Kev Rowland This 2015 album was the tenth studio release from Blind Guardian, and the first since ‘At The Edge of Time’ some five years earlier and is a concept and sequel to 1995’s ‘Imaginations From The Other Side’. Although Blind Guardian made their name initially in the same speed metal area as fellow countrymen Helloween, over the years they had moved both into power metal and in producing bombastic albums with a series of guests. This is no different, in that outside the core quartet of Hansi Kürsch (vocals), André Olbrich (guitars), Marcus Siepen (guitars) and Frederik Ehmke (drums) they not only have a new session bassist in Barend Courbois but also have two orchestras, three choirs and more.

The result is something which is massively over the top, bombastic, but also for some reason feels quite compressed. There is a lot going on at times, but one does not really get the epic feel that Blind Guardian are looking for as instead there is the feeling of everything being squashed together. It can be quite smothering at times as there is just no space for movement. I have heard quite a lot of Blind Guardian over the years and while never being a huge fan have never really disliked their music either, and that is the case again with this one. It is interesting, but there just is not enough freedom in the music for it ever to be anything special as it has been produced to within an inch of its life. Some people have stylised this as symphonic metal, but it certainly isn’t that, it is bombastic power metal which is attempting to become ever more so. That it does not reach the heights it is reaching for is another matter altogether. Possibly looking at it from five years on as opposed to reviewing it after there had been such a long gap between albums had some impact on my feelings, but there again maybe not.

UMUR "Beyond the Red Mirror" is the 10th full-length studio album by German power metal act Blind Guardian. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in January 2015. It´s the successor to "At The Edge Of Time" from 2010. "Beyond the Red Mirror" is a sci-fi/fantasy concept album and the sequel to "Imaginations from the Other Side (1995)". As usual Blind Guardian has created a majestic and very ambitious project and in addition to guitars, bass, drums, keyboards/piano, and vocals, the music also features choir sections and classical music sections, delivered by three different choirs and two classical orchestras.

Stylistically there are few surprises if you´re familiar with the band´s combination of power metal and symphonic metal with folk leanings. They shed their original speed metal roots a long time ago, and they´ve played the current style on quite a few releases now. As always the listener is bombarded with walls of sound. This is grand beyond epic and sometimes I forget that this is metal at all, because the guitars are buried in waves of huge choirs and classical orchestration. Sometimes the whole thing sounds a bit disjointed and the band and the orchestra seldom sound like they are in the same room playing (which they in reality pretty surely don´t either), but when everything melts together to an epic whole, it´s quite breathtaking. Blind Guardian also delivers more hard edged power metal parts that´s a bit more "straight metal" and less theatrical, but those moments are few an far between. There are also a couple of ballad type tracks/sections featured on the album, which is nice for the dynamics and variation of the album.

"Beyond the Red Mirror" features a polished and professional sound production. To my ears it´s a bit lifeless sounding though and as mentioned above it doesn´t always succeed in bringing the rock instrumentation and the classical choirs/orchestra parts together in a natural sounding fashion. I also think it´s an error not bringing the guitars more to the front of the mix, which would have made the album more sharper sounding. As it is now it simply sounds a bit overproduced and focusing more on the symphonic aspect of the band´s sound an less on the power metal ditto.

The band are as always really well playing/singing. Blind Guardian are one of those artists where you are never in doubt that it´s them playing. They have a very distinct sound. And my admiration for their unique sound and style is what saves "Beyond the Red Mirror". Not that it´s a bad quality album or anything like that, because it´s certainly not, but I personally miss the times when Blind Guardian kicked some ass and didn´t focus so much on choirs and orchestras. A little less polish and more rawness and power would do the trick. Well...when that is said "Beyond the Red Mirror" is still a high quality release and to those who enjoy the more symphonic oriented Blind Guardian style, it´s certainly a worthwhile release. One of their better releases in recent years. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

666sharon666 Blind Guardian are undeniably one of the biggest power metal bands to have ever existed. But despite the high regard that I and many others have for them if they have one fault it's that they're pretty slow at making their albums, just ten in the twenty-seven years since their debut Battalions of Fear, the latest of which is 2015's Beyond the Red Mirror. They get away with this because when they do release an album it's of a higher quality than pretty much any other artist in the power metal genre. This one is no exception, in fact for me it's their best in twenty years.

