Ultra Beatdown

Ultra Beatdown
Studio album by DragonForce
Released	26 August 2008 (2008-08-26)
Recorded	2007–2008 at Thin Ice Studios, Surrey, LamerLuser and Batman Studios in London.
Genre	Power metal
Length	58:18 76:49 (special edition)
Label	Roadrunner, Spinefarm
Producer	Karl Groom, Herman Li, Sam Totman
DragonForce chronology
Inhuman Rampage (2006) Ultra Beatdown (2008) The Power Within (2012)
Singles from Ultra Beatdown
"Heroes of Our Time" Released: 4 July 2008 "The Last Journey Home" Released: 21 January 2009 "Reasons to Live" Released: 2009

Ultra Beatdown is the fourth studio album by English power metal band DragonForce, released on 20 August 2008 in Japan through JVC and on 26 August 2008 worldwide through Roadrunner Records^[1] and Universal Music.^[2] Ultra Beatdown is the last studio album to feature ZP Theart on vocals and the first one to feature Frédéric Leclercq on the bass guitar. On 8 March 2010, it was announced via Roadrunner that DragonForce had parted ways with vocalist ZP Theart and would now be seeking a new frontman.^[3]

Overview

On 4 July 2008, the first single from the album, "Heroes of Our Time", was posted on their MySpace profile.^[4] 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.^[5] 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.^[6] Frédéric Leclercq announced that they may release a live DVD in 2009–2010.^[7] 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 very 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 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 have delayed their arrival to November 2009 due to the swine flu epidemic as well as "exhaustion" according to what Herman Li stated in a recent 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. It is entitled "Twilight Dementia" and was released in September 2010.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(77/100)[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[9]
Alt Press	[10]
IGN	[11]
Metal Hammer	[12]
Now	[13]
PopMatters	[14]
Sputnikmusic	[15]
Thrash Hits	[16]
The Daily Collegian	(B)[17]

The song "Heroes of Our Time" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance, losing to Metallica's "My Apocalypse".^{[citation needed]} On 28 August 2008, the album charted at No. 9 in Japan^[18] it also entered the Australian charts in the first week of September at #19^[19] and in the same week at No. 18 in both the UK Albums Chart and the Billboard 200.^[20]

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.^[8] Both Allmusic and Alternative Press 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.^[9][10]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Heroes of Our Time"	Totman, Li	Totman	7:13
2.	"The Fire Still Burns"	Totman, Theart	Totman	7:52
3.	"Reasons to Live"	Totman, Li	Pruzhanov, Totman, Leclercq	6:25
4.	"Heartbreak Armageddon"	Totman, Li	Li, Totman, Leclercq	7:42
5.	"The Last Journey Home"	Totman, Theart	Totman, Li	8:15
6.	"A Flame for Freedom"	Totman	Totman	5:20
7.	"Inside the Winter Storm"	Totman, Theart	Totman	8:11
8.	"The Warrior Inside"	Totman, Li, Theart	Pruzhanov, Totman	7:14
Total length:				58:18

Special edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
9.	"Strike of the Ninja" (Cover of "Feel the Fire" by Shadow Warriors)	Totman, Theart	Theart	3:18
10.	"Scars of Yesterday"	Totman, Li, Theart	Pruzhanov, Totman	7:49
Total length:				69:25

Japanese Edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
11.	"E.P.M. (Extreme Power Metal)"	Totman, Li	Li	7:24
Total length:				76:49

Special edition DVD track listing
No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Making of Ultra Beatdown"	15:16
2.	"The Making of the E-Gen Guitar"	9:35

Release history

Year	Region	Date	Format	Label	Catalogue #	Notes
2008	JPN	20 August	CD	Victor Entertainment	VICP-64299	All bonus tracks	[18]
2008	USA	26 August	CD	Roadrunner	1686-179372		[21]
2008	USA	26 August	LP	Roadrunner	1686-179371	Free Download Coupon
2008	USA	26 August	CD, DVD	Roadrunner	1686-179378	Special Edition	[22]

The album was set for release first in Japan on 20 August 2008^[23] then on 22 August in Germany^[24] and the day after, on 23 August, in Australia^{[citation needed]} before being released to the United Kingdom on 25 August and globally the following day.^[23]

Personnel

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

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)

References

v t e DragonForce Herman Li Sam Totman Vadim Pruzhanov Dave Mackintosh Frédéric Leclercq Marc Hudson ZP Theart Steve Scott Steve Williams Didier Almouzni Diccon Harper Adrian Lambert Studio albums Valley of the Damned Sonic Firestorm Inhuman Rampage Ultra Beatdown The Power Within Live albums Twilight Dementia Singles "Valley of the Damned" "Soldiers of the Wasteland" "Fury of the Storm" "Through the Fire and Flames" "Operation Ground and Pound" "Revolution Deathsquad" "Heroes of Our Time" "The Last Journey Home" "Reasons to Live" "Fallen World" "Cry Thunder" "Seasons" Related articles Discography Demoniac Shadow Warriors I Am I Power Quest