Dragonforce: ZP Theart (vocals); Herman Li (acoustic & electric guitars, background vocals); Sam Totman (guitars); Vadim Pruzhanov (piano, keyboards); Didier Almouzni (drums).

Additional personnel: Diccon Harper (bass).

Take a minute to listen to VALLEY OF THE DAMNED, the debut album from power metal throwbacks Dragonforce. Now pick your jaw up off of the floor. Influenced in equal measure by Maiden and Mega Man, the band craft impossibly soaring, inspirational theme music to Dungeons and Dragons games yet to be played. Guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman simply astound as their Nintendo-honed fingers run up and down the fretboards with impossible velocity, and singer ZP Theart's Steve Perry wailing could shatter glass. The uninitiated may find the excesses on VALLEY OF THE DAMNED to be intolerably '80, and the lyrics about warriors and fantasy worlds are certainly the stuff of the terminally girlfriend-less. There's nothing funny, however, about the album's magnificent technique and deadly pop hooks. When they cut loose on dizzying songs like "Black Winter Night," who cares if it's cheesy? It shreds.