UMUR "Spirit of Time" is the second full-length studio album by German thrash/progressive metal act Battlefield. The album was released through Rising Sun Productions in 1993. It´s the successor to "Still and Ever Again" from 1991.

The predecessor featured a progressive heavy metal style with the occasional nod towards the band´s thrash metal roots. "Spirit of Time" sheds the thrash metal elements completely and the sound of the album is best described as progressive heavy metal with quite a few experimental songwriting ideas. Compared to the relatively complex and often lengthy tracks featured on the predecessor, Battlefield show more restraint here, and the tracks are therefore predominantly shorter and more vers/chorus oriented. While that is not always a plus, I´ll go out on a limb here and say, that it´s a much better songwriting approach for Battlefield, who finally sound like they´ve found a musical direction and follow it. That hasn´t always been the case on preceding releases by the band.

"Spirit of Time" is a very well produced release, featuring a heavy, detailed, and dynamic sounding production job, which greatly enhances the listening experience. The musical performances are on a high level. The guitar work is intricate and powerful, the rhythm section play both heavy and sophisticated rhythms, while lead vocalist Tanja Ivenz is the icing on the cake. Her voice and vocal style work much better on this album than they did on "Still and Ever Again" (1991), where I think they occasionally sounded a little grating on the ears. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.