A few years ago, only the sound of Hansi’s voice and the well known melodies of Blind Guardian could make bang my head for hours. I think that now I can be more objective in judging the Germans on their new work. However, there are still many people that act the way I used to, just by listening the first sounds of a song from the Bards.

Well, let’s see…during the last decade Blind Guardian made only two records, “A Night At The Opera” and “A Twist In The Myth”, in 2003 and 2007. Both albums, especially the second one were heavily criticized about Blind Guardian’s turn to orchestral and pompous tracks that, especially in the case of ATITM, made the band look deprived of inspiration and creativity. So it’s obvious that the last ten years haven’t gone pretty damn well for the Germans.

Blind Guardian have changed much since the glorious days of the 90’s in terms of creating music. The crude material of Lucifer’s Heritage was transformed over the years and now Guardian have turned to orchestral paths. However, the magic recipe of “Nightfall In Middle Earth” was never used again or maybe Blind Guardian never reached such levels of inspiration.

This is repeated in “At The Edge Of Time” which is surely better than “A Twist In The Myth” and maybe better than “A Night At The Opera” as we manage to keep three tracks that gained my attention and surely will gain the attention of the moderate fan. These will be “Sacred Worlds”, “Tanelorn”, “Ride Into Obsession” and maybe their best track in years “A Voice In The Dark”. The rest of the album can surely be characterized as “respectable work” but will not manage to gain back the fans of Blind Guardian that criticized them and turn their backs on them, reason being their last two albums.

“At The Edge Of Time” is definitely not the album that will bring Blind Guardian back to the top but surely will keep their name alive. However, it increases the delay for an album that will stand out of the rest of their work during the last years. Some say that Guardian are still capable of doing something like that but others sadly admit that their time has passed. What will the next years bring? We’ll see…

Track List Line Up
01. Sacred Worlds
02. Tanelorn
03. Road Of No Release
04. Ride Into Obsession
05. Curse My Name
06. Valkyries
07. Control The Divine
08. War Of The Thrones
09. A Voice In The Dark
10. Wheel Of Time
Hansi Kürsch – Vocals
André Olbrich – Guitars
Marcus Siepen – Guitars
Frederik Ehmke – Drums