Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle Earth

Man, epic is just the most appropriate word I can think of here, Blind Guardian composing one hellacious monster of a metal concept album. Based on Tolkein's The Simarillion, Nightfall is over an hour in length, 22 tracks, 11 of which are intros, and just so damn German in execution, it may rival or even surpass the "classics" such as Helloween's finest hours. Seems like power metal is the drug of choice these days, and if anyone deserves to reap some of the rewards from it's newfound commercialism, it's these guys. The sound ranges from folk to speed, but there are some serious constants throughout, most notably being the godly vocal work by Hansi Kursch. One of those who rarely notices this aspect of an album, I'm doubly impressed by the fact that on this opus, Kursch is the absolute focus for me, his performance dripping with emotion. Nightfall also has the distinction of being one of the first German Power Metal album in the last 10 years to make my heavy rotation list, seldom leaving my disc changer. Musically, a sonic interpretation of a renassaince fair, an an album that demands you raise a mug of ale and sing along. Obviously a labor of love, the band spent almost two years preparing this with producer Fleming Rasmussen. Well worth it to my ears, for the production really captures the bands obvious ability to compose and perform this particular brand of metal. Highly recommended