Artist: DRAGONFORCE
Album: ULTRA BEATDOWN (CD)

Year: 2008
Media type: CD

Ultra Beatdown is the fourth studio album by power metal band DragonForce, released on 20 August 2008 in Japan through JVC and on 26 August 2008 worldwide through Roadrunner Records and Universal Music. It was the first studio album to feature Frederic Leclercq on bass. 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 a interview with ZP Theart on 15 July 2008. On 13 July 2008 Ultra Beatdown leaked onto several peer-to-peer networks. On 14 August 2008 Ultra Beatdown 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.

Prior to the album's release, the shortest song (excluding "Invocation of Apocalyptic Evil", the 14-second intro on Valley of the Damned) was the track "Dawn Over a New World", from the second album, Sonic Firestorm. This honour now goes to the special edition track "Strike of the Ninja".

This Ultra Beatdown is an epic, sweeping, grand collection of infectious guitar anthems that'll inspire all who listen to either pump their fists in the air or pick up a guitar, whether it be real or virtual.

TRACKLIST:

01. Heroes of Our Time
02. The Fire Still Burns
03. Reasons to Live
04. Heartbreak Armageddon
05. The Last Journey Home
06. A Flame for Freedom
07. Inside the Winter Storm
08. The Warrior Inside

LINE-UP:

ZP Theart – vocals
Herman Li – guitars, backing vocals
Sam Totman – guitars, backing vocals
Vadim Pruzhanov – keyboards, piano, backing vocals
Dave Mackintosh – drums, backing vocals
Frederic Leclercq – bass, backing vocals, additional rhythm and acoustic guitars

Extra member:
Clive Nolan – backing vocals, extra keyboards