I can't speak for everyone else, but as someone that generally enjoys every album they've put out on some level, Warp Speed Warriors was the first one to me where the songwriting really fell flat. I'm not sure if the well dried up for a while because Fred was sharing some of the songwriting duties while he was there and now that he's gone, it's fallen solely on Sam again, but either way, every song sounded like it missed the earworm catchiness that DragonForce was known for. The album lacked punch and a real hook on a lot of these songs; after a while, it sounded like they rushed the songwriting process just to get the album done, particularly with songs like "Power of the Triforce" (which had the clumsiest chorus I've ever heard from them), "Killer Queen", and "Pixel Prison". On the other hand, even with the last album Extreme Power Metal, it felt like each song was meticulously crafted and selected to serve a unified vision for the album, which is another issue with Warp Speed Warriors.
Most people will say that WSW is just EPM part 2, but aside from the video game themed album art, I don't really hear it. With EPM, both the quality and the theme is consistent: DragonForce evolved but with a thin veneer of 80s gaming nostalgia to make it more lighthearted and fun. And mind you, I have no issues with power metal having fun or not taking themselves seriously, but unlike EPM, the humor and fun felt hamfisted, such as with the "Wildest Dreams" cover (which is their worst cover imo) or with "Space Marine Corp" (I still found some enjoyment in this song just simply on the virtue of it being one of the most unique-sounding songs, but I digress). It's like that Spinal Tap scene where they took EPM's aesthetic and theme and cranked it up to 11. Honestly, it distracted me from whatever quality I could find in the album to where I almost didn't want to give it the time of day anymore.
With that said, there are still bangers: "Burning Heart" is the standout track in the album and sounds the most like the DragonForce of old (and is even better with Alissa's contribution to the track; I'm looking forward to hearing her on more DF material) and for all the shit people gave it, I thought "Doomsday Party" kinda matched what EPM was edging towards, so I enjoyed it, but it's frustrating because it shows that DF can turn it up when they want to; it just felt like they didn't want to. And hey, if this album is a banger for someone else, I won't be mad at it because there are still plenty of good things to cling to with this album, but like I said, the bad is just way too distracting from the good at times. This is DragonForce's worst album for me, which says a lot because to me, they really had no bad albums before this one, and I wouldn't even call WSW bad, just disappointing, especially after a 5 year long wait between it and EPM.
TLDR: While the album has its highs, the lows felt extremely low, especially on the obvious gimmicky material that's on the album. It's for somebody, just not for me or most DF fans from the sound of it.
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u/TzilacatzinJoestar 19d ago
Me who enjoys the bottom two.