The problem with greatest hits collections is that the most die-hard of fans have already heard these tracks before – they are the greatest hits after all. With metal fans having the need to collect running somewhat higher than in other genres (generally speaking of course), it becomes a larger issue. Sadly, that’s’ where Killer Elite falters a bit.
On the plus side, this collection of Dragonforce cuts is a solid grouping of the band’s best works. Spanning their entire discography, there’s always room for debate about adding this track or removing that one but the overall flow is there. Two albums, 22 songs – almost 2.5 hours of Dragonforce. No one should have a gripe above not getting their money’s worth of material. However, there’s nothing new to be found to entice the die-hards to grab these songs other than some fancy new packaging, or being able to play “Through the Fire and Flames,” “Cry Thunder,” and “The Game” on the same disc – but in this day and age that doesn’t hold much water. To be fair, a few of the songs are taken in their live formatting, so it’s not 22 studio-original cuts but nothing the casual fan would find compelling enough to desire. There is also a digipak version that contains a DVD with 8 promo videos.
There’s nothing wrong with Killer Elite per say. It does capture the best and brightest of Dragonforce’s career to date and showcases them as a far greater entity than some would give them credit for. But it’s lacking in the extra goodies that a good collection needs to be truly mandatory – new songs, reworked songs, or a behind the scenes documentary perhaps. An excellent starting point for those who may not have been into metal through the Guitar Hero years, but a buyer-beware for the most die-hard fanatics.