The Guardian struggles with a followup to their magnum opus.
(Rated this album with 8 out of 10) Reviewed by
Mattowarrior
from Madison, WI United States
Blind Guardian is obviously one of my favorite bands. I first got into them from other bands "playlists" in other magazines, i.e, what members of other bands were listening to. I would say they peaked musically on "Nightfall in Middle Earth". However, my favorite albums by them will always be their first four, for the ferocious speed metal and catchy anthems contained on them. This album is not neccesarily a dissapointment songwise, but with production. Some of the drums sound VERY triggered, something I did not expect from a drummer of the class of "the omen" Stauch. Also, the canned synths really come down to sounding very artificial and contrived, unlike NIME's balance of sounds achieved by more "realistic" instruments and more acoustic guitars. The songs are not as focused obviously as NIME either, so the songs have a tendency to wander off. However, that said, its still Blind Guardian. And besides the ignorance of many reviewers to their genius, this still remains a good, if not great, album. Lyrics have a lot more depth this time, ranging from religion to Nietzche and more current events. Of course they are still written in a "fantastic" way to not betray their "fantasy metal" tag. If this album is guilty of anything, it is most likely the lack of subtlety. However, unlike Rhapsody who seem to be making the same album over and over again, this still sounds different than most of the stuff out there and their previous albums. I'd say if you are new to Blind Guardian there are a few ways to approach it: Buy something like Imaginations first, then NIME second, then Tales third and go from there. Of course, with Hansi's vocals, it is either love them or hate them, but one of the things that attracted me to Blind Guardian initially were his vocals, they have none of the "Kiske/Halford" esque cliches inherent in most power metal.
