Blind Guardian - At The Edge Of Time review
| Band: | Blind Guardian |
| Album: | At The Edge Of Time |
| Style: | Power metal |
| Release date: | July 30, 2010 |
| A review by: | Dream Taster |
Disc I
01. Sacred Worlds
02. Tanelorn (Into The Void)
03. Road Of No Release
04. Ride Into Obsession
05. Curse My Name
06. Valkyries
07. Control The Divine
08. War Of The Thrones
09. A Voice In The Dark
10. Wheel Of Time
Disc II [bonus digipack CD]
01. Sacred Worlds [pre-production version]
02. Wheel Of Time [orchestral version]
03. You're The Voice [radio edit]
04. Tanelorn (Into The Void) [demo]
05. Curse My Name [demo]
06. A Voice In The Dark [demo]
+ Sacred Worlds [video]
+ A Journey To The Edge Of Time (Studio Documentary) [video]
The bards have come out of the forest. Yes, the Blind Guardians are back baby! And did they ever do it in style. Surely one of the year's most anticipated albums, At The Edge Of Time is sure to rank high on personal lists for a while.
Hit in the face with the 9+ minute long opening masterpiece "Sacred World", I had to replay it for half an hour before being able to continue on with the rest of the album. Majestic orchestral intro, grand entrance killer riffs, and vocals to die for. The first thought that went through my head at that exact time "This is already better than the entire previous album". Hell, this is Blind Guardian with a renewed energy and a hint of progressive influences I only dreamt about in the past.
I really don't want to go into a song by song review here but if I were to cover the highlights of this album, this is exactly were this would be heading right now. So, much to my chagrin, I will evoke some key moments such as the unusually complex and progressive structure of a tempo changing jewel of a track called "Road Of No Release", the more trademark yet surprising and catchy as hell "Ride Into Obsession", the new standard of bard ballad in "Curse My Name", the extremely fast-paced while mesmerizing "Voice In The Dark", and finally the usual killer operatic of an ending song with "Wheel Of Time".
The duo of guitarists André Olbrich / Marcus Siepen is cracking some of their most achieved work to date, and I am not referring to the solos alone. Between the orchestral arrangements and the newly found progressive musical direction, their hand in making this an incredible album is undeniable. Master vocalist Hansi Kürsch delivers once again an impressive body of work, using his many registers with seemingly disconcerting ease. Drummer Frederik Ehmke is clearly fully integrated now. As a matter of fact, I highly suspect he is a huge reason behind the more progressive sound on this album. The supporting cast, including the orchestra is equally of top-notch quality.
Artwork and production, you may ask? People, this is a Blind Guardian album. This statement should by itself should answer that. This is German savoir-faire at its paramount. The limited edition includes a second CD that features an orchestral version of "Wheel Of Time" that could have made the main album, demo versions of other tracks and a cool cover of John Farnham's "Your're The Voice". It is absolutely worth it.
So? Still reading this? I could not make myself clearer; At The Edge Of Time is up there with Blind Guardian's best efforts. The band managed to achieve this while adding innovative elements to their established sound. And the best part is that it is actually still growing on me after 4 weeks of intense listening sessions. I am off to adding this album to my 2012 survival gear.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 10 |
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Written on 21.09.2010 by
Bringing you reviews of quality music and interesting questions such as: "A picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is a song worth?" I have only got so much patience and skills, you do the math. |
Comments page 3 / 3
Comments: 86
Visited by: 723 users
| advent Posts: 268  |
Written by [user id=105293] on 22.09.2010 at 02:18 The really funny thing that everything i heard form BG bored me to death , while Opeth is my fav band  Maybe it is a mutual thing between prog and power fans.
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| ErnilEnNaur Account deleted |
ErnilEnNaur
Account deleted Written by advent on 25.09.2010 at 04:05 Oh, I love prog, believe me. I just don't like drawn-out, over-written songs that don't pay off.
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675  |
Most albums with constant interludes, they are an annoyance more than anything else. "Testimony Of The Ancients" by Pestilence is one of a tiny amount of albums where the many interludes actually add to the enjoyment of the album. Aside from "Impure", thats a stupid interlude. 
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| RavenKing Posts: 1941  |
Written by Angelic Storm on 25.09.2010 at 12:38 Agreed. Problem is interludes disrupt the flow and pace of an album. In Nime's case, it reaches a degree at which the album doesn't have any flow.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675 |
Written by RavenKing on 25.09.2010 at 16:23 Even without the interludes, NIME would be a very uneven album to me. In that albums' case, it just adds to the problem. It just makes the small amount of good moments on the album seem even more rare. Interludes should add to the album, but in most cases, they only disrupt it. At least for me they do. lol
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| RavenKing Posts: 1941 |
Written by Angelic Storm on 25.09.2010 at 16:59 Exactly what I had in mind. I mentioned already that, imo, this album has only 2 real good songs: When Sorrow Sang and Mirror Mirror. The good moments are very scarce among all the useless rubbish this album contains. But the interludes make the wait between the good moments last even longer, indeed.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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| Vikcen Metálico Posts: 971  |
Well, i would say awesome interludes. I remember other record with very good interludes too, Epica by Kamelot  .Imo, these interludes contributes very well for a magic atmosphere.
