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"A
Twist in the Myth" is off course the follow up to "A
Night in the Opera" from 2002, and one of the most
anticipated (power) metal albums this year. Perhaps THE most
anticipated metal album in Germany!
Not
much has changed in the Blind Guardian camp - OK in all fairness
there has been a changing of the guards - Frederik Ehmke has
replaced Thomen Stauch behind the drums, not that it has had that
much influence on the overall sound...
When
the mist clears and the guardians arrive on the metal battlefield
ready to go into battle, armoured with a thunderous wall of
guitars and drums, people know they are ready to fight with high
intensity and energy.
Let
the ring bearer from Krefeld take you on a journey down memory lane, because this album
possesses the same magic that made albums like ”Tales from the
Twilight World” and ”Somewhere far Beyond" power metal classics.
Well defined song structures, excellent big and monumental choirs
and choruses - like only Blind Guardian can write them, the best
guitar work to date from André Olbrich and Marcus Siepen - the
leads are outstanding and last but not least Hansi Kusch
delivering his absolutely best vocal performance ever. The rhythm
section is tight as a duck's ass and the production from Charlie
Bauerfeind is great.
In
my humble opinion this is the best Blind Guardian album since
"Somewhere far Beyond", mainly because the sound has
returned to a more basic sound - thankfully they have reduced the
1,000nd of layers of choirs and sounds to a more acceptable level
- something I thought they have been over-doing on all of their
albums from "Imaginations from the Other Side" onwards...
But
the songs are general all a tad better than on their last few
albums, with the exception of "Fly"! One the worst songs
they've ever written, and a bad choice as first single for this
album - it's not representative for the album at all...
They do flirt with some more modern sounding sounds on the album,
and I feel they have incorporated them with success with exception
of "Fly".
But
don't worry, Blind Guardian is still Blind Guardian - and as a fan
this is a very satisfying experience and I can strongly
recommend power metal fans to grab this album the day it's
released. IT ROCKS!
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