Reviews list for Dragoncorpse - The Drakketh Saga (2023)

Dragoncorpse... The name of this band would make you think of a blend of the speedy power metal of DragonForce and the brutal death metal of Cannibal Corpse. And you would be two-thirds right there! This is, for real, power metal and deathcore mixed together, a combo barely anyone has ever thought could, let alone should, be possible. But since Shadow of Intent, Lorna Shore, and Mental Cruelty have already projected their own respective brands of epic deathcore, well... Why the f*** not?!

Hailing from two separate continents, North America and Australia, Dragoncorpse released an EP that fans have been waiting for hearing the singles released the previous year. Those singles are included in the EP along with two new songs and 4 cheesy spoken-word interludes, the latter keeping the release away from perfect greatness.

Opening the EP is one of the two new songs, "Sunlover", featuring Jacob Wallace, formerly of Brojob. There's a decent balance between vocalist Mardy Leith's operatic singing and Wallace's crushing growling. The power metal sections are quite upbeat that make a cool yet struggling contrast with the heavier deathcore breakdowns. Despite that issue, it's still quite stellar, helped out by the epic chorus.

Next up is my favorite here, "Blood and Stone". The fast relentless power metal/deathcore blend continues, complete with a brutal chant of "Blood in, blood out". The following full song, "Terror Eternal" continues that combo, this time with some soloing by Dragonland guitarist Jesse Lindskog.

Then "From the Sky" has that sound yet again. This time with a superb catchy chorus that makes this song another stellar highlight. Finally, "Undying" is a special song. It features incredible vocals from two winners of a contest to guest appear in a song by the band, Jens Thommek and Stefan Gorski Prins. There is some more of Mardy's catchy vocals, along with Kris Chayer proving himself to be a true guitar wizard.

All in all, The Drakketh Saga is a solid EP for fans of power metal and deathcore who are curious to hear what those two genres sound like together. Give this offering some good listening and witness two separate worlds collide....

Favorites: "Blood and Stone", "From the Sky", "Undying"

It's not very often that my nightcap album for the week warrants an album review, but I believe that Dragoncorpse are worthy of the exception. The Australian based band peaked my interest early by combining two genres that do not belong together: power metal and deathcore... is what I would say if I wasn't keeping a keen ear to the ground.

For those who have been paying attention to the modern scene will already know that symphonic deathcore is hot on the presses. The obvious starting point has to be Lorna Shore, considering they are one of heavy metal's biggest bands at the moment, but let's not forget about Shadow of Intent and Mental Cruelty. Dragoncorpse seems to be the next logical step in the progression towards accessorizing deathcore to a wider audience, by way of symphonic instrumentation, gigantic vocal choruses and "bro0tal" breakdowns.

And y'know what? I can see the appeal for a band such as this. Forget about the fact that these are just power/symphonic metal songs with the occasional blast beat and heavy breakdown interspersed, the merging of the two styles works much better than I could have ever anticipated. For every oppressive Lorna Shore breakdown that feels inconsequential to the three/four minutes of death metal assault that preceded it, Dragoncorpse litter their breakdowns with tiny callbacks to earlier in the track, whether that be a continued symphonic focus, or in the case of "Terror Eternal" the dual vocals of Mardy Leith's growls and Jesse Lindskog's high screams/wails. 

The album does run a little bit short as the concept does revolve around its cringy interludes, which are simply symphonic orchestration combined with guttural vocal poetry. The vocals sound like Alex Terrible and don't evoke any reaction beyond just how out of place they sound. Otherwise, the hardest part to comes to terms with is how little it does with its supposed hybrid status. This sounds like a power metal album through and through and the deathcore influence is only icing.

Beyond all of that, I find it hard to believe that anyone would actually listen to this in their respective clans. The power metal crowd will likely find the death metal influence overwhelming, meanwhile the deathcore kids will never touch something like this because of its clean singing and cheesy and quasi-uplifting stature. It certainly is a fascinating listen, but I worry that Dragoncorpse will shift one way or the other and will eventually just turn into a generic symphonic metal band with power or deathcore elements.

Best Songs: Blood And Stones, From The Sky, UNDYING