660. DragonForce / Valley of the Damned. 2003. 3/5

DragonForce came out fast and furious on their debut opus, something that not only surprised, but amazed a lot of people.
Mixing an explosive concoction of guitars blazing along at 200 miles per hour, driven by double kick drums which are almost too perfectly in time at some points to believe that machinery of some kind hasn't been used, Valley of the Damned jump started the speed/power metal art form once again in the UK, in a marketplace where the genre had been dominated by Europeans.
This is a real power metal frenzy, with the speed of the songs complemented by the rising keyboards that also become prominent in the mix, and the hitch pitched vocals soaring above all and sundry. All of the songs stretch from five and half minutes out to seven and a half minutes, with barely a moment to catch your breath.
The opening track "Valley of the Damned" is a stalwart, combining everything immediately into a package that defined what DragonForce the band could offer. This is followed by "Black Fire" and "Black Winter Night" which also fly along.
"Starfire" is the power ballad of the album, where everything is slowed right down to the point of torture. It's just a little beyond belief that every other song on this album is belting along like a steam train, and then the brakes are yanked on for one song smack bang in the middle of the song list. It never ceases to amaze me how bands or producers or record companies think that this is a good move.
Fortunately order is restored by the excellent "Disciples of Babylon" and "Revelations". There is an obvious similarity to all of these songs. Certainly if you just throw on the album and play it without too much thought you could sometimes be forgiven for thinking that they are all meshed into one another. However, once you are comfortable with the album, you can easily pick between the changes and nuances of each song.

In many ways, DragonForce polarise the metal community. While many have jumped on board the wagon, others believe this is less a metal album than a conglomerate of guitars and drums and keys and vocals thrown at you out of the speakers in a mass of noise. Some would suggest that is all metal music is in the first place. I believe Valley of the Damned is an acquired taste, and not one that you will instantly come to enjoy. While I think that future albums were unable to distinguish themselves individually, and that they even became a parody of themselves, this debut album still has lots to offer the first time listener.