• New Music Reviews
• |
• Archives
• |
• News
• |
• Submissions
• |
• About
• |
• 
• |
• 

November 2024

• Voodoo Circle: Hail To The King
• Lionville: Supernatural
• Starchaser: Into The Great Unkown
• Empires Of Eden: Guardians Of Time
• Lonerider: Down In The Dust
• Seventh Crystal: Entity
• Neal Morse & The Resonance: No Hill For A Climber
• Beardfish: Songs For Beating Hearts
• Impellitteri: War Machine
• Brothers Of Metal: Fimbulvinter

October 2024

• Casandra's Crossing: Garden Of Earthly Delights
• DGM: Endless
• Daytona: Garder la Flamme
• Fate: Reconnect 'N Ignite
• Frost*: Life In The Wires
• Aries Descendant: From The Ashes Of Deceit
• Fans Of The Dark: Video
• Radioactive: Reset
• House Of Lords: Full Tilt Overdrive
• Cleanbreak: We Are The Fire

September 2024

• Sinner's Blood: Dark Horizons
• Serious Black: Rise Of Akhenaton
• Eclipse: Megalomanium II
• SteelCity: Reverence
• Hydra: ReHydrated
• Heartwind: III
• Gabrielle De Val and the Dragonlords: Tiger
• Find Me: Nightbound
• The Nail: The Nail
• Timeless Fairytale: A Story To Tell
• Stryper: When We Were Kings
• Phil Mogg: Moggs Motel
• Pure Reason Revolution: Coming Up To Consciousness
• Jordan Rudess: Permission To Fly

August 2024

• Siege Perilous: Creation's Call EP
• Paralydium: Universe Calls
• Mike Tramp: Songs Of White Lion Vol. II
• Bite The Bullet: Looking For Paradise
• All For Metal: Gods Of Metal (Year Of The Dragon)
• Hammerfall: Avenge The Fallen
• Jim Peterik & World Stage: Roots & Shoots Vol. 2

[ More Music Reviews ]

Blind Guardian: The God Machine

Classic Power Metal

5.0/5.0

Internet Facebook Instagram YouTube
Frontiers Music
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 07.09.2022 | Released: 03.09.2022

I find it somewhat curious that iconic and seminal power metal heroes Blind Guardian released their latest and eleventh album, The God Machine the same day Amazon Prime video released Lord Of The Rings prequel, The Rings Of Power. Famous for their songs and lyrics from fantasy, Tolkein, and epic myths and legends, 1998's Nightfall in Middle-Earth gave the Tolkein mythos a power metal shot in the arm. Blind Guardian vocalist and principal lyricist Hansi Kürsch continues to be inspired by modern fantasy fiction.

Blind Guardian

This time he draws from Patrick Rothfuss, Neil Gaiman (American Gods), Brandon Sanderson (Stormlight Archives), and the The Witcher novels, currently being cast by Netflix. The album art, conceptually quite different from early albums was created by American artist Peter Mohrbacher, known for his art for gaming and fiction like Magic The Gathering, Dragons Of Atlantis, and Angelarium.

Moving on the metal, I found the album a mixture of both early and new Blind Guardian, perhaps more the former. Recent albums bumped up the orchestra culminating with profound and epic Twilight Orchestra: Legacy of the Dark Lands. But The God Machine turns more upon classic European power metal with the sin qua non elements of assertive riffs, boundless speed, and epic guitar solos. This quite apparent with Deliver Us From Evil, Damnation, and Violent Shadows. That last song turns upon a thrash metal motif made heavy by the intense bass line. But Blind Guardian does not forget their subtle voyages into progish power metal. Let It Be No More and Secrets Of The American Gods add more twists than just riffs and gusto. And, though reduced, you'll still hear some orchestration, most notable within Secrets Of The American Gods.

All things considered, The God Machine finds iconic power metal band Blind Guardian in excellent and creative form. This album delivers the power and punch of true power metal, yet never fails to engage and entertain the listener. Easily recommended.

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

The God Machine finds iconic power metal band Blind Guardian in excellent and creative form. This album delivers the power and punch of true power metal, yet never fails to engage and entertain the listener. Easily recommended.

Alphabetical Index

eviewing my archives, I was pleased to find that I have had the privilege to review every Lionville since their self-titled debut in 2011. Formed by Stefano Lionetti, a songwriter, singer and guitarist based in ... [ Read More ]

• Views: 14K
• Active Users: 3.7K
• New Users: 3.1K
• Event Count: 41K

Source: Google Analytics