Blind Guardian
At the Edge of Time

August 2010
Released: Augu, Nuclear Blast
Rating: 5.0/5
Reviewer: Thorsten Zwingelberg

Usually a Best-Of album consists of the supposedly best songs of a band. This is of course not the case with the latest Blind Guardian output and still I would call it a Best-Of album. Why? Simply because the guys succeeded in putting together the best of all the characteristics that make Blind Guardian. While “A Night At The Opera” had too many progressive turns and twists, “A Twist In The Myth” never really got me spellbound. With “At the Edge of Time” things are different – I would call this the legitimate successor to “Nightfall in Middle-Earth”.



For the first time ever, the band worked together with a real orchestra for some of the songs and the effort really pays off. The orchestral tracks are just awesome as are the faster, more back to the roots tunes like “Ride Into Obsession” that is in the best “Mirror, Mirror” tradition. “Curse My Name” is a fantastic epic tune with many middle ages influences, much like “Imaginations” but better because the band puts some fuel to the fire in the end and really pushes the song to the limit. “A Voice In The Dark” will probably even please fans of the first 4 records as it provides fast guitars pushed forward by pounding double bass and topped with some great vocal lines. “Tanelorn (Into The Void” reminds me of the “Somewhere far beyond” record, of course. As you can tell, the band was busy weaving all their musical threads into one strong rope that guides through the 10 songs at hand.



Easily the best and strongest Blind Guardian album since Nightfall with a maximum of variety and everything that has turned the guys from Krefeld into what they are today: one of Germany’s most successful and influential metal bands in business.