CDReviews

Blind Guardian Twilight Orchestra – Legacy of the Dark Lands

Label: Nuclear Blast  Spielzeit: 76 Min  Release: 8th November 2019

 

“Legacy of the Dark Lands” is the most eagerly expected album in Blind Guardian history. For more than 20 years, André Olbrich, one of the band’s main composers, has been writing tracks for an orchestra-only album. In between some of the compositions were used for regular albums, enriched with guitars, drums and bass (e.g. ‘Wheel of Time’ and ‘At the Edge of Time’). Finally, the orchestral Epic is finished. It contains 11 songs, an intro and spoken word parts between the songs, similar to “Nightfall in Middle Earth”.

What does “Legacy of the Dark Lands” have in common with Blind Guardian’s regular studio albums? First of all the powerful and catchy choruses, the huge choirs and the complex song structures. All in all, it is very similar to a typical Blind Guardian album, just without the typical Rock instrumentation. Therefore I guess that every fan of the band should like this one too.

What’s the difference to regular Blind Guardian albums? Due to the lack of Rock instruments, it takes much longer to get access to the songs. Some songs need 10 spins on the turn table or more, until they become ear candy. Which means this album has this incredible potential of a timeless classic. In comparison to regular albums, Hansi’s voice has much more room to shine. Although he normally delivers great vocals, his vocals on this album are actually the best in Blind Guardian history. Just check ‘In the Underworld’ and you will agree.

If you give “Legacy of the Dark Lands” sufficient time, it will reveal its potential and becomes a great and catchy album. Songs like ‚War Feeds War‘, ‚Treason‘, ‚Point of No Return‘ and ‚Nephilim‘ are some of the most appealing, dramatic and bombastic tracks yet in Blind Guardian history. But there also ‘In the Red Dwarfs Tower’ and ‘Beyond the Wall’, which are not really catchy. Which does not matter, I recommend this album to everyone who likes Heavy Metal without electric guitars.

 

www.blind-guardian.com

  • 9/10
    Bewertung / rating - 9/10
9/10

Timo Pässler

timo@stalker-magazine.rocks - reports, reviews, photos - - - Favorite genres? - - - Power, Speed, Melodic, Symphonic and Thrash Metal, sometimes also Black and Death Metal, when I am in mood for it - - - Favorite bands? - - - Blind Guardian, In Flames, Children of Bodom, Powerwolf, Kreator, Vader, Avantasia, Iced Earth, Amon Amarth and many more! - - - Other interests? - - - Music (listening + playing), sports, acting and scouts