Blind Guardian - Beyond the Red Mirror - Reviews (2024)

At time of writing, "Beyond the Red Mirror" is the most recent Blind Guardian album despite being quite old at this point. And for those curious, no, I do not consider the purely classical album that follows this to be a Blind Guardian album, nor will I be reviewing it. I have, of course, listened to it, but a purely classical/orchestral album is not something I feel I can review fairly with my tastes. In fact, I would go as far as to say that "Beyond the Red Mirror" was a precursor to that classical album they released after. And I certainly hope as a fan that they were able to get all of that out of their systems. That statement may come as a shock, because I am certainly not what people would call a 'metal purist' in a lot of ways. I love orchestration that enhances metal. However, enhance is the key. Many of the tracks on their prior album "At the Edge of Time" did just that. The orchestration enhanced the overall metal song. It didn't detract or steal from it.

"Beyond the Red Mirror" is far from a bad or unacceptable Blind Guardian album, but...I certainly think it is a narcissistic one. What do I mean by that? Well, this album tries to do so much throughout its runtime that it misses the target. It's checking itself out and trying to flex and showcase so much that it doesn't do much of anything. This album is so much flash and so little sizzle. It tries so desperately hard to fit a certain mold that the songwriting is a mess. It is inconsistent, uninspired, and rather dull. The rather lousy and cluttering production doesn't help matters either. Where "At the Edge of Time" had clear metal songs with orchestral influence, this album feels like the band was trying to test the patience of their audience. How much of a classical/orchestrated album could they get away with while providing as little of their signature metal flavor before their audience completely turns on them?

Look no further than the opener "The Ninth Wave." It's a prime example. We start the song out with an eerie choir. And this intro is definitely memorable and effective. It really makes you feel like you're getting a choir-like "Sacred Worlds." They're both 'shaped' the same way. But where "Sacred Worlds" built to something explosive, when the band comes in here, they come in incredibly flat. They come in as if they're nothing more than a back or supporting act to the choir rather than being the focus of the song. And it just never picks up or goes anywhere from there. The whole song is devoid of any memorable moments. It staggers and meanders without a single solid riff, nor is Hansi really doing all that much. They try SO hard to give the song an intense and epically memorable chorus, but it feels insanely forced and desperate to get this across rather than natural. The opening track is over nine minutes of pandering and filler. No substance. "The Throne" is only a little better. Once again, the band seems like a side act to the orchestration. The guitars seem more bored than their audience is. If "The Throne" didn't even have guitar parts on it, you would barely be losing anything. The guitars are here out of obligation. Not because they're adding anything. Once again, this song is just an insane amount of pandering and going absolutely nowhere.

"Ashes of Eternity" sounds like it wanted to go in the same vein, but just forgot the orchestra. It's a song that tries to flex its heaviness without actually having the substance to stand behind the bluff. The opening is promising, but that's it. You have a standard and tired Blind Guardian song that follows. Besides the intro, the guitars are doing absolutely nothing memorable or interesting while Hansi sings across them. The solo is one of the more unique on the album, but a solid solo can't save it. Hansi is also doing a great job trying to salvage the song, but the dull and tired songwriting has too many holes for him to try and patch up with his voice. "Ashes of Eternity" ends up being a snooze of a song that isn't 'heavy' enough to be called a return to form, and isn't memorable enough to fit with their current style. "Sacred Mind" truly just plods along. It's about as stock of a Blind Guardian song as you can come up with. You cannot get more formulaic than "Sacred Mind." Almost as if it is a theme to the album, besides a few clear moments where you're supposed to notice the guitars, if they're not being highlighted, they might as well not even be there. The song has a bit more of an identity than ones I mentioned prior, but just can't get out of its own way. It tries hard to have a few interesting little changes here and there, but it's just too repetitive and too predictable to do anything other than pad the album's runtime.

Despite all of this, though, "Grand Parade" shows that Guardian didn't just forget how to write a song. In fact, it's easily in my top 5 Guardian songs of all time. "Grand Parade" is what most of this album should have been. The orchestration is enhancing the band. The guitars might not have their most catchy riff work on display, but they are playing to the song. They are balancing the orchestration, not being replaced by it. The flow of the song is so smooth and fluid. It has such a fun, yet somewhat somber nature, too. Hansi is once again displaying a clinic in vocal variety. The song almost feels like someone's forlorn last dance. There's so much going on that is all so interesting. It takes multiple listens to really absorb and digest "Grand Parade" fully. "Miracle Machine" is Blind Guardian's truly first ballad that doesn't have a fantasy mood musically to it. It is a ballad in the purest form. It is also an excellent and moving song. Once again, the orchestration is there to enhance Hansi and not overshadow him. "Miracle Machine" is also him toying with other singers. He is able to do so much with his voice that it is simply jaw-dropping. It's a beautiful song and an absolute showcase of Hansi's greatness.

"Twilight of the Gods" was the first song released from this album, and I remember being pretty confused when it dropped. When it was released, it was getting a lot of complaints, yet I loved it. I still find it to be a highlight. It's definitely the song on the album where the guitars are the most memorable, in my opinion. And because of that, I felt almost deceived that the rest of the album wasn't really like this song. Of course, you could say this song is also a bit typical for a Blind Guardian song, and I can't argue that, but the vocal melodies are so catchy and memorable. The chorus is electric, and there's a lot of sweet riffs painting it. "The Holy Grail" is another solid and enjoyable track offered by the album. I always kind of thought that this song was along the lines of what "Ashes of Eternity" was going for. The difference is that "The Holy Grail" has much more memorable guitar parts, and it has more depth to the songwriting. It has some movement and passion to it, and doesn't sound like its going through the motions. It might not be the first song I'd give to a newcomer of the band, but it's an enjoyable and memorable track on this album.

"Beyond the Red Mirror" does not end up being a bad album, but it is very much feast or famine. In fact, I'd easily call this record a less consistent listening experience than "A Twist in the Myth" was, and that is the album that is often pointed to for inconsistency. In any case, I hope Guardian isn't throwing in the towel, or shifting their efforts to more classical music entirely, now. If this ends up being the last true Blind Guardian album, it'd be a sour way to leave. I genuinely hope Guardian has gotten any delusions they might have had of making a grand classical music 'comeback' with this album and the following fully orchestral album. If this type of music is just something that Hansi and co feel like they had to get off their chest to prove they could do it well, I'm happy for them, but my fingers are crossed that Guardian will come back stronger than ever next time.

I'm biased toward Blind Guardian (BG) as a pretty big fan of theirs but let me state that this is their best work since A Night at the Opera. Twist in the Myth had catchy tunes but for the most part, was crap. At the Edge of Time saw BG take a more progressive metal direction but no real major gains. Beyond the Red Mirror sees them return to the power metal style they developed in the 90s but with a new direction for the future.

BG's stance in neo-classical metal seems to be grossly overlooked a lot. With Beyond the Red Mirror, I don't think it can be ignored any more. They take to heart a far stronger classical influence than they have done before implementing choirs and orchestras. The choir opens up the entire album with an ominous sounding chorus drifting into a pitch black reality of time developing toward modernity as vicious entities band together to annihilate those attempting to stand in opposition. The orchestras provide a feeling of epicness and direness to the emotions of the subject of the album. BG has even used some electronic style sounds onto this album.

The riffs on this album reminded me at times of Nightfall in Middle Earth and Imaginations from the Other Side. They were strong, looming, edgy, and provided a melodious tone that carried out and delivered the mood for the album. The legato of the solos, especially on "The Ninth Wave", "Twilight of the Gods", and "The Throne", flows with a delicate complexity that provides a more operatic atmosphere.

The drums pound throughout the album supplementing a strong, backing rhythm and at times even setting up the strength of the tone (especially on "The Ninth Wave"). Ehmke was a gifted replacement to Stauch but he really delivers on this album. The drumming matches the tone and mood with perfection, dropping from a blast-beat pattern to a strong backing slower tempo to set the darkened melodies.

Kursch delivers on the vocals. He is tough and commanding. He is dramatic and passionate. If the king is not in control, who is? It must be Kursch. He takes the lead and becomes involved in the story of the album. He isn't just narrating it via his singing, he is acting the play and becoming the characters in his story.

It will be interesting to see if BG continues in a more neo-classical direction or if they return to a more strictly metal style. I feel they are solid at both but their neo-classical style is one of the more epic acts in the modern metal era. It would be great to see more development in this direction.

Trying to top the masterpiece that was At The Edge of Time was never going to be an easy task. Trying to make a concept album based on two songs from an album twenty years ago? Well, you certainly can't accuse Hansi and Andre of phoning this one in.

Nonetheless, if Beyond The Red Mirror is a film sequel (as in, a sequel to At The Edge of Time), it's the type of sequel that no, it doesn't top the original but it's certainly not a disaster and holds plenty of entertainment value to make it stand on its own. Hell, I think this album is better than one or two of the supposed classic Guardian albums, but that's just my opinion.

The orchestras are a lot more pronounced and noticeable this time around. Thankfully they aren't at Nightwish levels, where they take up so much room the actual metal starts to get squeezed out. For every so called movement there's a riff to counterpoint it, and that's the way it should be. Then there are the overdubs. Holy crap are there overdubs. Blind Guardian always had these but BTRM's spread makes Nylon Curtain look like a Ramones album. Makes me slightly nervous for the actual orchestra album Blind Guardian wants to do, but let's stay focused.

Highlights: The Ninth Wave is an example of the elusive "same thing yet completely different" formula that fans want but so many artists fail to achieve without alienating the fans or using to much recycling. Whereas Sacred Worlds was an overture of symphony before giving way to a "make it rain on them hoes with bricks" cavalcade of thrash, this is more of a choir entry that morphs into a infectious groove (the good kind mind you). Ashes Of Eternity is an absolute scorcher and a well deserved live staple (at least it would have been if they bothered to play it). Distant Memories is the best non-acoustic ballad Guardian has written since Nightfall. Grand Parade takes mostly top marks as one of the great Blind Guardian epics, and is a brilliant way to close the album. Andre Olbach's guitar solo is particularly inspired here, particularly around 4:45. What a soaring lick! Not only he have the decency to repeat just so you the listener can know that he did indeed just do that, but right afterwards the entire band switches rhythms on a dime to a more marching tempo. This album is one of those cases where I'm just too lazy to look up the actual lyrical concept of the album, so for all I know this song could be describing the brutal Eclipse moment of Berserk. It doesn't matter one joule because it is such a f*cking triumph that with the final no more lies you just assume everyone lives happily ever after, and why f*ck up a good thing?

I honestly can't say there is a bad song here, but 11 songs clocking in at 71 minutes is just too much. Right around the Holy Grail is when I start glancing at my watch so between that, The Throne, and Sacred Mind, I suppose choose which of those you like the least and skip it (though be warned, if you skip Sacred Mind you're missing one hell of a chorus).

There ain't too many veterans putting out quality new material, let alone quality new material that rivals some of the old albums, but dammit, the bards are one of them. Cannonball into the red mirror with bright eyes and waste no time in snagging this.

Ten full-lengths and 30+ years deep, Blind Guardian are still one of the most epochal bands in the power metal scene. They seem to keep their tunes fresh by changing the overall direction for each album, yet retaining that same Blind Guardian core we've come to expect, for the most part. Hansi's inimitable vocal style backed by the legendary Olbrich/Siepen guitar harmonizing. In this iteration (or incarnation, if you prefer) of the band, we get a sound that's more focused on the vocals/choruses than At the Edge of Time, yet not quite so compact and superficial as A Twist in the Myth. Things are perhaps a bit more 'epic' here, both in song length and in scope, hearkening back a bit to 2002's A Night at the Opera, but with a darker edge and more compact, restrained songs (to be fair, most things sound restrained in comparison to A Night at the Opera). Throw perhaps the grandiosity of ANATO and the concise songwriting style of ATiTM and you'll more or less get the sound presented here in Beyond the Red Mirror. Luckily, the production is much better than that on ATiTM, comparable to that on At the Edge of Time, and the songwriting is significantly stronger as well.

We do see a lot of fairly simple riffs here ("Twilight of the Gods," ) but these are complemented by the leads and vocals quite well, building a more complex layer built of relatively simple parts, much like Kamelot circa The Black Halo. That's the sort of middle ground I'm talking about; more going on than most of the songs in ATiTM, but not 12 different melodies, many somewhat complex in and of themselves, as in ANATO. In terms of quality, the album averages around "very good, but not great" with a couple of songs both above and below that standard, respectively. "Prophecies" and "Grand Parade" are definitely highlights here, with the former grabbing the listener's attention immediately with its catchy guitar harmonies, vocal lines ("Once upon a dream ago, we're the ones you left alone!") and killer outro. The latter is a bit more dense, a long anthemic epic that, at nine and a half minutes, is tied with "The Ninth Wave" as longest track of the album. It's truly timeless, masterful Blind Guardian here; evocative of long, sprawling classics like "And Then There Was Silence" and "Somewhere Far Beyond," this one is worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as those two, taking the theme of death and putting a fairly positive spin on it, but on a deeper emotional level than a power metal band like Blind Guardian, good as they are, usually reach.

The two offenders that fall below the par for the album are opener "The Ninth Wave" and obligatory album ballad "Miracle Machine." The former is a bloated and very riff-light song that feels more like an average europower song than a unique tune from these masters of German power metal. While Blind Guardian have been very vocally-focused since Imaginations from the Other Side, this song just takes that too far and has at least 3 minutes of completely unnecessary repetition. "Miracle Machine" just strikes me as a poorly-written ballad; while Hansi certainly has some great ones under his belt ("Fiddler on the Green," "All the King's Horses"), and 2010's AtEoT gave us two great ballads, this one just falls short to me. Never really gets going, and not very memorable. The remaining tracks here fall more or less into that "very good" category. Overall, the album definitely delivers, standing head and shoulders above ATiTM and AtEoT, but falling under renowned classics like Somewhere Far Beyond and ANATO. If it was just slightly more consistent it might almost get there, but I won't complain for a very good album not being an amazing album. Definitely worthy of any Blind Guardian/power metal fans in general.

I tried pretty hard to enjoy this record; I can define my 2015 by the amount I thrashed Blind Guardian, and upon hearing that this was some return to older styles I was pretty stoked. Turns out that that was a totally incorrect call, but I didn't mind Night at the Opera so I thought it could be ok.. Wrong! What we have here is basically a Blind Guardian version of Wintersun- an attempt to hide some seriously boring songs with a few million layers.

If you read something written entirely in caps lock, it quickly loses it's impact and becomes a numbing slog. That's pretty much this album- guitars layered to the point of mush, Hansi's vocals layered well beyond the point of parody. At least a rant written in caps lock doesn't have any choruses as bad as The Ninth Wave. Or Twilight of The Gods. Or Miracle Machine, etc etc. If something can be compared to Ayreon, that's a bad bad thing, but here it is, in all of it's horrible cheesy nothingness, in the gouda covered major key choruses, in the cheddar drenched overproduction. It's one of those albums that you hear and immediately go "oh this is why punk became a thing".

And yeah, the lack of ideas. I've heard this album, rough guess, about 10 times now? Had it on in my car, hoping I would get into it.. Those were some long drives. Anyway, yeah, the only chorus that really still sticks- Holy Grail aside, which I'll get to later- is The Ninth Wave, and that's more because the awful lyrics than anything else. It's hard to come up with a memorable chorus when there's 25 different vocal lines going everywhere. There's not really any guitar riffs that get me going, seeing as most of the guitar work is as percussion or simple chord progressions.

See, that's the thing- Blind Guardian, despite all their grandeur and whatnot, are dependent on catchy choruses and crunchy, entertaining, super melodic riffs. That's what they're good at. Pick a classic BG song.. Majesty to Valhalla to Imaginations to Mirror Mirror to Curse of Feanor (a personal favourite), whatever, and sure enough, the thing is dependent on providing something that is catchier than Ebola but still suitably visceral. Not the heaviest thing ever, but enough that you don't feel like you stumbled upon a Worst-of Queen cd. I would probably bet my house that no one has ever said their favourite BG song is their favourite "because there's so many layers". The layers are important, but they aren't the main thing- the musical core has got to be solid! And here it isn't.

Except, except for The Holy Grail. It's a cracker of a tune, and with better production it wouldn't look out of place on Imaginations. I'm not a huge solo man myself but it is a super rad bit of guitar molestation, entertaining riffs, a really strong chorus- a pure winner. Unsurprisingly it's also the least layered, least wanky song on the album. Oh there's still a lot going on, but all the "unlimited budget" studio fruit supports the basic music structure, instead of trying to stand up on its' own.

Perhaps a far less classy description would be- do a crap. If you crap on that crap, it's just.. more crap. Doing 20 more craps on that steaming pile of crap will just make the pile of crap even more crappy. Doesn't matter if you eat vanilla paste for a whole day and then mix it up by eating nothing but overcooked steak. It's still crap.

Yeah, so just give Imaginations a few more listens and forget this exists.

Whether you listen to their albums sequentially or in random order, there is fluidity within the Blind Guardian catalogue that few bands have managed to achieve. The German power metal stalwarts have a damn near untouchable legacy, transcending fan-imposed barriers on oft-cheesy mainstream Euro power metal. These torchbearers for a genre have grown and evolved throughout their substantial history, and their tenth album, Beyond the Red Mirror, fits well into this trajectory. As on all of their previous albums, the songs here are bombastic, flitting between whip-fast speed metal, operatic rock, neo-classical and progressive.

