Blind Guardian: Beyond The Red Mirror

Label: Nuclear Blast Records

Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in the mid-1980s in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal sub genres. They’re on the heels of releasing their newest album Beyond the Red Mirror to drop in early 2015.

“Twilight of the Gods” begins our journey pillaging forward with fast blast beats and killer double bass pumps as if one were watching an epic battle between the Gods as they fell to Earth. The next track rolls in entitled “Ashes Of Eternity”, and it’s know from the beginning that it’s a little heavier with a tad less orchestra-esque sound-scapes. It comes at you like a freight train picking up steam as the song progresses. Resembling that of Queen meets Helloween, the vibes are fierce and relentless. “Ashes Of Eternity” is one of my favorite songs on this album.

“The Holy Grail” doesn’t even begin to let up as guitar riffs in the vein of Dragonforce, with vocals reminisce of one whose possessed by the ghost of Ronnie James Dio create a splatterfest of musical orgasmic goo. Now this is where the album truly gets the wheels a churning and grabs you by the throat as it rips the flesh from your bones with its magnificence. “The Throne”, to me, sounds like something one would hear whilst playing Elder Scrolls and slaying Demons. From what I understand they have lent their tutelage to the video game Sacred 2, so this is no surprise.

“Sacred Mind” is by far my favorite song on this album and one of the best I’ve heard in years. The tempo, the lyrics, the meaning behind, all that jazz make this a new favorite song of mine. I’ve personally listened to it nine times in four days. “Sacred Mind” unleashes a sonic exploration, glorification and adoration of the spirits above. Lastly but not least, “Miracle Machine” rounds this out for me and I have to tell you this is the closest thing to a ballad if I’ve ever heard one. It’s definitely their slowest song on this album. It’s beautifully sad and gets deep into your heart, making you think of love and life’s past endeavors.

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With all that’s been said herein hopefully you can see the sides of the musical spectrum these guys have accomplished with this album. They’re definitely not strangers to the scene and in my opinion have progressed with each and every album. They just keep getting better and better. Music is supposed to be powerfully accelerated and crushing enough to make one’s ear bleed tiny droplets of sonic bliss. And that, Blind Guardian has done.

So without further ado I implore you to keep an eye out in January over at NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS for details.

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by Tracy Crockett, RockRevolt Magazine Contributor