BLIND GUARDIAN — Twilight Orchestra: Legacy of the Dark Lands (review)

BLIND GUARDIAN — Twilight Orchestra: Legacy of the Dark Lands album cover Album · 2019 · Non-Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Kev Rowland
This release is the brainchild of guitarist André Olbrich and singer Hansi Kürsch, who decided to take their music to a logical extreme and release a Blind Guardian album with only Kürsch appearing on it from the band. The other aspect which may be rather concerning for fans of the power metal act is that there are no guitars. Working with German bestselling author Markus Heitz, a storyline was developed, regarding the mercenary Nicolas and his involvement in the Thirty Years' War. Heitz starts the story off in his book ‘Die Dunklen Lande’ and the band followed with the album, ‘Legacy Of The Dark Lands’. Here, André Olbrich and Hansi Kürsch fulfill their long-time wish of emphasizing imposing choral singing and classical orchestral arrangements. But what will fans think of it?

Given the way the band have been developing their sound over the last 20 years or so, in many ways this is a logical step, and without the need to include rock instruments there is far more freedom and space within the music. This feels far more like a musical than a concept album, and there are sound effects and actors taking their parts to drive the story along. Musically the songs are often huge, showstoppers in many ways. One can easily imagine the crowd sat in their best finery sat in the theatre and clapping wildly after the “Dark Cloud’s Rising” which sound like the end of an Act to me. Kürsch has a great voice, and the result is an album which is rapidly becoming one of my favourites from the band. Is it metal? No, of course not, this is orchestral musical cinematic storytelling which one can easily imagine on the big screen.

The question I guess for many fans though, is does this mean that Blind Guardian as they were known have ended and this is a new direction, or is it a one-off? I think it is more likely it is the latter as this has not been released as a Blind Guardian album as such, even though they have kept the logo, and I would rather think of this as a project. Whatever it is, whether it is the future of the band or simply something they had to get out of their system, I have found it infinitely more interesting than some of their other albums.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Unearthly Litanies of Despair Death Metal
ENGULFED
Buy this album from MMA partners
It Beckons Us All....... Black Metal
DARKTHRONE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Death Is Not The End Doom Metal
GLOSSA
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Way Forward Sludge Metal
BLACK TUSK
Buy this album from MMA partners
Till Aska Atmospheric Sludge Metal
WALK THROUGH FIRE
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Agremorta - Adrocitas (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Agremorta - Ploratus Umbra (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Agremorta - Vertex Membrana (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 2 days ago
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR - The Temple Of Curved Space (Official Track Stream)
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR
adg211288· 2 days ago
In Sulfur - The Gate (OFFICIAL VIDEO) 2022
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 3 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed