Ultra Beatdown
| Ultra Beatdown | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by DragonForce | ||||
| Released | 26 August 2008 | |||
| Recorded | November 2007 – April 2008 | |||
| Studio | Thin Ice Studios, Surrey, LamerLuser and BATMAM Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Power metal, progressive metal | |||
| Length | 58:11 69:15 (Special Edition) 76:39 (Japanese Edition) |
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| Label | Roadrunner, Spinefarm | |||
| Producer | Karl Groom, Herman Li, Sam Totman | |||
| DragonForce chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Ultra Beatdown | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (77/100) |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Alt Press | |
| IGN |   |
| Metal Hammer | |
| Now |  |
| PopMatters | |
| Sputnikmusic | |
| Thrash Hits | |
| The Daily Collegian | (B) |
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 and Spinefarm Records.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 4 July 2008, the first single from the album, "Heroes of Our Time", was posted on their MySpace profile. 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. 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. Frédéric Leclercq announced that they may release a live DVD in 2009–2010. 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.
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.
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 delayed their arrival to November 2009 due to the swine flu epidemic as well as "exhaustion" according to what Herman Li stated in an interview.
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Wikipedia