Of course, after 28 years of music-making, Blind Guardian have morphed. The neo-classical and progressive elements have intensified as the years have gone by; the dominating speed metal sound has receded. Beyond the Red Mirror continues along their latter day trajectory begun in the mid '90s, yet turns up the driving and operatic elements beyond those found on 2010's At the Edge of Time. Continuing the story of the two worlds that dominated 1995's Imaginations from the Other Side, Beyond the Red Mirror tells how "the two worlds described therein have changed dramatically for the worse since then. While there used to be several passages between the worlds, there is only one gate left now: The Red Mirror. It has to be found at any cost."

With a crunchier mix and a bigger sound (thanks to three choirs and two orchestras), Beyond the Red Mirror is a fist-pumper. The massive, vocally layered "The Ninth Wave" is a spectacular opener; "Ashes of Eternity" is driving with metronomic double kick and gruff growls; "Miracle Machine" is about as sentimental as Blind Guardian get, featuring slow piano and honeyed crooning that build up magnificently. The dual universe storyline comes to its triumphant conclusion with "Grand Parade," an aptly named track with oscillating classical strings and twinkling triangle that become massive as the orchestra supports the rock instrumentation to great effect. This is Queen-level grandiosity conveyed by a team of 100 or more people, and dear goodness, it's BIG; the bombastic ending leaves listeners wanting more.

Altogether, this is a Blind Guardian album that will please newcomers and reward long time fans that stayed aboard after 2006 while fair-weather fans jumped ship.

Originally written for Exclaim
http://exclaim.ca/Music/article/blind_guardian-beyond_red_mirror

Blind Guardian's tenth studio release Beyond The Red Mirror is not only another conceptual record but also a sequel to Imaginations From The Other Side which came out twenty years earlier. Objectively, that was a popular record that revolutionized the power metal scene and maybe the entire metal scene in general due to its progressive mixture of crunching speed metal, epic power metal and increasingly important symphonic metal influences in a time when the metal scene needed fresh influences to survive. Personally, this release is by far my favourite record of the band. The band's earlier records were a little bit too fast and simplistic in my opinion while the latter records felt like more and more overloaded headache symphonies to me. Imaginations From The Other Side had a well-balanced production, creative and concise song writing and featured amazing musicianship with powerful riffs, touching guitar solos, pumping bass guitars, furious drum patterns, variable vocals and even epic choirs and elegant orchestrations which were added in small doses at the right moments. I was curious to hear the band returning to this outstanding release after a waiting time of almost five years since the last regular studio output.

Overall, this release really can't mess with the creativity, energy and spirit of Imaginations From The Other Side. Still, there are a few positive aspects about this record. Blind Guardian slowed down the pace of their songs. All tracks are in mid-tempo. This gives the high amount of choirs and orchestrations the occasion to integrate better into the band's complex soundscapes. Hansi Kürsch's unique vocals also get the chance to sound more dominant. The record comes around with some more powerful choruses than the predecessors. The well-defined lyrical concept and the constant inclusion of epic choirs and ambitious orchestrations give the record a clear and focused guiding line. The first highlight of the album is the uplifting chorus of the single "Twilight Of The Gods" which comes probably closest to the essence that made Imaginations From The Other Side so outstanding. In my opinion, the two bonus tracks happen to be the best and most outstanding songs on the album, so make sure to get the limited earbook edition or the Japanese version of this release if you decide to purchase it. "Distant Memories" is an appeasing ballad with decently employed orchestrations, a few beautiful guitar melodies and variable vocals that take their time to unfold throughout six magical minutes. "Doom" has an apocalyptic atmosphere which is shown in dark and calm passages in the beginning, in more dramatic and faster parts that come back and forth in this song and during several powerful fusions of versatile main vocals, dramatic choirs and a few orchestral parts.

There are also many things wrong with this release. First of all, the production sounds clinical, powerless and unbalanced. The guitar sound is not as gripping and dominant as usual, the drum sound is distant and the bass guitar is barely audible. There are too many unclean layers of loud sounds above each other which also harm the dynamics of the final product. Blind Guardian should chose someone else than Charlie Bauerfeind as producer and might ask their genre colleagues from Dimmu Borgir, Epica and Therion how to fusion classical and metal instruments in a coherent way. Another big problem is the song writing. The ambitious concept has become more important than the songs themselves. The band wants to tell an epic story and focuses too much on the lyrics which are also very repetitive as you can already see by just taking a look at the song titles and this is not just due to the fact that this record quotes Imaginations From The Other Side from time to time. The band wants to proudly show off its lyrical effusions without realizing that they are one of the main weaknesses as they sound mildly amusing, peskily repetitive and redundantly stereotypical. Apart of the three tracks mentioned above, all other tracks end up sounding extremely similar. The constant overwhelming inclusion of classical orchestrations, epic choirs and dominant layers of vocals takes so much space that guitars, drums and bass have no real impact on the song writing. These musicians are therefor reduced to guest instrumentalists who are mainly playing something in the background. The transitions between the tracks are quite good and the different passages in the single songs sound fluid but this only underlines the fact that one gets the impression to listen to the same boring symphony for almost one hour. Especially the longer tracks between lengths around six minutes and nine and a half minutes lack focus and are hard to sit through. They are not the kind of complex tracks that need their time to grow on you either. It's not because these tracks are overloaded and overlong that they are progressive either. They go straight nowhere most of the time.

On Imaginations From The Other Side, each song felt creative, powerful and outstanding, the mixture of genres was balanced, harmonious and progressive and the production was avant-garde, crystal clear and constantly dynamical. Twenty years later, Beyond The Red Mirror offers tracks that sound elegiac, overambitious and repetitive, a mixture of styles which feels one-dimensional, overloaded and tiring and a production that sounds loud, mushy and uneven. Ironically, the bonus tracks which are breaking out of the usual formula are by far the best songs on the record and give some hope for the band's future. Blind Guardian still has a lot of talent and they have the capacity to release another true symphonic metal milestone if they can strip down their ambitions, concepts and sounds in the future. Blind Guardian needs to learn that sometimes less is more and that the sum of an equation is sometimes less important than its different parts. In the end, I can only suggest you to stick to the excellent original and can't recommend this unnecessary sequel.

There have always been certain bands that discover a formula that works for them that they don't deviate too far from. This formula helps make their albums more enjoyable to most by letting them know what they can expected on subsequent releases. After a while though most bands begin to deviate slightly from what they are most known for. Either they change genres completely or they just don't put as much effort in the recording process as they have in the past. Blind Guardian is one of those bands that no matter what they do, whether it be aggressive power thrash or very melodic and intelligent Tolkien-inspired epics, always seem to be right on the mark. After a five year gap since their highly acclaimed At the Edge of Time was released, their newest album Beyond the Red Mirror immediately became one of the most heavily anticipated and overhyped albums of 2015. Many people felt they already knew what to expect from the release without even listening to it. This album is supposed to be bombastic, have very unique guitar passages, Hansi Kursch's trademark aggressive yet melodic vocals, and more backing tracks that you can even imagine.

From the beginning of the album things immediately take off in a bit of an odd direction with the 9 and a half minute track The Ninth Wave. The first two minutes are essentially rather deep men's choir vocals before Hansi's voice can first be heard. I am rather confused when it is over 5 minutes in and I feel like the song has never really taken off. There are all all of the layered backing vocals you would expect along with Andre Olbrich's trademark guitar tone, but somehow the song just doesn't really seem to strike a memorable chord with me. I honestly feel that it is a huge mistake to begin your album with what is intended to the epic. If it fails to deliver immediately it leaves a lot of catching up to do for the rest of the album. The Ninth Wave really has nothing salvageable about it to me. Its not terribly done, but even after multiple times of hearing it, none of it is instantly catchy as most Blind Guardian songs in the past have been.

Twilight of the Gods was everyone's first taste of the new album. Usually Blind Guardian chooses rather well in picking their singles. They often come out being some of the best songs on the whole release. This track comes off as very cut and paste to me. The lyrics seem very cliche of what a lot of power metal bands do. The chorus is relatively decent though and Hansi's voice sounds as good as ever, but it just seems like something is missing from the whole composition. They have always seemed to build their songs around an extremely memorable chorus, but this one appears to be be lacking something very small that pushes it over the top. It ended up as just another Blind Guardian track, not great, not terrible, but still identifiably Blind Guardian.

In terms of past albums, Ashes of Eternity sounds like it would have been a b-side on A Night at the Opera. The verses to it almost remind me of Battlefield, but the song is missing the absolutely insane guitar shredding and extremely memorable chorus. The guitars are decent, but all in all seem like basic solos that Andre has already played hundreds of times before. This really could be a great song if they just changed a few things about it. Ashes of Eternity seems to carry the trend so far with the rest of the album in that it just appears to be missing just a few things that would actually make it a great song.

About halfway through the album the band finally pulls together something great. The Holy Grail starts off aggressively like something that would have very easily fit in on Imaginations from the Other Side. The guitar playing is more precise and unique, the drums sound like standard yet intense blasts like they have always been known for, the chorus is definitely the most memorable on the entire album, and the lyrics tell an excellent story. Blind Guardian always manages to write some incredible tracks like this, I just didn't think it would take six tracks for my jaw to finally drop to the floor in amazement. If Beyond the Red Mirror were an album full of songs like this it would easily be an album of the year contender. The next track The Throne is in a very similar vein as The Holy Grail. It seems like it also could have been off of one of their classic albums especially with the intensely epic orchestration. Out of all the guitar solos on the album this one is definitely the most memorable as well as probably the longest and for an 8 minute song it really doesn't seem like it with as well as it is performed. The Holy Grail and The Throne makes a really nice one-two punch, but not exactly a knockout still.

Ballads are something I've always enjoyed from Blind Guardian, from Blood Tears to The Bard Song they have consistently been some of the best songs they've recorded in my opinion. Miracle Machine kind of sounds like a Queen song that was never quite finished. It doesn't really have a sing-a-long chorus and musically it never really takes off. I was really looking forward to this track and it honestly left me desiring something a lot different from what I was given.

When it comes to Blind Guardian I have come to expect to be instantly blown away by whatever they release. For the most part Beyond the Red Mirror failed to do that. There are a few really strong tracks around the middle of the album, but a lot of songs just seem incomplete. The orchestration and song structure that is undeniably Blind Guardian is there, but there are a few aspects that could have used some more work, especially in attempting memorable choruses and identifiable guitar solos. I have a feeling this album is going to grow on me in the future, but as of right now it left a very bland taste in my mouth. It is by no means terrible, I was just expecting so much more.

When it comes to over-the-top, epic power metal, Blind Guardian are about as highly revered as they come. Often found chugging along to their fantasy themed lyrics inspired by great literature, the German rockers are clearly as well read as they are musically gifted. Beyond the Red Mirror came with much promise – a four and a half year wait from their last release, coupled with an ever-growing obsession with the orchestral; this had all the power to be a masterpiece of magnificent proportions. And to be fair, it pretty much delivers on all that promise. While it is yet to stand the test of time that Somewhere Far Beyond and Imaginations from the Other Side has already done, it’s already quite clear that they have a huge success on their hands.

It has to be said that one of the main keys to Blind Guardian’s success is their ability to innovate and diversify with every release, whilst somehow staying true to their roots. Everything is different whilst retaining all those hallmarks of the Blind Guardian sound – the infectious guitar melodies, the devastating riffs and of course, Hansi Kürsch’s unique, powerful vocals. All of them are present in Beyond the Red Mirror, with an abundance of orchestras and choirs thrown in for good measure too.

The album opens with the almost ten minute epic The Ninth Wave which plots the course for the whole album. A haunting choir introduces the song before it unleashes the band’s trademark aggressive riffing and memorable choruses. The bar is set high early on and continues to deliver with every song – wave after wave of catchy melodies and furious guitars are there from beginning to end. There’s only room for one real ballad in Miracle Machine, and while it doesn't live up to some of the band’s previous efforts, it remains a pleasant affair and a welcome respite from the onslaught that is everything else.

Besides the outstanding instrumentation, Hansi Kürsch deserves special praise for his performance as well. At 48 years old, his voice remains as powerful and effective as ever and really makes the overall album into the fantastic piece that it is. Whether its distorted growls or soothing melodies, he delivers them all perfectly. The other thing that makes this album special is the use of the orchestras and choirs throughout. After dipping their toes into the symphonic waters with At the Edge of Time, this time they went all out to create something of truly epic proportions, and succeeded in doing so. The symphonic elements back up the band nicely and take prominence just where they need to, rather than becoming a chaotic mess that pushes everything else into the background – a fine balance is maintained throughout.

It’s difficult to find anything wrong with this album beyond the lack of a stand-out ballad and the slightly hit and miss Sacred Mind, which is still a very enjoyable offering. The production is superb, and I imagine production of a Blind Guardian is a pretty daunting task! Bucking their usual trend, there is nothing here based on any existing literature - rather they have created a concept based on their own classic Imaginations from the Other Side, and the lyrics are very good through the album. The whole thing is well written and illustrated if you’re lucky enough to have a physical copy of the album, and really adds to the overall experience.

Overall, the band are all on top form as always, and maybe even more so than ever. There’s something for the old school Blind Guardian fans, as well as lovers of symphonic metal, modern power metal, or just classy, well-crafted music in general. The whole thing is elaborate and layered, though not to the same degree as the likes of A Night at the Opera. It’s taken a long time to create but it’s been worth every second as this could well come to be the band’s finest hour.

Originally written for progpantheon.blogspot.co.uk

Blind Guardian has been in the forefront of the German speed/power metal scene since the late 80’s. With fantastical stories and epic opuses, they have not slowed down with time while others have been slowly deteriorating. They still shred their guitars and write amazing melodies!

I pre-ordered the digibook version of the album and was instantly in love with the album the moment I took it out of the packaging. So far I have listened to the whole album over 50 times and my fervent love for this masterpiece has not waned. Originally released January 30th, 2015, this album has become an earlier contender for the album of the year. It has been a long five years since the last album “At the Edge of Time” and it has been well worth the wait!

If you are new to Blind Guardian expect big, booming, Wagner-influenced choruses, guitar shredding, and a multitude of melodies. I absolutely enjoy how Blind Guardian blended romantic-era classical music with rock and metal. I was glad to see that they showed signs of their origins in speed metal with songs like “Ashes of Eternity,” “The Holy Grail,” and “Sacred Mind.”

As far as influences, Blind Guardian tends to be an influence rather than to be influenced by other metal bands. I like how they are influenced by Wagner’s pieces with huge refrains and a sound that fills enormous halls. They definitely do keep some of their old vibe which reminds me of Iron Maiden and other NWOBHM bands. I can also detect a slight Toto influence on “Ashes of Eternity” near the end. I feel like I was listening to “Africa” by Toto.

“Beyond the Red Mirror” is filled to the brim with melodies and heavy, distorted riffs. “The Ninth Wave” is a great (but a little long) opener and displays what to expect for the rest of seventy minutes. Suspiciously consecutive, I really enjoy “At the Edge of Time,” “Ashes of Eternity,” and “Distant Memories,” with all their amazing melodies. My favorite is the final track “Grand Parade” with perhaps the “grandest” of all choruses. I honestly cannot find any song with a chorus with such heaviness or bold declaration. I find almost all the songs quite fulfilling, and memorable; I could probably sing lines from each song on any given day; and I often have a riff or melody stuff in my head for days at a time.

Many people complain about the quality of the production and the awful mixing, but I really did not mind it. Hansi’s voice rises like a phoenix from the music and all the instruments can be heard and are comprehensible. My one problem with the album is the song “Sacred Mind.” I feel like this was a song quickly written and added to the album. I think it lacks some of the substance that the other songs contained.

Overall I really enjoyed this album and it will definitely be featured on my albums of the year list later on. I believe “Beyond the Red Mirror” was worth the wait, and Blind Guardian will have to crunch a lot of time in the studio to come back with an album to contend with their latest.

Originally written for www.thecirclepit.com

There has been quite the anticipatory wait for this little doozy. I know it was on my end. Thank that logic to "At the Edge of Time" being a great listen over all, and fine bout of absolution after the simplistic vibes of "Twist in the Myth", proving that one of the most consistently grand of the Euro-metal community still has it in them to kill when properly motivated. This proved all the more true when "Twilight of the Gods" blew faces off every which way (mine included...), setting the stage for what many of us would hope to be a follow-up just as potently devastating as that. Again, hope...

Given the conceptual nature of the work, this marks one of those few times in which the material has a bit of a sequential appeal versus being a collective of separate tracks. This helps push the scope of the work along more smoothly with an arrangement scheme that works off the tale versus the other way around (dramatic moments are darker, glorious sections in bright major keys, etc.), and with that in mind this has ended up being the group's densest and most enveloping and engaging albums since "Nightfall in Middle Earth". Much of this can be attributed to the increase in an actual orchestra-led backdrop has greatly expanded the theatrical feel of the whole of the work, easily for the better; latter-era BG always seemed to toy with symphonic sensations within the leads and general underscoring when they shed their speed metal roots, and being able to genuinely recreate them makes the entirety by way of of the work come to life. Now while this runs counter with this being considered their most "varied" work to date (in a conventional sense, that is), this overall solidity makes going from song to song, or chapter to chapter, that much easier to undertake. It's that compelling pull.

Imagine, if you will, the best aspects of "Nightfall...", "Night at the Opera" and even the more melodic parts off "Somewhere Far Beyond", compress them, add in a wider horizon of musical lushness and you've got a real good idea on what this has to offer. Far beyond being merely a metal album, there are plenty of moments when it all comes together with the attack and bombast of a full-scale stage musical (I refer you to the Hollywood-Soundtrack-like insanity of "At the Edge of Time", where the core band is almost swallowed whole by strings and choirs, but in a fantastic way), yet the heavier end of things aren't forsaken at all and instead blend in with everything else so well that their omission would only serve as a detriment to the whole of the work. If nothing else, I'd like to think that this is the best example of Blind Guardian's attempt to fuse power, prog and symphonic metal, all of which were either hinted at in previous recordings but not fully utilized or, at times, figured out. It took a few attempts and experiments to get the recipe right,

At the end of the day this was a spectacular release that was definitely worth the wait. By and large their most well-put-together and solid work in many a year, this brings about instant satisfaction and has enough depth to maintain future listens for years to come. Fledgling sympho-metal groups take notes, for the masters have a new lesson for ye to learn...

More than being just a beloved paragon of Teutonic epic power metal, the way I've perceived Blind Guardian over the years has evolved from a visualization as a steadfast German act to a wonderful explosive tumult of symphonic music, power metal and just unabashed Lord of the Rings nerdery, which I can't help but relate to. Parading forth from their humble speed metal initiation during the late 80's to what most people (including me) probably see their peak with the subsequent records of 1995-1997, the band has scarcely disappointed, though admittedly mellowed in stride after ''A Night at the Opera''. My humble obsession for the band and their surprisingly serious antics stemmed from my ecstatic discovery of ''Nightfall in Middle-Earth'', which (a big f*ck you to all the sleazy haters) was so impeccable, so f*cking peerless that it just swooped my heart away in a flock of marauding orcs and glazing elves throwing down Silmarillion style. After so many disappointments in the last decade my expectations naturally plummeted, so it was clear from the start that the Germans' latest wasn't going to be another perfect herald of Tolkien-esque epic power metal, but that said, I've found that ''Beyond the Red Mirror'' resonated with me with more singular power than one would expect...

If I had to summarize me feelings for this album from the beginning, honestly, if you can skip the rather painful ''The Ninth Wave'', there is little to be disregarded and even less to be disliked, granted you're a fairly long running fan of the band. If you can skip that tumescent electronic garbage, and see through the 'wave', Blind Guardian immediately opens up the gates of heaven with a shredding, if pretentiously titled, vigorous tune (''Twilight of the Gods'') and then proceeds to kick ass from there onward. The arrangement and overall sound delivered in ''Beyond the Red Mirror'' carved up such an instantaneous passion in me particularly because it felt as though the band was just scraping off the old footprints of their 1995-2002 outings in varying degrees, sometimes molding into furious power/thrash eruptions (''Sacred Mind'') or a jumpier, gyrating miracle of folksy power progressive metal guitars (''Twilight of the Gods''), and sometimes just reaching out in a mellower and emotional level with ballad-ish tracks (''Miracle Miracle''); but nearly every form they take, the Germans seem well-nigh faultless at their task, even though they are mostly rehashing some of the irreplaceable material they put out two decades ago.

But being a four-year long effort, ''Beyond the Red Mirror'' is cemented in a bombast of irresistible orchestral performances that feel somewhat Wagnerian in their scope or just like something straight out of Disney musical in their epic playfulness (songs like ''Grand Parade'' take the front here). At any rate, the operatic details of the record are not just beautiful but feel larger and crucial to the general formula than, most of their recordings. The focal - and vocal - point of the record is Hansi's vocals which range accordingly to the frenetic volleys of guitar riffs and orchestral arrangements. The man - possible because he's still only 48 - doesn't seem to have lost his touch one bit, unlike one Bruce Dickinson whose vocals on ''The Final Frontier'' swelled a little too tiredly to be on par with a ''Powerslave'', and the almost psychopathic chorus flings that burst arbitrarily seem just fresh and jovial as they were twenty years ago. As if I hadn't praised them before, the guitars are pretty much excellent: not just loaded to the stocks with melodious and totally Blind Guardian-esque riffs that the group must have borrowed from a set of riffs which they wrote in 1997 but never integrated, but also from their sheer functionality. Seriously, none of the riffs here feel out of place. Sure, some prove to be tedious and bloated after 65 minutes of maniacal orchestral and sonic repercussions, but individually all are likable.

That brings me to a rather predictable snag: the album is just too long. This is evidently not the band's best outing, and even though the run time runs parallel to its aesthetic siblings (data check: Imaginations, Nightfall and A Night have lengths of 49, 65 and 67 minutes respectively) the amount of time they spend going through oldish ideas takes too much time. There's time enough on the record to give a detailed account of Middle-Earth lore even if you clip away the unnecessary fat, and even though songs as uplifting as ''At the Edge of Time'' pass the minutes away like melting butter, one can have serious gripes about the length in general. The production, too, on the ground that the guitars and bass were crafty but not paunchy enough, proves to be a bit of a thorn in the album's side. In the end, however, it's safe to assume that ''Beyond of the Red Mirror'' puts the Germans back on the map. At least to a more respectable point. It demonstrates that these aging nerd/musicians are still sharp on their wit. All told, it reuses previous footings all too frequently to be creating some majestic gateway between this era and another, some dramatic experiment gone slightly wrong, but teetering on the edge of evolutionary greatness, but rather an album playing it safe. It's awesome for what it is, and I'm the rampaging (and shameless) fanboy who loves if precisely for that. The lyrical content alone is good enough for you to get interested. Don't be a f*cking tool and buy it.

Highlights:
Sacred Mind
Twilight of the Gods
The Holy Grail
At the Edge of Time

http://laceratedthrashmetal.blogspot.com/

The Blind Guardian discography is nothing short of miraculous. Each and every full-length album is amazing and, maybe with the exception of the soul-searching and somewhat uneven “A Twist in the Myth”, borderlines pure perfection. They've also produced two outstanding live albums, which is an astonishing achievement since the band tends to struggle as a live act, and – seriously - even the compilations and best ofs are good and worth owning even for the hardcore fan. From the early thrashy speed metal days, via the era of epic and progressive experimentation, to their contemporary grandiose over-the-top bombastic symphonic power metal they've failed to disappoint me even once. In fact, I don't even mind the long wait between albums – because in the end it's always worth the wait. This time it's been almost 5 years since the release of the last, thunderous, effort “At the Edge of Time” . Thus, the expectations are as high as ever as Blind Guardian takes us on journey beyond the red mirror.

“Beyond the Red Mirror” is a concept album and the sequel to the story that started with the song “Imaginations from the Other Side” from the album with the same name, and it seems only fitting that it also marks the 20th anniversary of this classic release. The lyrical concept is in itself nothing extraordinary, but rather a standardized mish-mash of tales and legends common to the power metal narrative. The music is, however, something else entirely. The opening track “The Ninth Wave” begins with pompous choirs taking bombast to a whole new level. Heavy guitars and an aggressively determined vocal performance by Hansi Kürsch sets the tone as the tune falls into a melodic hard-hitting catchy chorus. The sound is vast and multifaceted with a lot of things going on, but the flawless production brings it all together nicely. It's quite magical actually, and a perfect opener. The second track, “Twilight of the Gods” was released last year as a preview to the album and though solid in every way it dose not quite represent the rest of "Beyond the Red Mirror". The track rather seems like a good bridge between the preceding endeavor, “At the Edge of Time”, and the new album, as it has the same feeling as the former release's more puissant and straight-forward moments. The track lacks, however, the extreme bombastic epicness that signifies the other tunes on "Beyond the Red Mirror".

Blind Guardian has produced some really epic experiences in the past, like “And Then There Was Silence” and “Sacred Worlds” but the epicness we know from these tunes is actually the standard on this album. Mighty choirs, insane orchestral arrangements and a lot of different parts making every song a journey through a truly groundbreaking soundscape. There are some really magnificent tracks here, for example, “Prophecies”, “Ashes of Eternity”, “The Holy Grail” and “The Throne”, but it all culminates in the absolutely wondrous “At the Edge of Time” - an epic explosion which simply blows your mind. The album is wrapped up in the same manner with "Grand Parade” which is an even more over-the-top bombastic track. A bit too much actually as it almost turns into Disney musical metal in the chorus. In the end this small misstep is of little consequence as the track is still enjoyable and it doesn’t affect my overall judgement on the album that much.

When it comes to the individual performances not much has evolved since last time around. Hansi still has an amazing voice, André Olbrich swings that lead guitar hammer of his as convincingly as ever. Frederik Ehmke has proven himself a skilled drummer in the past but is really made justice on this album as he enhances the epic feeling with his versatile drumming. The biggest difference lies, however, in the orchestral and choir arrangements and the usage of two outstanding orchestras which lifts "Beyond the Red Mirror" to that next level no one knew existed.

