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Blind Guardian - Beyond The Red Mirror

Published January 27 2015


*
=Staff's pick

Ninth Wave
Twilight Of The Gods
Prophecies
At The Edge Of Time
Ashes Of Eternity
Holy Grail*
The Throne*
Sacred Mind
Miracle Machine
Grand Parade


Genre Semi-prog. Heavy/Power Metal
Hansi Kürsch
Vocals
Tracks 10
André Olbrich
Guitar
Running time 65 Min.
Marcus Siepen
Guitar
Label Nuclear Blast
Barend Courbois
Bass
Release 30 January 2015
Frederik Ehmke
Drums
Country Germany
-
Keyboard
Producer Charlie Bauerfeind
Similar artists ---

Blind Guardian releases an album which I see as perhaps too complex for the everyday fan of the band. It follows the direction of the latest albums and takes most things even further away from the original appearance. I believe that some of the band's older fans will no longer appreciate the band's massive creations, since it really takes a large effort to suck in all this pompous and partially quite progressive music.

The songs contain lots of speedy passages and complicated approaches and quite often it's a real joy to listen to this album. The album is a well-thought-out product as it offers grand choirs, a nice ballad and significantly captivating stuff. It certainly lacks the raw and witty image that made the band known during the 90's, but if you listen closely and carefully, you can definitely hear bits and pieces of the old style Blind Guardian, but many of those sections are in a way covered by bombastic arrangements and the wide and ample performance.

The album is very intense and determined and it's loaded with grandiose moments that demonstrates what the band's two talented main characters, vocalist Hansi Kürsch and guitarist André Olbrich, envision. They really try to constantly elevate their performance and although this album isn't immensely intricate, they twist and turn all their abilities to come out with different structures all the time.

I believe that this is an album which typically will be praised in the media, due to its expansive nature and capacity. I personally enjoy much of its contents, but as they feed off the energy, they perhaps also come out too self-centered, in favor of creating something that the fans really want to have, meaning that the band reaches out to be a little too monumental, instead of focusing on aspects that the long-time fans are looking for. In my viewpoint, a good album nevertheless and fans of this unit should definitely give it a shot, as far as I'm concerned.

See also review of: Live Beyond The Spheres , A Twist In The Myth , Nightfall In Middle-Earth , A Night At The Opera , Fly , Imaginations Through The Looking Glass
See also: interview with Hansi/André

Performance
Originality
Production
Vocals
Songwriting

8

6

7

6

7

 
Summary



7 chalices of 10 - Tobbe


Related links:

www.blind-guardian.com
www.facebook.com/blindguardian