Blind Guardian, Beyond the red mirror

On the first few listens, this album seemed pretty disappointing. The guitar solos were there, the orchestra was there, the choirs were there, Hansi was there… it was Blind Guardian alright, but still something was missing. After more listens, I can say that what’s missing is the catchiness and maybe a hook song like Mirror Mirror or Imaginations from the other side, but once you give it time and really get into it, it’s every bit as good as the previous albums. In fact, the more I listen to it, the more fascinated I become. To be honest, I wrote a review that I didn’t get a chance to post and in the meantime I listened to the album again and decided that review didn’t do it justice, that this is a hundred times better than what I originally wrote and I made another one. That’s how much of a grower this is.

The ninth wave – With an epic and slightly ominous intro starts Blind Guardian’s tenth album and as soon as you add Hansi’s unmistakable voice, it already promises to be a great record. It sounds a bit bolder and darker than usual, but for the most part it’s what you would expect from them. Powerful, compelling and of course, epic. I’m trying hard to find a more vivid way to describe the song, but all that’s resounding in my mind is “epic, EPIC”. I love the escalating guitar solo in the middle of the song and also, even though the real choir is a great touch, I’m still a sucker for the Hansi-choirs and wouldn’t give them up for the world.

Twilight of the gods – what a horribly cheesy chorus! I cannot understand for the life of me what’s with these chord changes from minor to major in the middle of the song, they sound so unnatural and anticlimactic. Why would you ruin such an awesome badass beginning with that chorus, why? I love the beginning so much that it makes it even more frustrating than if it were an overall weak track. And again, what an awesome guitar solo! Power metal is so satiated with guitar solos that I usually roll my eyes when the mandatory one comes up during a song, but BG actually made me excited about it for once!

Prophecies – “We shall overcome”… “A crow, a storm”…. “There’s a red, there’s a red door”…. this is great, I can’t stop singing and tapping my head and my feet and my fingers to it. So freaking catchy and epic and memorable and oh God, I love this band so much! I’m also crazy about the “don’t blame me, don’t blame me” part, it’s so powerful! To give you an idea about how excited this song made me: I was thinking how amazing this should be live and I voiced my enthusiasm to my husband and the next day we had tickets to their show in our pocket! And we said we’re not going because we already saw them a few years ago and we can’t see them every time they come here and… screw that, they have Prophecies in the setlist, we’re going :))

At the edge of time – and it keeps getting better and better. At the edge of time is simply EPIC! What do you mean we’re only four songs in and I already overused the word “epic”? This is Blind Guardian we’re talking about, no other word even begins to describe them! The use of orchestra is perfect, I love how it doesn’t cover the rest of the instrumental or take the spotlight, but rather it complements and drapes the main melody. It’s definitely a lesson in how orchestra should be used effectively and any symphonic metal band should take notes when this track is being played. It’s a turmoil of instruments and voices and emotions and my heart is about to explode. I’m so fascinated by how much this song can grow, it’s a constant evolution, each moment is more intense than the previous one and I keep wondering how grandiose can this really get.

Ashes of eternity – I keep expecting Hansi to burst into “stop, be quiet now”, but the result is not any less awesome than Fly. I’m glad it follows the “no track without a kick-ass guitar solo” rule that was established on this album and also, it should go without saying that Hansi is incredible, but I feel like stating the obvious today: Hansi is incredible! The chorus is a bit anticlimactic after the buildup with the choir, but the rest of the song is awesome and the transition seems to be getting more and more tolerable with each listen, so it’s ok.

Distant memories – after a playful instrumental intro, my little Hansi-shaped heart melts the second he starts singing so softly. The whole song is so melodious and pretty, I love how the orchestra fills it in such a beautiful and moving way and I’m sorry, but using any other description than “epic” simply wouldn’t do it justice.

The Holy Grail – this reminds me a bit of Schaffer’s bass riff, could it be that their work together in Demons and Wizards is finally starting to show? If that’s the case, I’m definitely not complaining. It’s also a nice nod to their past, as a straightforward orchestra-free power metal song that reaches Battlefield-like levels of infectiousness! For as much as I adore their use of orchestra, I’m glad that they keep mixing things up and don’t use the same recipe for all the songs on the album, the heaviness of this song fits in perfectly in the middle of all the bombastic orchestra-dominated Distant memories and The throne. I can’t believe I almost gave this album up. It’s a freaking gem, it has everything you could ask for!

The throne – I’m in love! It’s another epic song and when Blind Guardian aim for epic, they go all out! If the previous releases had only one elaborate track each, this one has a lot more. With a few exceptions, most of the songs are in the same grandiose vein and maybe that’s one of the reasons it’s an album harder to get into. It’s a bit daunting at first, I guess, but when you get its charm… oh the charm! The throne is in fact one of my favourite songs, that impressive chorus, those beautiful violins, the spread of forces, the determination and desperation in Hansi’s voice… everything is perfect and my heart is going to burst out from how overwhelming this is! There are so many things going on at once and so many to discover with each new listen, I’m completely fascinated.

Sacred mind – and strangely enough, it gets even better (I have no idea how this is possible). It’s another power metal song without much orchestra, but it’s still every bit as epic as the previous. It’s nice how they add a simpler and more direct song from time to time, so the listener doesn’t get tired from all the complexity of the longer songs. I also like this new darker Blind Guardian and Hansi is even more awesome than the usual (again, how is this possible?), venturing near the territory of grunting, along with his regular heart-twitching screams.

Miracle machine – Suddenly, after all that instrumental chaos, there’s gentleness, perfect to calm me down and appeal to my sensitive side, with a Queen-like choir and an ending that gives me the chills. This band is grand! Epic, aggressive, delicate… it’s amazing how they can do them all so well. Even in one song, there’s such a sudden and yet natural transition from the softness of the first part to the powerful middle and then again silence and gentleness with that gorgeous “for they are coming, give us guidance” ending. The simplicity of this song in the middle of so many fast or epic tracks makes it even more beautiful and it adds even more emotion.

Grand parade – of course such an epic album couldn’t end without an epic 9 minute track. Yes, yes, soon this will end and you will not hear the word “epic” until the next BG album… The violins make the charm of this song and everything flows and grows and is intriguing and then…. deflation. Of course you couldn’t have a power metal song without cheerfully announcing something dramatic like “say goodbye my friend, here’s your promised end”, but I cannot stand this level of cheese. I have no idea why they had to ruin such a perfectly good song with the cheese-fest, every time I get back into the mood, the horrible chorus reappears and takes me out of it immediately. In fact, I have no idea why they had to end such an unbelievable album with the weakest song. It doesn’t take away from the enjoyment, but still, it would’ve been nice to end it on the same magistral note.

Anyway, I’m so so so glad that I gave this album one more chance because I would’ve been really stupid to miss out on such a masterpiece simply because I didn’t have enough patience. This is definitely a grower and it’s interesting how after so many years they can keep producing top-notch records without repeating themselves and without changing their style either. Well done, very well done!