It seems unbelievable what those guys with their frontman Hansi accomplished on their new album! As on the last two albums they used every recording track what means that they partially used up to 200(!!!) tracks. You wouldn’t wonder if you saw how deep the band grabbed into their musical treasure chest and built in great orchestral parts from Charlie Bauernfeind, the band’s producer.
But what has changed in BLIND GUARDIAN’s music? Maybe you’d think that it wouldn’t be that much, everything got rarefied and elaborated. The song structure got even more progressive, what means that you have to hear the songs a few times until you realize the range and brilliance of this album. I think it’s a pity that there are no fast parts anymore like there were on Somewhere Far Beyond because this parts would have made the album more powerfully. As the outstanding song on this album, the 14 minutes long And Then Was Silence should be named. I was not only published as a single, it also combines all trademarks of the album. That makes this song that one you should hear well.
The cover is not that good as the cover of the last album, somehow the music aspect got lost- the cover seems a little too normal… but what should make the difference is the music itself, so the cover is not that important
Even if I hear A Night At The Opera for about the 30th time, I cannot make friends with it - it’s too dodgy and you need too much patience to enjoy this album.
But whatever, BLIND GUARDIAN’s fans need to get this album as well as fans of progressive music!