The brand new DRAGONFORCE album 'Ultra Beatdown' has literally just hit the streets, and hot on the heels of that release, the band are launching their corresponding world tour. This is only the second of circa 80 shows which will see the power metal heroes play Australia, USA, Japan, Canada and all over Europe. Joining DRAGONFORCE for the majority of their trek are Finnish nutters TURISAS - hardly a similar style power metal act, but certainly an entertaining band nonetheless.

With a good proportion of the crowd arriving early, TURISAS endorsed the reason why as they ripped through such classics as their ode to drinking alcohol, 'One More'. The BONEY M cover (ra! ra!) 'Rasputin' is aways an enjoyable number, but the highlight of any TURISAS show is their anthemic war cry 'Battle Metal'. Finally, 'To Holmgard and Beyond' rounded off 45 minutes of highly entertaining, tongue-in-cheek metal, and this set would have been a perfect warm-up for any act.

Every time I see DRAGONFORCE, I wonder how the hell they have got to the level they have when there are certainly some superior power metal bands out there. Only 2 nights ago I saw an awesome display by FIREWIND only half a mile down the road, in front of a tenth of the crowd – a show that I have to say I enjoyed more than the DRAGONFORCE show tonight.

OK, DRAGONFORCE have got a handful of great songs (I'm talking 'Valley of the Damned', 'My Spirit Will Go On', 'Fury of the Storm' and 'Through the Fire and Flames') all of which I enjoyed tonight – but they've also got plenty of mediocre stuff which unfortunately has to be played to pad out the set. The hyper-speed melodies do make some of the songs difficult to enjoy live. However, the over-the-top solos of speed obsessed guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman are extremely entertaining, even if they often sound like the noise you get when trying to tune into a radio frequency.

As for the new material, it just sounds like same old, same old, with only set opener 'Heroes of Our Time' coming close to the standard of the previously mentioned highlights. The awful keyboard solo by Vadim Pruzhanov was cringe worthy, but it was a necessary evil as it allowed drummer Dave Mackintosh to take a much needed breather. Mackintosh is the hardest working drummer you'll ever see live as he has to pound the drums at a ferocious speed, forming a key element of the DRAGONFORCE sound.

DRAGONFORCE like to make a lot of their show very light-hearted – but at times I find it a bit of a parody and a lot of it I don't find funny. Still, judging by the reaction of the sell out crowd tonight, it seems that my opinion is the minority. Still, I have to admit, with the excellent sound in the Academy tonight, for the first time ever, I did actually enjoy a DRAGONFORCE show.

DRAGONFORCE Setlist: Heroes of Our Time / Operation Ground and Pound / Reasons To Live / Fury of the Storm / Revolution Deathsquad / Soldiers of the Wasteland / The Last Journey Home / My Spirit Will Go On / The Warrior Inside / Valley Of The Damned / Through the Fire and Flames

TURISAS Setlist: Battle Metal / A Portage to the Uknown / One More / In the Court of Jarisleif / Rasputin / To Holmgard and Beyond

DRAGONFORCE Rating: 3.8/5.0

TURISAS Rating: 4.0/5.0

Review by James Allman

Photography by Alexander Shaw

TURISAS

DRAGONFORCE