991) certified multi-platinum, the latter of which reached number one on the Billboard 200. Those two albums also produced some of Skid Row's most popular hits, both in and outside of the United States, including "18 and Life" and "I Remember You", which peaked in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, and other charting singles such as "Youth Gone Wild", "Monkey Business", "Slave to the Grind", "Wasted Time", and "In a Darkened Room". The band's third album Subhuman Race (1995) was also critically acclaimed, but failed to repeat the success of its predecessors. Those three albums featured the band's "classic" lineup, which consisted of Bolan, Sabo, Hill, drummer Rob Affuso and frontman Sebastian Bach. The band had sold 20 million albums worldwide by the end of 1996. Amid rising tensions, Bach was fired and Affuso left Skid Row towards the end of that year, after which the band entered a three-year hiatus.

<i>Inhuman Rampage</i> 2005 studio album by DragonForce

Inhuman Rampage is the third studio album by British power metal band DragonForce, released first on 28 December 2005 in Japan, and 9 January 2006 elsewhere, through Victor Entertainment and Roadrunner Records, respectively. Its first single, "Through the Fire and Flames", has received rock radio and Fuse TV airplay, and has appeared as a playable track on the video games Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Rock Band 3, and Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Remastered. It is the band's first album to feature harsh vocals, which were recorded by Demoniac vocalist Lindsay Dawson; the album is also the last to feature bassist Adrian Lambert, who left the band in 2005 and was replaced by Frédéric Leclercq before the album's release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ZP Theart</span> South African singer

ZP Theart is a South African singer, songwriter and the former lead vocalist for the British power metal band DragonForce and American rock band Skid Row. Theart was also hired by Riot Games for the voice of Karthus in the songs "Deathfire Grasp" and "Last Whisper" by the metal band Pentakill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frédéric Leclercq</span> French musician (born 1978)

Frédéric Alexandre "Fred" Leclercq is a French musician and producer, best known as the former longtime bassist for British power metal band DragonForce. He is currently the guitarist and main songwriter in the death metal supergroup Sinsaenum, the guitarist and vocalist in Maladaptive, the bassist and a guitarist in Amahiru, and the bassist of German thrash metal group Kreator and French death metal band Loudblast. He is a session musician for various other bands, including George Lynch's Souls of We. He is also a former member of power metal band Heavenly and played several shows with Carnival in Coal and Sabaton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Through the Fire and Flames</span> 2006 single by DragonForce

"Through the Fire and Flames" ("TTFAF") is a song by British power metal band DragonForce. The song is acclaimed as the most successful song by the band. The song was the lead single and opening track from DragonForce's third album, Inhuman Rampage. It is known primarily for its rapid twin guitar solos by Herman Li and Sam Totman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Ground and Pound</span> 2006 single by DragonForce

"Operation Ground and Pound" is a song by British power metal band DragonForce. It is the fourth track of the band's third album, Inhuman Rampage. The track was the second music video to be released by the band, although as with their previous single, "Through the Fire and Flames", the song is edited to reduce the running time to around 5 minutes compared to the album version of nearly 8 minutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DragonForce discography</span>

The discography of DragonForce, a British power metal band, currently consists of nine studio albums, two live albums, one demo album and seven singles.

"Revolution Deathsquad" is a song by British power metal band DragonForce. The song was released as the third and final single from their first major label album and third album overall Inhuman Rampage. It was first released via web streaming on their official MySpace profile in late 2006. A music video for the song was never made. The single was released for download on iTunes. The song is available as a download to play on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock alongside "Heroes of Our Time" and "Operation Ground and Pound". It is one of the band's heaviest songs, with screaming backing vocals, under a keyboard solo, a chugging, extreme-metal-oriented guitar, and a powerful, yet dark scream from vocalist ZP Theart toward the end.

<i>Twilight Dementia</i> 2010 live album by DragonForce

Twilight Dementia is the first live album by British power metal band DragonForce, released in Japan on 8 September 2010, the United Kingdom on 13 September and in the United States on September 14. The album was recorded in November and December 2009 during the United Kingdom leg of the Ultra Beatdown world tour, across nineteen different shows. The album features songs from all the band's previous albums. It is the last overall release to feature ZP Theart as the lead vocalist.

<i>The Power Within</i> (album) 2012 studio album by DragonForce

The Power Within is the fifth studio album by British power metal band DragonForce, released in April 2012. It is the first DragonForce album to feature vocalist Marc Hudson. "Cry Thunder" was released as downloadable content for Rock Band 3.

<i>Maximum Overload</i> 2014 studio album by DragonForce

Maximum Overload is the sixth studio album by British power metal band DragonForce, which was released in Europe on 18 August 2014, and in North America the next day. Trivium vocalist Matt Heafy contributed backing vocals on three songs, including the album's first single, "The Game". The album was produced by Jens Bogren, marking the first time the band decided not to record in their own studio and with an outside producer. The album was released in three versions: standard physical or digital CD, special edition physical or digital CD, and vinyl.

