Dragonforce was a band that hit its stride, uh, at least in terms of mainstream popularity, during 2007 with the release of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. The game allowed players to unlock the band's "Through Fire and Flames" after having beaten the game, which introduced imaginary rockers everywhere to the notions of power metal and finger-tapping guitar solos. Although a few videos exist of players reportedly beating the song, rumors persist that they were hoaxes. Needless to say, many video game players with no actual music experience soon proclaimed Herman Li and Sam Totman the greatest guitar players in the history of the world, while fans of more subdued genres took aspirin and had nightmares where persistent noodling could be heard from their closets.
The point is this band is still out there and it made an appearance this week when it released a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" in a lead-up to the release of the band's own album, Maximum Overload. This title may not be an exaggeration.
We decided to be fair and give the cover a chance because, very often, subdued tracks make for excellent metal covers (case in point: Children of Bodom's rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Looking Out My Backdoor"). We immediately regretted it.
Aside from the lyrics, "Ring of Fire" is best known for its riff, produced in the original by a horn section and not a guitar. Still, many covering the track over the years have easily adapted the horns. Li and Totman struggle to play anything below 150 BPM and the riff is lost in the process. We can even handle Marc Hudson's obnoxiously epic vocals, but apart from that, the guitar solos and pretty much guitar anything get out of control.
But don't just take our word for it!
"They just weren't able to make a verse in major?" asks Gianlucca Ferri, accurately. "Disappointed."
"Sounds the same as any other Dragonforce song," notes user pecodanajlovski, pointedly.
"One of the worst cover versions I've ever heard," says Marco Witte before upping his critique to 11. "A perfidious gang rape of a legend."
Ouch. Listen here and tell us that we're wrong.
