{"id":48713,"date":"2015-03-17T18:32:44","date_gmt":"2015-03-17T23:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=48713"},"modified":"2015-03-17T18:32:44","modified_gmt":"2015-03-17T23:32:44","slug":"blind-guardian-beyond-the-red-mirror-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/blind-guardian-beyond-the-red-mirror-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Blind Guardian | Beyond The Red Mirror<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Blind-Guardian-Beyond-The-Red-Mirror\"There\u2019s hardly a thing as solid and imperishable as the Teutonic Metal scene \u2013 from the classic Heavy\/Speed legends such as Running Wild, Rage or Accept to the groups that evolved from the same genres, yet shifted elsewhere somewhere along the way \u2013 Gamma Ray, Helloween, or Blind Guardian. Years after their presence was established, these pioneers of the European Power Metal sound are still a power to be reckoned with. In case you needed any proof of this fact, the latter of those mentioned above \u2013 Hansi K\u00fcrsch-fronted band returns with eagerly awaited album Beyond The Red Mirror<\/em>. A follow-up to 2010\u2019s At The Edge Of Time<\/em>, it marks a span of five years with no studio recording, a precedent in Blind Guardian\u2019s history. Released in late January via Nuclear Blast, Beyond The Red Mirror<\/em> is divided into six parts (nine in limited edition\/earbook), each consisting of one or two songs sharing a common motif (The Cleansing of the Promised Land, The Awakening, Disturbance in the Here and Now, The Descending of the Nine, The Fallen and the Chosen One and Beyond the Red Mirror<\/em>). <\/p>\n

The album starts with a massive choir sequence which morphs into an epic, over nine-minute long piece \u201cThe Ninth Wave\u201d with distinctive symphonic and progressive flavors to it. Part I \u2013 entitled The Cleansing Of The Promised Land<\/em> \u2013 is complemented with \u201cTwilight Of The Gods\u201d, perhaps slightly heavier and more guitar-oriented, embroidered with fast-paced riffs and majestic background choirs. The Awakening is impeccable layered vocal harmonies of \u201cProphecies\u201d versus the thick, heavy sound of \u201cAt The Edge Of Time.\u201d Disturbance Here And Now<\/em> consists of \u201cAshes Of Eternity\u201d and \u201cThe Holy Grail\u201d, both filled with thumping bass line and gritty guitar licks. <\/p>\n

Next is The Descending Of The Throne<\/em> marked with the guitar-laden intensity of \u201cThe Throne.\u201d The Fallen And The Chosen One<\/em> follows with somber male choir sequence opening \u201cSacred Mind\u201d towards its furious final only to be complemented by the piano-based melody and perfectly harmonized vocals of ballad-esque \u201cMiracle Machine\u201d. The eponymous part of the album is its final one (sans two bonuses of limited versions), represented by the grandiosity of \u201cGrand Parade\u201d, its instrumental artistry and dramatic mood.<\/p>\n

Beyond The Mirror<\/em> is a fully fledged concept album and even if the particular songs of it could have functioned well on its own, juxtaposed together they form a dramatized, dynamic, epic history with frequent references to its 1995\u2019s prequel Imaginations From The Other Side<\/em>. The definite asset to the band in the person of its frontman and co-founder Hansi K\u00fcrsch is no disappointment too, his famously layered voice clean and powerful. Music-wise, the German giants of Power\/Symphonic Metal deliver what\u2019s best in their arsenal and what\u2019s been this band\u2019s hallmark since the days of A Night At The Opera. A predictable album perhaps, but nevertheless a heavyweight champion in its category, Beyond The Mirror<\/em> is laden with rich instrumental passages and elaborate solo parts that constitute a fine compromise between metal density and virtuosity. Atmospheric orchestral backing and heavy use of three different choirs that all contributed to the recordings add even more thickness to their metal sound, complementing the band\u2019s instrumentation. Classical and progressive flavors to their music intertwine to blend into one sonic entity that is not only cohesive and coherent, but that is also simply Blind Guardian all along the way. Protagonists of the European Power Metal scene, the band is still the one their younger counterparts can (and should) learn a lesson or two from.<\/p>\n

(Edition notes: The limited\/vinyl version of the album consists of one additional track \u201cDistant Memories\u201d and the earbook version of the album has \u201cDoom\u201d as the final bonus track).<\/p>\n

Genre: Progressive Power Metal, Symphonic Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nHansi K\u00fcrsch \u2013 lead and backing vocals
\nAndr\u00e9 Olbrich \u2013 lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars
\nMarcus Siepen \u2013 rhythm guitar
\nFrederik Ehmke \u2013 drums, percussion<\/p>\n

Additional musicians:
\nBarend Courbois \u2013 bass guitar
\nMichael Sch\u00fcren \u2013 piano
\nMattias Ulmer \u2013 keyboards, piano
\nThomas Hackmann, William “Billy” King, Olaf Senkbeil \u2013 the choir company<\/p>\n

Orchestras:
\nHungarian Studio Orchestra Budapest (Peter Pejtsik \u2013 conductor)
\nFILMharmonic Orchestra Prague (Adam Klemens \u2013 conductor)<\/p>\n

Choirs:
\nHungarian Studio Choir Budapest (Peter Pejtsik \u2013 conductor)
\nFILMharmonic Choir Prague (Stanislav Mistr \u2013 conductor)
\nVox Futura Choir Boston (Andrew Shenton \u2013 conductor)<\/p>\n

Track List:
\nI. The Cleansing of the Promised Land
\n1. The Ninth Wave
\n2. Twilight of the Gods<\/p>\n

II. The Awakening
\n3. Prophecies
\n4. At the Edge of Time\u201d \u2013 6:54<\/p>\n

III. Disturbance in the Here and Now
\n5. Ashes of Eternity<\/p>\n

IV. The Mirror Speaks
\n6. Distant Memories* <\/p>\n

V. Disturbance in the Here and Now (Reprise)
\n7. The Holy Grail<\/p>\n

VI. The Descending of the Nine<\/p>\n

8. The Throne<\/p>\n

VII. The Fallen and the Chosen One
\n9. Sacred Mind
\n10. Miracle Machine<\/p>\n

VIII. Beyond the Red Mirror
\n11. Grand Parade<\/p>\n

IX. Damnation
\n12. Doom* <\/p>\n

*bonus tracks<\/p>\n

Label: Nuclear Blast<\/p>\n

Website: www.blind-guardian.com<\/a> – www.facebook.com\/blindguardian<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 7\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Senior Columnist — There\u2019s hardly a thing as solid and imperishable as the Teutonic Metal scene \u2013 from the classic Heavy\/Speed legends such as Running Wild, Rage or Accept to the […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":48727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[10570,10568,2317,10962,339,8593,1100],"class_list":{"0":"post-48713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-beyond-the-red-mirror","9":"tag-blind-guardian","10":"tag-cd-review","11":"tag-hansi-kursch","12":"tag-nuclear-blast","13":"tag-progressive-power-metal","14":"tag-symphonic-metal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}