Dragonforce: ZP Theart (vocals); Herman Li, Sam Totman (guitars); Vadim Pruzhanov (keyboard); Frederic Leclercq (bass guitar); Dave Mackintosh (drums).

Additional personnel: Clive Nolan (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Herman Li; Karl Groom; Sam Totman.

Dragonforce's fourth outing, ULTRA BEATDOWN, is appropriately titled. It's a slam-banging, face-fisted explosion of sound-- everything one would expect from the band that put the "hero" into the GUITAR HERO video game franchise. Once more produced by Karl Groom (Threshold, Pendragon, Edenbridge), Dragonforce has again created a sweeping, melody-driven platter of power. From the signature, lightning twin guitar solos of Herman Li and Sam Totman to the machine-gun drumming of David Macintosh, Dragonforce is a true speed metal phenomenon. Adding to the mix are ZP Theart's sweeping vocals, Vadim Pruzhanov's Malmsteen-esque keyboard acrobatics, and Frederic Leclercq's monster bass sound. In a genre that arguably started and stopped with Helloween's innovations in the late 1980s, Dragonforce is making an active effort to push the genre just a little bit further.

Alternative Press (p.152) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "While the band are known for face-melting dueling guitar solos, the thickly harmonized vocals and brutally fast drumming take center stage throughout the album."

Kerrang (Magazine) (p.48) - "Ludicrously bombastic, camper than a row of tents and massively entertaining, there's a case for claiming that DragonForce are the metal equivalent of The Darkness."