Blind Guardian - At the Edge of Time

[heavyharmonies]

BG, ya either love 'em or hate 'em. Epic, fantasy, epic, middle earth, epic, Tolkein, epic, heavily orchestrated, and yes... epic.

 

After a 4-year hiatus, Hansi and crew return with a vengeance. Nothing groundbreaking stylistically, which isn't a bad thing, IMO. BG's style is one that works, and is sonically immersive.

 

It comes in 1CD, 2CD, or 4LP versions.

 

For a taste, here's all almost 9 minutes of Wheel of Time (based on the Robert Jordan series. On the bonus CD there is a completely instrumental version of this track that is also way cool.

 

CD1

 

01 – Sacred Worlds 09:19

02 – Tanelorn (Into The Void) 05:59

03 – Road Of No Release 06:31

04 – Ride Into Obsession 04:48

05 – Curse My Name 05:50

06 – Valkyries 06:34

07 – Control The Divine 05:25

08 – War Of The Thrones 04:55

09 – A Voice In The Dark 05:41

10 – Wheel Of Time 08:56

 

CD2 Bonus

 

01 – Sacred Worlds (Pre-Production Version) 06:49

02 – Wheel Of Time (Orchestral Version) 08:55

03 – You’re The Voice (Radio Edit) 03:36

04 – Tanelorn (Into The Void) – Demo 05:59

05 – Curse My Name – Demo 04:42

06 – A Voice In The Dark – Demo 05:40

 

 

[RageXIII]

Thank you very much for the album sample! I look forward to every BG album, and this one is no exception. It will take something special to top Night at the Opera, for me, but, IMO, they don't have a bad album in their entire discography.

[heaven&hell]

Thank you very much for the album sample! I look forward to every BG album, and this one is no exception. It will take something special to top Night at the Opera, for me, but, IMO, they don't have a bad album in their entire discography.

 

Glad to see someone else liked Night at the Opera.

Many fans didn't like that one much but I thought it was amazing.

[Dark Star]

I liked Night at the Opera too actually, and I LOVED Twist in the Myth so yea I will be picking this up, definitely!!!

[Fat Freddy]

I dunno, I really WANT to like this band but other than the SOMEWHERE FAR BEYOND album they've never done much for me... I found A NIGHT AT THE OPERA to be quite irritating, and A TWIST IN THE MYTH was a snoozer, so I doubt I'll bother with this one...

[JamesEagle]

Hate this kind of stuff. Great intros, great guitar, heavy sound, then twee, poppy, chanted choruses. Yuk.

[heaven&hell]

I dunno, I really WANT to like this band but other than the SOMEWHERE FAR BEYOND album they've never done much for me... I found A NIGHT AT THE OPERA to be quite irritating, and A TWIST IN THE MYTH was a snoozer, so I doubt I'll bother with this one...

 

Night Fall in Middle Earth? Battalions of Fear?

I'd think you'd love those two especially the very Helloween sounding Battalions disc.

[Fat Freddy]

Have never heard BATTALIONS OF FEAR... used to have NIGHTFALL IN MIDDLE EARTH but I couldn't hack the Lord of the Rings sh*t...

[heaven&hell]

Have never heard BATTALIONS OF FEAR... used to have NIGHTFALL IN MIDDLE EARTH but I couldn't hack the Lord of the Rings sh*t...

 

I'm a big LOTR fan so I loved that disc and that was intro the band so it's still my fav.

The first two discs are pure early Helloween trashy goodness.

[Fat Freddy]

I've heard good things about BATTALIONS... but never got round to hearing it.

 

As for the LOTR obsession of the NIGHTFALL album, meh. To me, LOTR is like Star Trek -- a "cult" thing that I just don't "get." I know a lotta people do but it ain't my bag.

[heavyharmonies]

I've heard good things about BATTALIONS... but never got round to hearing it.

 

As for the LOTR obsession of the NIGHTFALL album, meh. To me, LOTR is like Star Trek -- a "cult" thing that I just don't "get." I know a lotta people do but it ain't my bag.

 

BG has been fantasy/middle-earth focused on their themes since I can remember. Regardless, Nightfall is a phenomenal CD. "Time Stands Still at the Iron Hill" is pure masterpiece.

 

-Dan

[heaven&hell]

I just bought the two disc version and I'm about half way through it so far and it's very good so far and much more similar to the 90's stuff than to the more modern sound on Twist in a Myth(which I love by the way).

[AlphaMale]

Huge metal fan here but I have to agree with Fat Freddy. Just never saw what all the hype was on this band. I just can't get in to them AT ALL.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Hm Guardian... Very good band in the first 5 albums "battalions of fear", "follow the blind", "tales from the twilight world", "somewhere far beyond" (maybe their peak) & the amazingly catchy "Imaginations from the Other Side" but after that... Total crap. I was lucky enough to see them 2 times playing live back in the day & they were just awesome. R.I.P

[heaven&hell]

My thoughts on the new one:

 

 

Blind Guardian - At the Edge of Time

I actually cheated and have listened to this three times since that's about what it takes for a BG release to start to sink in. This one really threw me off with the opening track "Sacred Worlds" and the first 90 seconds being very orchestral and reminding me of a film score but once it kicks in wow it's awesome. The closing track "Wheel of Time" also has the very Orchestra sound but is still a great song. There really isn't a song I don't like on this disc but it's much different than the previous release "Twist in a Myth". The overall sound is much more similar to the classic BG discs but with some twists thrown in here and there. With BG you really have to read the lyrics and really listen to all the sounds going on both musically and vocally with Hansi's voice. To be honest I wasn't sure about this one on the first spin but after three spins I think that Blind Guardian has another winner on their hands. Fav songs so far "Tanelorn(Into the Void)", "Ride into Obsession", "Curse My Name", "Valkyries", "Control the Divine", "War of the Thrones" and "A Voice in the Dark".

[exact3]

I just bought the two disc version and I'm about half way through it so far and it's very good so far and much more similar to the 90's stuff than to the more modern sound on Twist in a Myth(which I love by the way).

 

I enjoyed ATITM a lot (there are like 5 of us on the planet apparently) and, while I like the new one, I still think ATITM was a better direction.