Most people seem to be describing this album as Blind Guardian's foray into symphonic power metal territory but I really don't get that. They're been using symphonic metal elements for a while now and there aren't any more here than on any of their other albums, a few very symphonic tracks like The Ninth Wave but overall it's too varied between different takes on power metal to pigeonhole it like that. Maybe someone stole them from my copy, because I'm not hearing what other people seem to be hearing. A good chunk of the album is more in line with Imaginations from the Other Side, especially The Holy Grail which could easily be a lost track from that album. That's probably why it's my favourite, along with Twilight of the Gods, Ashes of Eternity and Sacred Mind. There aren't any bad tracks, though the album did take quite a few spins to grow on me whereas others they've done were more immediate.

DippoMagoo With many bands it can be easy for their latest album to be ignored and lost in the shuffle, especially if it happens to be released during a particularly busy time of year. Such has never been the case for Blind Guardian, whose album releases are always treated as some kind of special event among power metal fans. Keeping with their tradition of taking as much time as is required to create a rich and deeply layered album, their tenth full length release Beyond the Red Mirror comes almost exactly four and a half years after its immediate predecessor At the Edge of Time. As soon as the album was revealed, it was instantly considered a top contender for 2015 by many, and happily the band has once again delivered.

Over the years their sound has greatly evolved, moving from an aggressive speed metal sound on their first few albums, to the more complex, deeply layered brand of prog infused power metal they've been playing since Nightfall in Middle Earth. Traces of that album and its successor A Night at the Opera can be found on Beyond the Red Mirror, but those awaiting a return to their original sound are in for some serious disappointment. More than anything else, fans should expect a continuation of what the band produced on At the Edge of Time. That album featured some very strong symphonic elements at times, and on this album the band has gone all the way in that direction, bringing in a big choir and three huge orchestras, to create some very epic symphonic metal tracks, while still not abandoning their power metal roots, or the prog elements they've developed on recent albums. At times it feels like the band is experimenting more than ever on this album, and moving further and further away from their classic sound, but they still always manage to bring back just enough speed and aggression to keep their essence intact.

I only have one minor issue with Beyond the Red Mirror, and that is with the production. At least on the promo copy I was given, the guitars and drums sound a bit weak and are, for the most part, buried deep beneath the sounds of keyboards, orchestras and vocals. This is especially noticeable on the opening 9 minute epic “The Ninth Wave”, which opens with some awesome choir vocals, introduces the epic orchestral work, and features an incredibly addictive chorus. It’s certainly one of the most ambitious opening tracks I've ever heard, and I can understand and appreciate what the band was going for, but unfortunately the production and the rather limited guitar work combine together to make parts of the song, particularly the verses, feel a bit disjointed. Though I will say, after the first two verses the song picks up and the instrumental section is very good, while obviously Hansi sounds fantastic as always during the chorus.

While the opener doesn't quite strike the right balance between symphonic and power metal, other songs achieve better results. Of particular note are “Prophecies” and “The Throne”, both of which start out slowly, before picking up the pace and expertly mixing together some of their traditional power metal with their more recently established symphonic and prog elements, resulting in two highly complex songs with several tempo changes, that manage to be incredibly rewarding, especially for fans of their later albums, though I feel the former in particular should have enough speedier sections to satisfy fans of their earlier work as well. “Sacred Minds” is similar, but much darker and heavier, and it certainly feels like it would fit in well on Nightfall in Middle Earth. It even has some of the most aggressive vocals I’ve heard from Hansi in quite a while, with some occasional screams thrown in for good measure.

Continuing with the more experimental side of the album, “At the Edge of Time” has a much more cinematic feel to it than anything they’ve done previously, almost feeling like some of kind of musical at times. The orchestra and choirs dominate this track, along with Hansi, but while the guitars are mostly buried, I find the more grandiose feel helps make it a much more satisfying song than “The Ninth Wave”, and everything seems to come together surprisingly well. I’d even go as far as to say it’s one of my favorites on the album, though I expect some people to hate it. Much hype has been given to the 9 minute closer “Grand Parade” and rightfully so, because it’s definitely one of their most epic songs to date. It starts off slow and once again places a strong emphasis on the symphonic elements, with the chorus once again being something special, but the arrangements are extremely inventive and there’s some very effective up tempo passages later in the song. It’s another one of their many highly ambitious works where everything just came together in a wonderful way.

Fans of their earlier work do have a few songs to look forward to. Of particular note is the single “Twilight of the Gods”, which feels very similar to the previous lead single “A Voice in the Dark”, in that it has some slight speed metal elements mixed with the more modern style of the band’s recent albums, resulting in an explosive, highly energetic progressive power metal track. The most old-school track on the album is “The Holy Grail”, an ultra speedy track dominated by excellent riffs, strong vocals and of course a catchy chorus. It’s definitely the heaviest song the band has done in recent years, and manages to be another instant favorite. Another speedier track is “Ashes of Eternity”, which sounds strikingly similar to “Fly”/”Dead Sound of Misery” from A Twist in the Myth. Lastly, we have “Miracle Machine”, the lone ballad. As always, Hansi excels at ballads, and the song is simple but in a very charming way. It joins the likes of “Nightfall”, “Skalds & Shadows” and “Curse My name”, as being yet another Blind Guardian ballad that manages to be one of the highlights of its album.