All in all, another amazing Blind Guardian release very much worth the wait. And yes, I would call this band a miracle, a miracle machine.

In it's close to 30 year history, Blind Guardian has never released a bad album. That's right, you read that correctly, not a one. Every album the band has released, including their post-Imaginations albums were nothing short of spectacular. Yeah, their sound became more progressive, symphonic, even over the top. But that never got in the way of the sheer brilliance of their songwriting. With the release of their tenth full length, Beyond the Red Mirror, Blind Guardian has taken all the elements that made them great and combined them in an album of sheer brilliance that one would expect from a band of this caliber.

This is epic as only Blind Guardian can do. We have orchestras and choirs, namely the Hungarian Studio Orchestra and Choir Budapest and the FILMharmonic Orchestra and Choir Prague as is evident on the album opener, the monstrously epic "The Ninth Wave." This song seems to be a continuation of "Sacred Worlds" from the previous outing, At The Edge of Time. However, instead of just mirroring that song they expanded on it and created something even more over the top but brilliant. Starting with male choirs, gradually adding the female choirs as the song builds. As the choirs build the orchestra arrangements builds as well until the guitars kick in and Hansi's unmistakeable voice. He sounds better than ever as he always seem to sound as if he is a bard singing a tale of old. The chorus is bombastic and catchy. The background vocals are impeccably done complimenting Hansi's tone. This is not the most riff centric song but instead they use the melodies to make this song what it is. When the riffing is used it's typical Blind Guardian as with the leads. The dual harmonized leads are Andre Olbrich's signature sound and add to the melodies. The song ends with the same choirs that opened it...and this is just the first song!

In contrast to the epic opener we have a lot of metal here that reminds me a lot of Imaginations from the Other Side and even Nightfall in Middle Earth. The opening of "Prophecies" reminds me of "Blood Tears" from Nightfall but when the riffs kick in this song is all business. Moving between mid paced rocking riffs and some speed metal riffing, it's the melodies that draw you in. The leads are also highly on display here. "Ashes of Eternity" is another riff monster that pummel you but with tons of melody, especially in the choirs, which are just incredible. Olbrich's signature solos are the icing on the cake with this song. This is actually one of the heaviest songs they've done in a long time, second maybe to "The Holy Grail", which is another riff fest with the band showing their speedy side once again. This is a Blind Guardian speed metal song that could have been released on any of their 90s albums. The vocal melodies are, again, just pure perfection.

"Sacred Mind" starts off slow but picks it up after a bit with more of the band's signature riffing. At first listen it seemed that this would be a slight disappointment but it actually builds to be a really strong song. Speedy and riff laden with great vocal melodies and monster guitar work, this song could actually be on the epic side of this album. "Miracle Machine" might be seen as a weaker song as it's just a piano, strings and vocals and isn't the strongest Blind Guardian of this type, but it is necessary as a prelude to the album closer "Grand Parade", another monster epic song. In contrast to the opener, this is a long epic number with all the pomp of the opener but more riff oriented and the perfect way to close the album.

The version I have is the two disc mail order earbook edition. This version has two bonus tracks that are just as strong as the rest of this album with "Doom" being the strongest of the two. This song is a rather epic song going in several directions without being muddled. Mid paced in places, speedy in others the melodies are infectious and the chorus is really strong. This song closes this version of the album and actually adds another dimension to an already amazing release. All in all this is the best Blind Guardian album in two decades. As I said, I don't think they've ever released an album that is not worthy of this band's name but this album pushes the limits. It just gets better with each listen and has that magic and intensity that made me love the band to begin with. This album shows that Blind Guardian are still leaders in the metal world.

The Elitist Metalhead

I'm sure my opinion will prove very unpopular here - but I feel I simply must express my moderate disappointment on what should have been the album of the year. No one can deny the hype surrounding the release of this album; after all, a new Blind Guardian release is a big deal among the power metal community. Perhaps it was that very hype which emphasized the disappointment? I shall attempt to elaborate my feelings, but I think I should first note that I do like this album and it is very very good. It just simply isn't the Blind Guardian epic opus the majority of us were expecting. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives, so I don't want this review to be a complete downer.

The brilliantly epic introduction (now with a real choir and orchestra!) effectively set up the atmospheric pomp that these Germans are adored for. However, the addition of the electronic backbeats and excessive percussion was incredibly jarring, and contrasted awfully with Hansi's familiar vocals. Opening track "The Ninth Wave" was generally inadequate. Aside from the splendid chorus (let's face it, every chorus on this album is superb!), the brooding tempo and pseudo-industrial rhythms were an inappropriate way to commence this journey.

Blind Guardian are also known for their over-the-top, pompous style; which results in some extended song structures and elongated stories. But certain tracks feel either unnecessary, or like they could have been shortened by a minute or two. "Sacred Mind" (Xanadu anyone?) begins with a minute of fodder, "Ashes of Eternity" is directionless, and "The Grand Parade" could be cut to almost half the time! (Yes, I know the closing track is supposed to be huge, but the middle sections feel totally segregated from the rest of the piece).

The biggest let-down for me has to be the production quality. Why do the guitars lack crunch? Why do the drums sound so mellow? Why do the symphonics sound so separate, and not fused with the metal? Luckily, the vocals and choirs thrive in majestic fashion as they should. The band members themselves also play with gusto and supreme talent, so why does the mix have such a contained sound? A shame.

However - there is plenty to enjoy on "Beyond The Red Mirror"! Every chorus is sublime, especially "The Throne" with its theatrical cry of "We must serve the fire!!". The two speedy tracks, "Twilight of the Gods" and "The Holy Grail" are irresistibly catchy, heavy and absolutely reeking of that old-school BG tone. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the mellower, almost balladic, tracks, "Distant Memories" and "Miracle Machine" are beautifully sweeping and lyrical. The main highlight for me is the colossal "At The Edge of Time". The rough mixing of the orchestral elements actually work in favour with this track to create a sound which is truly enormous - I almost had to turn my speakers down at the climax!

I also applaud Kursch & co. for their incorporation of a sprawling and complex storyline, beautifully presented in the album's liner notes. Sure, I don't really understand the plot at all (and I have the digibook, so I have the full narrative written out for me!) but it certainly seems like a carefully constructed universe. The artwork contained within the CD booklet is also pristine and suitable - providing the perfect images to coerce with the music.

No Blind Guardian album will be an instant hit with anyone's ears. They all take a few listens to really implant themselves in your brain - therein lies the genius of this band and their complex compositions. However, I feel "Beyond The Red Mirror" may be taking a little too long to bore its way through my skull...

"A crow, a storm.
Shadows will be rising soon.
A crow, a storm.
The Nine sing: Once upon a dream ago..."

Blind Guardian have a reputation of never failing to deliver ground-shattering studio releases, without ever missing a beat. Keeping in mind, with every upcoming release, there is an enormous risk of the music and the band’s delivery becoming a self-indulgent mess.... That is what was thought, at least after their last album “At The Edge of Time”, when it was believed to be impossible to improve or innovate within their own sub-genre (We'll call it Blind-Guardian-Metal for now)… However, the opposite has happened. The songs are, in fact, more intense, the orchestral and choral arrangements are much more powerful, to the point that it is shocking to the senses. All the while, the extremely unique “BG Sound” is at the reins through the whole journey. These guys have retained their position at the forefront of the league of bands who change for nobody, and only improve on their own sound instead of giving in to the market’s trends. This may be because they’ve built an empire out of their own music, or simply because they recognised that they have cracked the code to an impeccable style of metal, and just stayed right where they belong. Whatever the case, they’ve found a point in their lives and in their career where they are just winning every f*cking battle they take on.

So much of the power definitely lies in the application of the orchestral arrangements here. What pushes it forward is a stable pillar of solid, catchy riffs and the signature multi-segmented progressions and the unmistakable medieval overtone that got them where they are today. However, what give this album so much dynamic, is the profoundly vigorous, symphonic element. While it still holds the torch of a prog-power/speed metal band, it has now reached a point where they are a symbol of symphonic giantism. Their organisation of so many professional guest ensembles to deliver the power that only Blind Guardian are deserving of is impressive to say the least... I mean, to congeal three enormous choirs and two 90-piece symphony orchestras from all over the world is a feat for sure, but to arrange them around an 80’s speed-metal band and to have the two separate musical entities manage to double-helix so magnificently through the length of the album is awe-inspiring. It will conjure images of epic battles, grand parades (ironically) and waves of millions of angels of demons, in perfect alliance of the story-line of this epic continuation and conclusion of one of their previous albums.

Production-wise, there was never any real room for improvement with production quality since their last release, however there is a definite change in delivery of choral arrangements and Hansi’s vocal layering. Everything by Hansi has much more of a short, sharp quality, with minimal reverb and delay, which has made that particular vocal sound immensely impactive. It does also build much more room for overwhelming intensity when the three choirs bust into a chorus or another section. The calculative methods implemented to showcase powerful soundscapes are unmistakably advanced.

