This is all related to the more paced style of the album and can be best heard on the track Inside The Winter Storm. Sometimes itвЂ™s a bit like a pinball machine but other times he shows whatвЂ™s been hiding behind all the guitar widdley-wankery and only ever put on show at their live gigs. Something else Dragonforece fans might notice in Ultra Beatdown is keyboarder Vadim Pruzhanov lets loose more often than in previous albums. Although Fred has been with Dragonforce since late 2005 / early 2006 this is his first album with the band (Adrian had already recorded bass for Inhuman Rampage and it was well into the mixing and mastering stage before he left.) Helping keep the beat is relative newbie FrГ©dГ©ric Leclercq ( Maladaptive), who replaced Adrian (Jesus) Lambert, on bass guitar. Yes, I know he still uses triggers for the double kicks, but you still get just enough of the natural acoustic sound bleeding through to make your lungs vibrate. To be honest, even though he had the electric kit set up to near perfection, I prefer the more natural sounding Tama. Also, what IвЂ™ve noticed on recent live pics of the band, Dave appears to be playing a regular Tama acoustic drum-kit as opposed to the Pintech electronic kit he used to beat the shit out of. His footwork is just phenomenal and the speed he rattles off some of his wicked drum patterns, well, more witchcraft I say. I think it has something to do with a drummerвЂ™s height, or lack thereof, that determines their playing ability something to do with centre of gravity or height to weight ratio physics equation? Anyways, Dave is quite a compact chap which must account for the speed he attacks the kit. Keeping everything all tightly packaged is Dave Mackintosh, the вЂDrumming DynamoвЂ™. Heartbreak Armageddon also has a mellow slow solo part but is offset immediately by whatвЂ™s probably the fastest shredding on the album. Probably the best example of this new speed control can be heard in the track Reasons To Live, in particular the solo which although still extremely technical, with a boatload of guitar widdly-wankery, is rather mellow by Dragonforce standards. Also, the songs in Ultra Beatdown seem to have less of that вЂMad-dash-to-the-finishing-lineвЂ™ feel, the speed seems more controlled, not so keep up or get out the fucking way. That and the anthemic choruses that get stuck in your head for days after you hear them. And itвЂ™s the melodic quality of the songs that gives them their вЂCatchinessвЂ™, for want of a better word. Granted, the first thing that hits you is the velocity of everything assaulting your ears, but once you get past that youвЂ™ll discover how melodic the songs are. This is a load of bollocks speed is only part of their songs. The popular misconception, usually held by people whoвЂ™ve only heard a couple of their songs, is that Dragonforce songs are all about the speed. For all you guitarist types, he also has a new toy in his arsenal, the вЂSource Audio Hot HandвЂ™ personally, I think itвЂ™s witchcraft! You can check out the video for Heroes Of Our Time at My Space Videos. Their trademark duelling solos are as mind-blowing as ever and trying to figure out whoвЂ™s playing when is a bit harder on this album as Sam appears to be making more use of the whammy bar, but you can still tell when HermanвЂ™s on when the really strange sounds kick in. ThatвЂ™s why the majority of Dragonforce songs are around the six to seven minute range. Sam explained it to me couple of years ago when I covered one of their gigs, itвЂ™s something like вЂ“ Intro, verse, bridge, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, verse, pre solo, solo, chorus, verse, chorus, outro вЂ“ or something like that. The familiar song structure is still there. Twin guitar shredding mayhem from Sam Totman and Herman Li is, as always, the core of Dragonforce sound. WooHoo!! All my weird thoughts were dispelled after a couple of bars into album opener Heroes Of Our Time. So with some trepidation I loaded the promo that had just arrived into my player, pressed play and stood back. I was thinking вЂњBeatdown вЂ“ does that mean theyвЂ™re gonna slow it down?вЂќ, then it was вЂњAre they going to venture into the realms of new age electronica?вЂќ, especially after IвЂ™d seen the futuristic looking album cover. When I first heard that Dragonforce were going to call their fourth album Ultra Beatdown I had a bit of a WTF moment.

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