While other big name German power metal bands have left me a bit less than impressed in recent years, Blind Guardian continues to be one of the most consistently inventive and enjoyable bands in the genre. Beyond the Red Mirror shows the band moving even further into a more symphonic progressive metal direction, but the bursts of power metal and epic vocal melodies ensure it can’t be mistaken as being by any other band, while their songwriting continues to be remarkably strong. Fans of their earlier albums have at least a bit to look forward to, but I think this album will be best enjoyed by those who started getting into the band with Nightfall in Middle Earth, and especially those who loved At the Edge of Time. As someone who doesn’t consider any of their albums to be less than excellent, I can confidently say Beyond the Red Mirror extends the streak to ten.

(originally written for myglobalmind: http://myglobalmind.com/2015/01/26/blind-guardian-beyond-red-mirror-review/)

adg211288 Beyond the Red Mirror (2015) is the tenth full-length album by German power metal act Blind Guardian. Blind Guardian are, as I'm sure any self-respecting metal fan knows, one of the field leaders of the power metal genre so a new album from them is a pretty big deal, especially when considering that their album releases are few and far between, their last effort being the excellent At the Edge of Time (2010), so Beyond the Red Mirror closes what has been the longest gap between Blind Guardian studio albums so far. It's a concept album with the songs grouped into seven chapters.

At the Edge of Time was always going to be a tough act for Blind Guardian to follow; it's actually my fourth favourite album from the group following the consecutive releases of Tales from the Twilight World (1990), Somewhere Far Beyond (1992) and Imaginations From the Other Side (1995) (in reverse order). It's instantly apparent that the wait has, as ever, been worth it though and Blind Guardian continue to show signs of their musical evolution, that's to say that while I can hear nods to several of their past albums, At the Edge of Time and A Night at the Opera (2002) especially, Beyond the Red Mirror stands on its own feet.

With this album Blind Guardian has taken the increased symphonic elements of At the Edge of Time and increased them again to result in what is easily their most symphonic album to date. So if you liked what they did previously with tracks like Sacred Worlds then you're in for a treat with Beyond the Red Mirror and offerings like The Ninth Wave and Grand Parade, although the former is actually one of my least favourite tracks from the album personally, but that's more testament to how strong the other songs are rather than The Ninth Wave being inherently weaker.

I would not quite call this a fully fledged symphonic power metal album though. Blind Guardian may have upped the symphonies but they've hardly forgone the fast paced guitar driven power metal anthems that I and I'm sure other fans expect to hear from them and that's as it should be. It's a very grand and epic affair no matter where they go with their ideas though, with quite the contrast of ideas. You're got a track like At the Edge of Time (yeah, a 'title track' for the previous album) which is more like a mid-paced symphonic metal song but then there's also something like The Holy Grail which brings out their aggressive side, harkening back to more along the lines of Imaginations From the Other Side. That's how I prefer my Blind Guardian, more gritty and intense, so it should come as no surprise that The Holy Grail is among my favourite tracks from Beyond the Red Mirror, along with single Twilight of the Gods, Prophecies and Sacred Mind.

The band have found a good balance between these two extremes I think, so as a whole the record works. I can't shake the impression that it's a very small step down from At the Edge of Time though. One thing of note would be the absence of a folk ballad, which is really felt. There's an piano/orchestral based one instead, Miracle Machine, but it doesn't have the same magic that tracks like A Past and Future Secret or Curse My Name from albums past had. I'd say it's one of the lower points of the album, which is a common opinion I have with ballads and power metal albums, but not with Blind Guardian albums until now, so that's disappointing, but it's really the only somewhat negative thing I have to say about Beyond the Red Mirror. It's not a bad track by any means. The others are simply better.

Though I do think it has a couple of lesser tracks the majority of Beyond the Red Mirror is on the level with At the Edge of Time and that makes it a more than worthy follow-up in my book. Only time will tell how where it sits within the ranks of their discography (At the Edge of Time certainly didn't become my fourth favourite Blind Guardian record overnight) but it's easily a 4.5 star record for me. Let's hope we don't have to wait until 2020 or later before we get another one though!