Blind Guardian, Legacy of the Dark Lands

I promise I’m not trying to break some kind of record, but like I mentioned in my last post, my inspiration has betrayed me in the past few months. It certainly didn’t help that there were few new albums that would pique my interest and even the ones I enjoyed (like Tool’s Fear inoculum) gave me little to talk about. This brings me to Blind Guardian’s Legacy of the dark lands. Which was so grand and impressive and massive that gave me too much to talk about, to the point where it took me weeks to put my thoughts in order and finally embark on the journey of reviewing it. 

For those who don’t know, Legacy of the dark lands is BG’s much awaited orchestral album that they have had in planning since pretty much forever and that seems to be Hansi and Andre’s most precious child. In a way it’s not truly a Blind Guardian album as it completely forgoes any of the metal instruments and, consequently, any of the members not named Hansi. On the other hand, it’s the most Blind Guardian thing you will ever listen to and it’s not only because it’s featuring the hardest to mistake voice in the world, but also because it has that special fantasy-like grandiose atmosphere and orchestra that BG are famous for. 

To describe this album without over-using the word “epic” would be a severe injustice and inaccuracy, so I’ll just go ahead and blab about how bombastic everything is, without ever becoming overbearing, pretentious or disjointed (I mean the album, I know I’m all over the place when I’m excited about something). Blind Guardian have always been able to use orchestra in a wonderful way, with coherence and consonance, so it’s no surprise that when allowed to roam freely they were able to create such a beautiful saga. 

The only thing I truly dislike are the interludes. I’ve always maintained I don’t find the place of spoken word in music and while certain accents can enhance the atmosphere, having a dialogue or monologue after every single track is way too much and it achieves exactly the opposite. It completely breaks the flow of the otherwise beautiful fluid melodies and it took me quite a few listens to realise the reason I was not truly getting into this album was because of the interludes. I needed to listen to the actual tracks individually instead of the album as a whole to realise how amazing Legacy of the dark lands actually is when you remove those silly moments that dilute it. 

At times there is a rather Christmassy feel, especially in the earlier tracks such as Dark cloud’s rising, but as the album progresses, the songs become more intense and majestuous. In the red dwarf’s tower is cute and catchy, Point of no return is playful and the most engaging and obsessional tune ever, Nephilim has an elegant and gentle sadness and it all culminates with Beyond the wall, which is simply breathtaking in its beauty and epicness. In essence, to say Legacy of the dark lands experiences growth with every single track would be an understatement. 

The main focus is of course the orchestral arrangement, which is always rich and inspiring. There is complexity, emotion, magnificence and even listening to the instrumental side of the release is a joy and a pleasure, despite of me generally putting a lot of emphasis on vocals and having a rather poor attention span. But one cannot ignore or forget about the voice when it comes from the body of the incredible Hansi Kursch. As pretty as the accompaniment is, it’s just that: accompaniment to one of the most amazing sound to ever grace my ears. No matter what he’s singing and what he has to compete with, be it delightful orchestral arrangements or infectious choirs, Hansi always shines. 

What, did you expect less fangirling? When have I ever said anything that didn’t contain at least three superlatives regarding the amazing Blind Guardian? Just leave your expectations at the door and come along come along with me to sink into the wondrous Legacy of the dark lands.