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.