Dragonforce uploaded a collab song with Brawl Stars, and it's gotten #3 on YouTube trending. I for one am hoping that Dragonforce can get some more mainstream attention from this song. I know some people are mad that they're still doing the video game thing, but I'm just glad they're getting attention again.

https://blabbermouth.net/news/dragonforce-releases-new-song-a-draco-tale-in-honor-of-brawl-stars-game-character-draco

I'm not really on the Warp Speed Warriors sucks bandwagon myself. Overall it's a pretty decent song, pretty standard for post-ZP material, but the video is definitely a fun touch. I don't really follow Brawl Stars, but I think Dragonforce's music just lends itself so well to this format they may as well just go with it. It's a massive cut above what passes for pop music nowadays.

With who?

Wasn't on any bandwagon myself, was just a legitimate opinion.

I wonder how many of these "all-star" collaborations will come down the pike before the entire soundtrack industry is replaced by AI?

This reminds me of the Hevisaurus. It feels like music made for kids.

Brawl Stars is a mobile game for children between 8-13 so it's to be expected it'll appeal to children.

Given how all over the place your opinions tend to be (no offense intended), the last thing I'd do is accuse you specifically of being on any bandwagon with regard to any band, I don't think you could do it if you tried. Think of my statement as a general observation of how everybody just suddenly soured on DragonForce despite them releasing a slew of similar albums before the one in question.

I don't really have a problem with power metal bands catering to young audiences, to be honest, I probably would have had a far happier experience in middle school had bands like DragonForce been around between 1992 and 1995 on U.S. terrestrial radio and MTV.

Yeah I mean I'd say it's healthy to have "all over the place" taste anyway. And yeah DragonForce has really been diminishing returns for a while now. The previous album before this was extremely candied poppy music too but they somehow lucked into some consistently enjoyable hooks on that one, where this one was just annoying to a lot of people for the weird experiments they weren't doing before.

Perhaps, which would probably make me an unhealthy man, though ironically this is one of those cases where I didn't have a viscerally negative reaction to the experiments, with maybe the exception of "Space Marine Corp". I will agree with you that Extreme Power Metal had some good hooks going on, but I found the same basic level of solid catchy elements on their latest as well. That being said, I miss the ZP days and am almost hoping that he'll come out of nowhere and convince Scott Williams to either resurrect Power Quest with him at the mic, or otherwise create his own answer to DragonForce. Come home ZP, we miss you.

It would've been nice if they went way further and did some genuine experiments, but the experiments on this just felt like a bunch of silly gimmicks and trickery rather than actually branching out at all to me... and yeah be nice to have any new ZP band really. He did I am I a long time ago and then nothing much else.

I came across a video featuring Through the Fire and the Flames a week ago and it reminded that I do actually have a soft spot for stupid poppy and overly-indulgent power metal deep down inside. I just wish that style wasn't inextricable from goofy meme shit.

I love cheesy power metal, but it is so fucking embarrassing to be a fan. The Gloryhammers, Sabatons, and Wind Roses of the world are teaching an entire generation of fans discovering this stuff that that jokes and a goofy aesthetic, not the music, is what power metal is all about.

I didn't know what Brawl Stars was, so now makes more sense. Horrible music though.

There used to be a majesty to this band's sound that is just completely gone now. Compare "Sonic Firestorm" (which holds up quite well!) to this and you will see what I mean. I realize this specific song was done to market a mobile game but it also just... doesn't sound radically different from what was on the newest album anyway.

Gonna start referring to stuff like this as New Wave of Content Creator Heavy Metal

Reach into Infinity is my cutoff. There is a noticeable change in The Power Within, but I still enjoy those first 3 Marc albums. With Extreme Power Metal something was added to the mix that I just can't quite vibe with. Perhaps this was a factor in Leclercq leaving the band?

People have been accusing DragonForce of sabotaging the power metal scene since my days on the Audiogalaxy forums back in 2001 when they were still going by DragonHeart, and I'm amazed at how similar the criticisms are. I'm sorry, but I'm just not hearing it. This is a hokey song with a young target audience in mind, and not really all that more stripped down and happy-go-lucky than anything else they've done since Marc Hudson was brought in.



How much further are we talking though? There is a fine line between experimentation and abandoning one's core sound. But either way, I'm definitely down for ZP doing something yesterday, regardless of style at this point (though reforming the demo lineup of Power Quest would be a dream come true, always wanted to hear some of those songs off the debut with ZP on vocals as potential bonus tracks myself). It really frosted me that Skid Row strung ZP along all those years as a glorified touring vocalist and then decided to actually start recording stuff just after kicking him out. What a waste!



Perhaps, though you might want to check out the Marc Hudson solo album Starbound Stories as Leclercq did a heavy amount of the songwriting on that one. I'm guessing that DragonForce has been responding to both the aforenoted meme craze associated with Sabaton and Wind Rose, as well as the retro-80s pop/rock vibes of Battle Beast and Metalite.

It would've been nice if they did more slower-paced stuff like "Soldiers of the Wasteland," or maybe explored the more atmospheric side of the electronic stuff they like rather than the constant blitzkrieg pace. They were never gonna do anything terribly avant garde, but I miss the deeper-felt melody they had on the really old albums.

I wouldn't mind that either, honestly if they'd been less goofy on "Space Marine Corp" and done something a bit more serious it could have been a solid slower track. Personally my favorite approach is the sort of multifaceted buildup and release approach that typified most of Valley Of The Damned. Extended, epic intros and interludes like the ones on the title song and "Disciples Of Babylon" were made to order in my book, while even the more constantly up tempo entries like "Black Fire" and "Heart Of A Dragon" had a good bit going on and had perfect hooks. Maybe next time around will be their "return to form" album and we'll see stuff like that or the Sonic Firestorm approach you're itching to hear. We'll see.