 Blind Guardian’s Second album, a step towards their current sound, and as it seems, a step away from the underground-like sound that Battalions of Fear had. Did they manage to pull it off, indeed yes, they took their skill, their passion, and their desire to make good music, and did it, and still it went unnoticed by many.
Again, the start of the album is very slow. 41 seconds of Gregorian Chanting, a second after it ends, however, Banish From Sanctuary awakens, and slams you right into the fast violent atmosphere of the song. Complete with powerful lyrics, plenty of screams, quick background chorus, and simply stunning performance from the band.
Most of the album is like this, fast paced, yelling, and Hansi’s wonderful vocals. There are some parts that will get tiring, and are just plain not good, these parts are short and almost not existing, but still, we should take note of them. A good example would be the song “Follow the Blind” as it simply fails to deliver the sound that has fans carving for. As well as being very repetitive, especially in the chorus.
However, the Guardians manage to save themselves with Hall of the King, the next song on the list. From the start, it has a quick and strong melody, with mystical lyrics. Of course, there’s also the chant/yells of “Hall of the king!!” which echo off and create a wonderful effect for the song. Another classic they should play more at concerts.
The last single song I want to discuss is Valhalla. It’s famous for doing great at concerts. In fact, During their own festival, even after the song was over, the crowd kept on chanting “But I Am Deliverance”. Of course, the band had to start playing the song again, and it was a great hit. The song itself is amazing, from lyrics like “We were the prisoners of our own Fantasies”, to the chorus like “But I am Deliverance” this song has it all. Not to mention excellent drumming and guitar playing. Overall it’s a very powerful song that explodes on your ears and you don’t want it to stop.
From reading all this, I think you can relate to my opinion. Here is my normal “point breakdown”. Well, again, it’s a song thing, The song Beyond the Ice was not very good. Being all instrumental hurt it, and it wasn’t very good anyway, that cost it .8. A heavy cost, but the album could have done better without it. Because some songs felt repetitive, it cost them .4 points, and the other .2 was for minor problems with vocals, and for the guest vocals ( I think) on the song Valhalla, which I think would have sounded better with just Hansi. Nothing major, but it had to be counted in.
Another must for power metal fans, and a good CD for anyone wanting to listen to some quality “oldschool” power/speed.
Patrick Burent
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01. Inquisition
02. Banish From Sanctuary
03. Damned For All Time
04. Follow The Blind
05. Hall Of The King
06. Fast To Madness
07. Beyond The Ice
08. Valhalla
09. Don't Break The Circle [Demon cover]
10. Barbara Ann [Beach Boys cover]
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 Read also: Blind Guardian - A Night At The Opera, Blind Guardian - A Twist In The Myth, Blind Guardian - Battalions Of Fear, Blind Guardian - Bright Eyes, Blind Guardian - Fly, Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side, Blind Guardian - Mirror Mirror, Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth, Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond, Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond, Blind Guardian - Tales From The Twilight World, Blind Guardian - The Bards Song (In The Forest), Blind Guardian - The Forgotten Tales
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