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| LeChron James Helvetesfossen Posts: 3561  |
How many effing songs do they have with "tanelorn" in the title?? that aside, im definitely gonna get this once i acquire internet in my cave.
---- Kick Ass, Die Young Less is More Stay Pure Stay Poor Music was my life, music brought me to life and music is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there will be a final waltz in my head that only I can hear.
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675 |
Written by RavenKing on 25.09.2010 at 17:14 Although as you know, I like more than 2 songs on the album, I still think less than half of the non-interlude songs are actually great. But your last point, I do completely agree with. And nobody can accuse me of having that opinion cos of a bias against later Blind Guardian, seeing as I love most of ANATO and ATEOT. lol
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| RavenKing Posts: 1941 |
Written by Angelic Storm on 26.09.2010 at 04:19 I'm not a fan of later Blind Guardian (though I really like their first four albums) but I would take ANATO or the new album over NIME any day. Those two albums are not my style but they're not bad at all. I don't like ATITM at all, however. ANATO's biggest problem is it's way too layered, imo, to the point it makes the music hard to follow. Maybe I think like that because I prefer when Hansi 'sings alone' than when it's some kind of choir with fifty Hansi's piled over each other, if you know what I mean.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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| Zmaj Ognjeni Vuk To Mega Therion Posts: 330  |
Written by LeChron James on 26.09.2010 at 02:28 Errr, two?
----  Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one, and they all stink.
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| RavenKing Posts: 1941 |
Written by Zmaj Ognjeni Vuk on 26.09.2010 at 13:59 Perhaps but they sometimes plug the word 'Tanelorn' in songs, without it being in the title. I'm sure I heard the word in a few other songs.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675 |
Written by RavenKing on 26.09.2010 at 04:56 IMO ATITM has its moments, but its not a great album, a bit like NIME. As for ANATO, I dont mind the layering, although I have heard other people criticising that as well. I have heard Hansi saying though that songs off the album are usually not played live, because obviously the layering cannot be replicated in a live setting. So in that sense, I do have a problem with it. I have heard a version of "The Soulforged" live, and it really suffers, because a lot of the vocal parts are obviously left out of it. I like it on the album, but I guess there is a negative side to it... lol
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| RavenKing Posts: 1941 |
Written by Angelic Storm on 27.09.2010 at 01:44 That's what happens when you layer music. It becomes some kind of studio trick hard to duplicate live. Bands need to use lots of back up tapes.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675 |
Written by RavenKing on 27.09.2010 at 01:49 Im not really a fan of bands using back up tapes live. So in a way, I prefer to hear the song stripped down live, rather than having the back up tapes. The problem is, Hansi seemed a bit lost when singing the song (The Soulforged) live. Lots of words were being left out, and he was obviously struggling a bit with it. From that, I can see why they are reluctant to play those songs live, which sucks because I love most of that album.
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| RavenKing Posts: 1941 |
Written by Angelic Storm on 27.09.2010 at 01:54 I don't care for the live aspect, so the reason I don't like much layered music has nothing to do with this. It's just that I prefer music to be more 'direct' and straightforward, if you know what I mean.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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| ErnilEnNaur Account deleted |
ErnilEnNaur
Account deleted Written by [user id=105293] on 25.09.2010 at 11:56 Actually, Opeth rule. I don't know why it took me so long to hear it.
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| ThyKingdomScvm Posts: 25  |
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| CyberSymphony Ollie Posts: 673  |
I am really getting into this album, the orchestral parts in particular are awesome.
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| Timmeh Dudeman Posts: 344  |
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| Glaucus Posts: 92  |
Man, this album got a lot of comments, haha. If anything, I like everything that Blind Guardian has done, everything from Battalions of Fear to this album. Every one has a bit of something I like. This album, in particular, was gripping since I had been anticipating a new Blind Guardian album since A Twist In The Myth. So, when At The Edge Of Time came out, I hurried out to get it. Popped it into my car's CD player, and was floored by Sacred Worlds. Probably one of the happiest days I could remember.  Bahaha.Anyway, I like this album for a number of reasons. For one thing, the emphasis on The Wheel of Time book series in the songs Ride Into Obsession and Wheel of Time were great, musically and lyrically. If anything, Blind Guardian are absolutely fantastic at catching what a story should feel and sound like, and that's always entertaining to listen to. Though, a song that I saw was not mentioned is Control The Divine. A totally awesome concept! And the instrumentation, excellent. Really, I can't get enough of this album, haha.
---- "Pretty easy work, for a God." - Freya ~ Valkyrie Profile
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| Guilherme Posts: 3 |
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| jhook Posts: 37 |
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| Pazu Posts: 167  |
Written by jhook on 30.09.2011 at 04:27 Are you speaking from experience? ^^
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| jhook Posts: 37 |
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| Zmaj Ognjeni Vuk To Mega Therion Posts: 330 |
Speak for yourself, my gf loves BG and she's hot
---- Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one, and they all stink.
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