Dragonforce. Brighton Music Hall. July 22, 2017

It's a shame that Dragonforce had to land in Boston a couple of days after Iron Maiden's performance at the Xfinity Center. I couldn't help but think of the two in relation as they both mine the same kind of sub-genre of metal; Iron Maiden, of course, being the inventor of the form. From the twin guitarist (ignore for a fact that IM actually had THREE guitarist -- one of whom was channeling Benny Hill) to the screaming vocals, it was clear that without the latter there wouldn't be the former. Oh, and they're both British. Not that that is a bad thing. Not at all. Dragonforce are clearly in the game to win. They put on a spotless performance that hit every single point with a "BAM" and blew away the audience.

Touring behind their latest album "Reaching Into Infinity," they kicked off the show with "Ashes of the Dawn" probably one of the strongest from the album (and its first video). Despite the album only being out since May, the capacity crowd (show was sold out which made for navigating the bar a bit problematic, but whatever) knew many of the lyrics. They also did "Judgment Day" and "Curse of Darkness" to much excitement. In the spirit of metal they made sure to include a guitar and drum solo. Which would have been kind of trite if it wasn't for the fact that both guitarists (and band founders) Herman Li and Sam Totman can seriously shred. There were obviously lots of local musicians in the audience who enthusiastically applauded this moment.

Vocalist Marc Hudson was also in fine form. Give the style of singing (high power, lots of screaming) it would be easy to imagine that much of that is done in the studio but live... not so much. Yet he was pretty amazing. He has the range of a young Bruce Dickinson but we'll have to see if he can sustain that. Many people who sing like this end up burning out their vocal chords. But for now, he was pretty amazing to hear and see perform.

Opening band Once Human was also great to see. The American death metal band seemed like an odd companion to Dragonforce but the crowd loved them and vocalist Lauren Hart proves to the metal bros (once again -- we keep doing this?) that women can rock as hard as men. It was disheartening to hear the bros in the audience say "she does a good job for a chick." "Sigh" Guys, she kicks more ass than most men I know. Enough already.

For more on Dragonforce, including tour dates, visit the band's website.