The tension between their Blind Guardian’s thrash heritage and their orchestral pretenses have been at the center of their career development (and missteps). If 2019’s Twilight Orchestra was an album that fell short because they overreached their bounds, one potential risk has always been that The God Machine would be an over-correction. But would Blind Guardian really stagnate?
“What is the goal of Legacy of the Dark Lands? To my ears, it sounds the point of the album was to write a metal opera in the style of Blind Guardian. But what if the goal of Legacy of the Dark Lands, a thing that made sense at the time of its conception was accomplished between 2002’s A Night at the Opera and 2015’s Beyond the Red Mirror? What if, in the years since A Night at the Opera, Blind Guardian had developed their sound to be so unique and so orchestral that by the time Legacy of the Dark Lands was released, it was unnecessary and maybe even uninteresting?” S&M Part Deux.
“Blind Guardian is a German institution and national treasure. The band embodies the peak of the German power-thrash tradition in ways that nod to their countrymen, but separated them from the pack decades ago. Their body of work is surely among the most comprehensively epic and impressive among modern metal bands, and they are a band whose sound is a point of reference rather than a derivation. So when these titans of Teutonic metal release a new record the metal world turns to pay its respects. Put differently, Beyond the Red Mirror has been on my calendar since I heard of its release, and when asked, fans of this blog have also said resoundingly that it’s one of the most anticipated records of 2015. As long-time readers of this blog are aware, anticipation can be dangerous.” So, Angry Metal Guy pan it or not?
Well, here it is folks. The final 10 [Here’s the first 40: 50-41, 40-31, 31-20, 20-11 and Steel Druhm’s: 50-41, 40-31, 30-21, 20-11, 10-1]. And this is going to ruffle a bunch of feathers, I guarantee it. These are, for the most part, not widely considered “favorites” and would never make fan-voted lists, but these tracks all got onto this list pretty easily. I’m not as angry about the whole Gibson list anymore, and I’ve lost a bit of steam because of that, but these tracks are all fucking fantastic, top-o’-the-line kind of shit. I hope you enjoy the list and I look forward trolling you soon. U MAD BRO!?
Blind Guardian is easily one of the most unique bands that modern metal has ever encountered. I really do think that they are one of the most original acts to ever come out of any scene, sub-genre or crevace within the greater history of metal. Combining bay area thrash influence with a German power/thrash legacy and sprinkling liberally with Queen, this German act has been at the forefront of power metal and progressive metal since Imaginations from the Other Side (for sure, and probably even before that). Few bands in metal command the kind of insane loyalty from their fanbase and few bands ever deserve that kind of loyalty, frankly. Even for me, personally, Blind Guardian was one of the bands that really got me exploring modern power metal. I picked up Nightfall in Middle-Earth and my life was forever changed. That record still ranks in my top 10 of all time, easily.
