Blind Guardian - A Twist In The Myth Review

(originally written for the Metal Archives)

As a big Blind Guardian fan, I was very disappointed by the band in 2006 because of the release of their new album "A Twist In The Myth". I knew that their drummer, Thomen Stauch, had left the band because of the change in their music, making it less fast and more orchestral by adding other instruments like bag pipes, flutes, and a choir company that had not been a part of their musical arrangements in the past. I was afraid that it would turn towards symphonic/power/folk metal.

Like the previous album released in 2002, "A Night At The Opera", we could hear the solid background choir and a lot of keyboard sounds. The difference between the two albums is that "A Twist In The Myth" has a cool rock 'n roll touch that I personally like. Despite all these changes, the band still kept some "typical Blind Guardian features" like melodic and touching choruses, wild and fast solos, and interesting lyrics that can be easily learned and sung at live concerts. 

While listening to this album, I could notice the details in their music such as melodic and calm acoustic interludes, lead flute, and bagpipe bridges accompanied by keyboard. Although I don't really like the latter instrument in this kind of music, I must say that it actually fitted in very well and that the all instruments merge together in 11 awesome songs, and all this makes it an fascinatingly good album, but not one of my favorites and certainly not one of the best to my mind. 

Really remarkable songs are the songs "Skalds In Shadows", a slow acoustic piece with a very solid chorus and interesting guitar riffs. My favorite song of the album is the song "Straight Through The Mirror" because of the chorus, the guitar solo, and because I really enjoy the bagpipe lead in the middle of the song, but if you want a song to listen to to get an idea what the album is about in general and how the mood of the songs is, you should listen to the song "Otherland", a song full of melodic leads and solos that reminds me a bit of the leads on their first album, "Battalions Of Fear". 

All in all, the album is a success, but it's not what a fan would have expected. It's more than recommendable for fans of Manegarm, maybe Eluveitie, and other bands that use folk metal instruments. I can't give them more than 90% because of the sudden change in their style (although I already knew about it back in 2002 ), but I have to respect that and I'm still a big Blind Guardian fan, and you could become one as well if you start listening to their proud "A Twist In The Myth".