And as for musicianship, the guys have neither worsened nor improved as they’ve advanced into their careers, but the focus has drifted far away from that aspect since their speed-metal days. What you’ll be getting from this album is a thunderous symphony of orchestral and choral power. This rings true, most prominently, with the two key tracks, “At The Edge of Time”, “The Throne” and “The Grand Parade”. Three of the most ground-breaking songs I’ve ever heard in my life.

Anticipating this album was nerve-racking... There was so much uncertainty; it seemed literally impossible to top “At The Edge of Time," but Blind Guardian have out-done themselves in a most dramatic way. Adding this release to their catalogue will guarantee them a place in the afterlife as gods, but until then, they will no doubt drop another atomic bomb into the metal world with their next album.

10 out of f*cking 10.

-Morbicae 2015

This album isn’t just another Blind Guardian record; it’s a milestone in the evolution of metal. The word “symphonic metal”, whether you’re talking about Nightwish/Epica or Dimmu Borgir/Septicflesh, has always meant the same thing: the band writes a metal/rock song first, then adds orchestral “flourishes” on top of it. With Beyond the Red Mirror, Blind Guardian have accomplished something entirely different. They seamlessly integrate the metal and orchestral aspects into one work of art. The metal band is just one of the many voices the orchestra has to offer, and sometimes (just like what happens in a real orchestra), the metal takes the backseat to allow room for other instruments to shine through. To me, this is a bold, creative move which works brilliantly thanks to the compositional skills of Hansi and Andre.

“At the Edge of Time” and “The Throne” showcase this quality quite well. Both have epic, rousing choruses and really sharp horn sections which cut right through the mix for added punch. However, it’s “Grand Parade” that is the real of triumph of this album; it may be the best song Blind Guardian have ever written. Its chorus is huge, bombastic, and chill-inducing thanks to the guest choirs used in addition to Hansi’s usual overdubbing. The “verses” (if you can even call them that) are constantly in motion, shifting smoothly between soft, introspective moments and pulse-pounding heavy metal. It’s pretty much impossible to capture the power of this song in words; you just have to listen to it yourself (hopefully with very high quality speakers, so you can hear all the nuances and layers).

Other than the orchestral songs, Beyond the Red Mirror serves up some great standard metal as well. “Ashes of Eternity” is a mid-tempo song that mixes angsty and aggressive verses with an extremely melodic, catchy chorus. “Holy Grail” (which I believe is Frederik’s first song-writing contribution to the band) is an awesome speed/power metal tune with a haunting chorus that should satisfy even the biggest Imaginations fanboy. “Sacred Mind” is probably the heaviest track on the on the album and uses creative and unusual melodies throughout; it took me a few listens because it was so different from the ordinary “happy” power metal song, but “Sacred Mind” is probably favorite of the pure metal songs the album offers.

The two ballad type songs, “Distant Memories” (a bonus track) and “Miracle Machine,” are both extremely good. The melodies are beautiful and they work well to give the listener break from frenetic pace of the rest of the album.

My only complaint with the album (and the reason it fails to get a perfect score) is that the first 3 songs are a bit weak. “Twilight of the Gods” and “Prophecies” are good songs, but they don’t have any elements that could push them over the edge into greatness. The intro and outro of “The Ninth Wave” are truly epic, but the middle section goes on a bit too long for my taste.

Since the orchestral songs make up a bulk of the album, some people might complain that it isn’t “metal” enough. I, for one, think this is a silly attitude. There are hundreds of metal bands that do nothing but write cool guitar riffs; we don’t need another one. Blind Guardian are one of the few bands with the resources to pull off a project this vast and complex in scale, and the metal community should be glad that they are taking advantage of that opportunity to help move the genre forward, instead of being stuck in the past and writing the same album over and over again.

All in all, Beyond the Red Mirror is a triumph the likes of which the metal universe has never seen. With it, Blind Guardian have definitely proven they are one of the most innovative bands not just in metal, but in popular music as a whole.

At last, the five guys from Krefield are back again after a five-year wait with another album for us, the unwashed masses. The good news is that Beyond The Red Mirror is an excellent release, among the best that the band has done in recent years.

Expanding upon the orchestral bombast of 2010's At The Edge Of Time, the band finds itself with a renewed sense of urgency and vigor, as well as a few tricks up their sleeves. Opener "The Ninth Wave" starts off with a full choir (not made up of Hansi's multi-tracked voice) augmented by an electronic backbeat, which then explodes into the distinctive pomp that Blind Guardian fans have come to expect.

Additionally, this song and subsequent track "Twilight of The Gods" utilize much lower guitar tunings than the rest of Blind Guardian's oeuvre (Andre Olbrich in particular using a 7-string). The result is the classic riffing style for which the band is known coupled with a great deal more heft. Twilight, the single that the band chose to release in advance of the record, is a ripper of a track that shows earmarks of the band's heavier, older material (I personally was reminded of the 1992 classic "Somewhere Far Beyond").

Particularly of note is the fact that Hansi Kursch's voice is the best that it has been in years, showing little of the signs of strain that marked At The Edge Of Time and A Twist In The Myth. His use of vocal layering and operatic, yet savage delivery particularly shines in "Prophecies" and "The Holy Grail", the latter track being very evocative of the Blind Guardian of yore. Hansi's legendary voice also magnifies the epic feel of mid-album opus "At The Edge of Time," named in a not-so-subtle nod to their previous record, meshing well with the full orchestra and choir that propels the arrangement to an almost Wagnerian climax.

A major credit in the favor of Beyond The Red Mirror is its sonic consistency. It knows what it wants to deliver and proceeds to deliver it, without sounding stale or running out of steam. Hansi and company continue the tale of exploration into another world that they began on 1995's Imaginations From The Other Side, and in doing so create an immersive experience of a record that draws the listener and does not let up throughout its duration. The only real "ballad" is "Miracle Machine," and while lacking in the serene pastoralism that made "The Bard's Song: In The Forest" and "Skalds and Shadows" such lovable additions to the band's catalogue, it serves as an adequate preamble to the album's stunning, over-the-top finale, "The Grand Parade."

The story told within Beyond The Red Mirror is a direct continuation of the one that first took form on Imaginations From The Other Side, and while extremely dense and involved, is not hard to follow after a few listens and a consultation with the liner notes (Those who have the Deluxe Edition also have the benefit of additional story-related content and the lush, orchestral half-ballad "Distant Memories." The boy unable to leap through the mirror on Imaginations is called back into the realm where he was hailed as a savior to return the Old Gods to power over a being that has cast them down. The story is riveting and aided by Kursch's extremely versatile and dynamic voice.

All said and done, this is a record I would recommend to anyone with a taste for sonic pomp, musical dexterity, and lyrical skill. It is not for everyone, but is far and away the band's best since Nightfall In Middle Earth.

I really love Blind Guardian's early albums, but pretty much nothing after Imaginations has quite captured my full attention...there were always good songs on every one of those albums, but there were also heavy flaws to them, and the band's ambition, while admirable, never quite matched their songwriting skills – they pretty much buried the things that were best about them, i.e. Andre Olbrich's thunderous guitar riffing and molten leads and Hansi Kursch's aggressive vocal stylings. While the band never quite became outright mediocre, their post-Imaginations albums just never measured up to their insane rep as the best power metal band alive. Their last album was okay I guess, but really just felt like “Blind Guardian by numbers,” without many standout tracks. This one however, is f*cking great, and really does finally give some credence to the argument that Blind Guardian is one of the best in their genre now.

Beyond the Red Mirror goes back to what I loved about this band, sounding the most like Imaginations than any of their other albums since. This is full of heavy, pummeling riffs, cool folksy melodic leads and Hansi belting out great vocals, along with a heaping helping of orchestrations and synths – although much more layered and intricate than usual, and woven into powerful songs rather than interludes or overload and excess like in the past. This is a very complex, intense work and takes some time to fully hear everything it's doing, and every song is epic and challenging, with no real easy-going rockers like on their other recent albums. Because of that, the album does tend to be a bit overwhelming at times, but the quality shines through.

Opener “The Ninth Wave” is a nine-minute epic with some choirs in the opening and a rumbling, dense verse that explodes into one of the band's catchiest choruses in years. It's really not a very accessible opener despite the chorus though, serving more as a prelude to the rest. “Twilight of the Gods” is the most standard Blind Guardian song, but the guitars rock out and the chorus you'll be singing almost instantly. Then the album really kicks into gear – “Prophecies” has sweeping riffs and beautiful, almost laid back vocal melodies, and then “At the Edge of Time” is just this huge, grand power ballad, with some of Hansi's best vocals...he really does give an excellent performance on the whole album; much rawer and more emotional-sounding than their other recent work, and it lends the album a more personal, intense feel than usual. Musically this song is incredibly busy and complex, and almost falls into the excess of some of their early 2000s work, but it really keeps the pace and remains engaging throughout – the orchestrations in particular sound f*cking incredible.

“Ashes of Eternity” and “Holy Grail” are classic Blind Guardian heavy tracks, with chugging, twisted riffa*ge and huge choirs – really powerful songs. “The Throne” is a seven-minute epic with some really impressive vocal sections and tremendous, towering orchestration – a masterclass of a song. “Sacred Mind” is one of the more complex pieces, with a mellow intro jettisoning into some of the faster, more pugilistic riffing they've done in years. I know I'm kind of going into a track-by-track, but really every song is so good and so different, it's hard not to.

I guess it's a bit long-winded, and sometimes you'll get a verse or chorus here or there that isn't up to scratch, but these are rather minor flaws. Overall the album is incredibly strong and the band sounds on fire. These tracks are pretty much all on the same level of quality, with a lot of detail and intricacy that I've missed on a lot of their recent work...it's also got some of the heaviness and metallic fury that I loved from their best period in the early '90s, so that's good – it's kind of the best of both worlds in terms of their stylistic evolution. I think any fan of their past work will find something to like here. We're not that far into the year, but I could see this on my Top 10 of the year in December, provided we don't get a bunch of even more incredible albums.

Point is, it's awesome. Go get it.

The concern I’ve seen thrown out the most regarding Blind Guardian’s newest release is how long it’s taken to be released. So the question which arises naturally is, “Has the album been worth the wait?”. Well when has Blind Guardian ever let us down? They haven’t released a single weak album in their entire discography, why would they start now? You must trust Blind Guardian to work their magic, for it’s always worth the wait. ‘Beyond the Red Mirror’ not only meets the high expectations BG have created for themselves, they smash and pulverize them. In my opinion this is the strongest album they’ve put out since ‘Nightfall in Middle-Earth’, and I would venture to say in all seriousness it’s their best album yet.

Not much has truly changed in the Blind Guardian approach since ‘At the Edge of Time’, but the stylistic choices taken on the aforementioned album are perfected on ‘Beyond the Red Mirror’. The use of orchestral and choral elements are integrated into the metal framework to stunning effect. “The Grand Parade”, “At the Edge of Time”, and “The Ninth Wave” all cement this statement. Naturally they continue the Blind Guardian trademark sound as well, speedy tracks with sweeping choruses and Andre's classic wah. “The Holy Grail” and “Twilight of the Gods” will be sure to please fans of the older BG sound. This album is the perfect step forward for the band and an absolutely admirable step forward for the group as composers/musicians. Furthermore, with the completion of the long-awaited orchestral album nearing completion, I suspect this will also serve as a fitting bridge to that album.

The lyrics and story which ‘Beyond the Red Mirror’ tells are brilliant and completely complimentary to the theatrical music. The story harks back to what Hansi began on ‘Imaginations from the Other Side’. The child who doesn’t belong, doesn’t fit into his family unit, finds a door to another dimension through a mirror, and at the end of “And the Story Ends” finds himself before the mirror wondering whether or not he should make the jump and live in this other world which is more fitting to him. But in a recent interview Hansi stated that “when I revisited that particular scene, I decided well, the boy is just a boy, and he’s afraid to jump”. And so the child has decided to stay in his own realm, to which he doesn’t truly belong. As a result of this negative consequences occurred for both worlds, setting in motion the story of ‘Beyond the Red Mirror’ which for the sake of brevity I won’t detail.

On the whole this is certainly the most theatrical approach Blind Guardian has taken since ‘Nightfall in Middle-Earth’, and boy does it pay off. There’s an appropriate balance between more speedy numbers, moving mid-paced rockers, and the now iconic Blind Guardian epics. The intertwining synthesis between story and music, the astounding progression made in composition, and of course Hansi’s harsh yet angelic voice all contribute to make this the most groundbreaking Blind Guardian album yet.

Standout tracks: “At the Edge of Time”, “Prophecies”, “The Throne”, “The Grand Parade”, “The Ninth Wave”

10/10

Beyond the Red Mirror is one of those albums of which the first track is not necessarily representative of the work as a whole. This has never been a band alien to the concept of orchestration or other mild experimentation on their classic power/speed metal formula, but even as someone open to such practices, I was a little thrown off when I heard the first tune. "The Ninth Wave", a bloated piece led off by choirs affixed with electronic percussion and more vocal arrangements bouncing to and fro than some weird Gospel setup accompanying a sh*tty rap act at a Superbowl halftime show, I was immediately inundated with 'future sickness'. Did the beloved Blind Guardian finally jump its shark and record a concept album about Buck Rogers in the Disco Century? Or did they succumb to the bland 'go big or go home' fever that they partially helped invent, which has infected all manner of hack European Gothic/power metal hybrids with female vocalists and lavish stage productions with all the substance of Disney's Frozen?

I find the first few minutes of this record slightly obnoxious, if only because they seem to have put all this effort into layering these disparate elements into a unified whole but along the way forgot to make it catchy. Thankfully, as soon as the digital dust clears, and the band remember that they can sound like they're scoring a large budget German computer RPG by just being themselves and not TRYING to sound that way, Beyond the Red Mirror is actually a pretty damned solid outing which embodies much of what the band represented over the last 25 years, albeit with that slightly more fulfilling stereo production which supplants a little of that processed, heavily layered tone which they have been gradually distancing themselves from since that 1992-2002 creative pinnacle. Don't get me wrong, Olbrich's rhythm guitars still pop a lot here, and he's not bringing many new tricks to the kennel, but everything about this album sounds much 'richer' than the last few, immersive and fully modernized to the detriment of only those fans who wish they still sounded like Follow the Blind or Somewhere Far Beyond...only, they kind of do. Behind the sweltering studio facade, the Germans still beat with the dorky power metal heart that has pumped from the start, with a substantial selection of those flighty, simmering speed metal licks that put them on the map.

Apart from the intro, the orchestral arrangements through the album actually do it justice. Strings and other instrumentation used to great effect in "At the Edge of the Time", which evolves into a pure triumph that wouldn't have felt out of place on Nightfall in Middle-Earth or A Night at the Opera, only with far more bombastic horns leading the charge of the palm muted, constantly shifting rhythm guitar patterns; not the fastest Blind Guardian material, but quite complex in how they structured that all out, constantly attempting to one-up their inspirations Queen if not quite succeeding when it comes to the raw ability to deliver an unforgettable melody or chorus. "The Throne" is another great implementation, which almost has a spy-like aesthetic that felt like they were writing some metal for a future installment of the James Bond franchise. "Miracle Machine", a non-metal tune, is probably the closest they come to Queen or Journey with all those pianos and vocal arrangements, but I don't find it essential whatsoever (would have been a better bonus track/B-side). That said, the entire album has this enormous, worldly sense of momentum which is felt in both the neoclassical harmonies gleaming from within the meaty, punching rhythms and the occasional flare for a more exotic, Eastern note progression. Hansi is as always the central focus of the band, but while he delivers as always, it's Olbrich and Siepen who seem to be having the best time, and it's their frolicking little nuances in tracks like "Sacred Mind" that make, rather than break, the album.

I would like a Blind Guardian record with better bass guitars. Most of Barend Courbois' lines (on loan from Vengeance) are scantly noticeable, and this is a region in which the band has long suffered from a deficit that would better support all those booming symphonic swells, eclectic riffs and leads. I notice the instrument is there once in awhile, but it becomes too easy to forget about amidst the constant piling on of dramatic orchestration and Hansi reaching for the vaulted ceilings of whatever cathedral he imagines himself singing in when he records one of these things. Frederik Ehmke, on the other hand, manages all of the band's vivid eccentricities with firm planning, loads of potent fills and a lot of attention paid across his entire kit. The choirs, strings and other instruments thrown in here all sound high end, though they don't always consistently add much beyond breadth to the riffing. It's a vast, airy, state of the art record, which is going to titillate the modern metal audience while further alienating those who covet their copies of Tales from a Twilight World and cringe at change, which let's face it, already happened a very long time ago once the band decided to put out a concept album about The Silmarillion.

I flounder about in both camps, really, but considering this band even wrote a song about Peter Pan that could find emotional resonance with me, I have no aversion to the scope of what they were trying to accomplish here. With the caveat that the intro and "Miracle Machine" are things I could very easily skip, I find that the guitar work and the song arrangements here are marginally better than the last full-length. Is it on par with that decade of excellence now removed by another 13 years? Not on your life, but it's aspiring, dramatic. Far more functional than it isn't. Pompous. Elegant. As goofy as ever. Still Blind Guardian, still plucking at the heartstrings of men. Halflings. And elves. And that hot chick at the LARP. You know the one.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com