<i>Reaching into Infinity</i> 2017 studio album by DragonForce

Reaching into Infinity is the seventh studio album by British power metal band DragonForce, released on 19 May 2017. It is the band's first studio album to feature drummer Gee Anzalone and the last to feature longtime keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov.

<i>In the Line of Fire... Larger Than Live</i> 2015 live album by DragonForce

In the Line of Fire... Larger than Live is the second live album by British power metal band DragonForce released in 2015 and recorded on 18 October 2014 at Loud Park Festival.

<i>Killer Elite: the Hits, the Highs, the Vids</i> 2016 compilation album by DragonForce

Killer Elite: the Hits, the Highs, the Vids is a compilation album by British power metal band DragonForce. It was released on 3 April 2016 and was supported by the band through the Killer Elite World Tour lasting from April to September 2016.

<i>Extreme Power Metal</i> 2019 studio album by DragonForce

Extreme Power Metal is the eighth studio album by British power metal band DragonForce, released on 27 September 2019. It is the band's last studio album to feature longtime bassist Frédéric Leclercq and the first not to feature longtime keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov, who left the band in 2018; Epica keyboardist Coen Janssen recorded keyboards for the album as a session member. The lead single "Highway to Oblivion" was released on 30 July 2019. The band embarked on a world tour in support of the album following its release. Music videos for "Troopers of the Stars" and "Strangers" were filmed, but not released until two years later, on 27 August 2021 and 25 October 2021, respectively. In 2022, the band continued touring the album after their last tour's cancelation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 29 November 2022, the music video for "The Last Dragonborn" was released, being the first music video with new bassist Alicia Vigil.

<i>Warp Speed Warriors</i> 2024 studio album by DragonForce

Warp Speed Warriors is the ninth studio album by British power metal band DragonForce, released on 15 March 2024 through Napalm Records. It is the first album with bassist Alicia Vigil following the departure of Frédéric Leclercq in 2019 and more than four years after the previous album Extreme Power Metal was released in September 2019, marking their longest gap between studio albums to date. It is also the band's shortest studio album, at 49 minutes and 7 seconds.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "DRAGONFORCE: New Album Details Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
  2. "DragonForce – Official Discography". DragonForce.com. Archived from the original on 1 June 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
  3. "DRAGONFORCE: New Song Available For Streaming". Blabbermouth.net. 4 July 2008. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
  4. "106.1 Rock Radio – Manchester's First Classic Rock Station". 106.1 Rock Radio. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
  5. "DRAGONFORCE VIDEO WORLD PREMIER ON XBOX LIVE at DragonForce.com". DragonForce.com. 21 January 2009. Archived from the original on 26 January 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  6. ""Reasons to Live" – DragonForce bassist Frédéric Leclercq delivers an Ultra Beatdown". Lucemfero.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
  7. 1 2 "Dragonforce:Ultra Beatdown (2008): Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved 7 April 2009.
  8. Ultra Beatdown – DragonForce, by Eduardo Rivadavia
  9. 1 2 "Ultra Beatdown review". Alternative Press . No. 242. p. 152.
  10. Ultra Beatdown review. Archived 15 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine IGN
  11. Ling, Dave (September 2008). "Ultra Beatdown review". Metal Hammer : 87.
  12. Ultra Beatdown review. Now
  13. Ultra Beatdown review. PopMatters
  14. Ultra Beatdown review. Sputnikmusic
  15. Ultra Beatdown review. Thrash Hits
  16. "Grammy 2009 Winners List". MTV. 8 February 2009. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  17. 1 2 "ドラゴンフォース-リリース-ORICON STYLE ミュージック" (in Japanese). Oricon . Retrieved 5 September 2008.
  18. 1 2 "Australiancharts.com – DragonForce – Ultra Beatdown". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  19. 1 2 "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  20. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Ultra Beatdown – Overview". AllMusic . Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  21. "Austriancharts.at – DragonForce – Ultra Beatdown" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  22. "DragonForce: Ultra Beatdown" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  23. "Lescharts.com – DragonForce – Ultra Beatdown". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  24. "ウルトラ・ビートダウン-スペシャル・エディション-". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  25. "Charts.nz – DragonForce – Ultra Beatdown". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  26. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  27. "Swedishcharts.com – DragonForce – Ultra Beatdown". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  28. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  29. "DragonForce Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  30. "DragonForce – Ultra Beatdown (#1686-179372)". Discogs . Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  31. "DragonForce – Ultra Beatdown (#1686-179378)". Discogs . Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  32. 1 2 "Ultra Beatdown at DragonForce.com". DragonForce.com. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  33. "Hear the Next Evolution of Metal". Blast! (in German) (Sommer/Herbst 2008). Nuclear Blast: 39. August 2008.