NIGHTFALL IN MIDDLE-EARTH

As much as I love the exhaustive detail and mythic elegance of Tolkien's Middle-Earth universe and most of the stories he wrote around it, I have never been able to appreciate The Simarillion. Keeping in mind it's been years since I last attempted slogging through it, I remember an incredibly joyless read that seemed to make every effort to make an epic struggle between gods and men (and elves) as dry and as academic as possible. That Blind Guardian took the practically unreadable Quenta Simarillion as proper inspiration for such an exciting power metal masterpiece establishes two facts: first, that Hansi Kursch and company are undoubtedly pretty fucking hardcore about their love for J.R.R and fantasy literature. Secondly-- and vastly more important-- is that if Blind Guardian were able to adapt one of the most somnolent fantasy epics ever into one of metal's most memorable classics with the source material's seriousness and severity intact, there can be no doubt that the men behind this music are geniuses, the likes of which are so rarely seen in this and other styles of music that Nightfall in Middle-Earth's existence still remains a cause for celebration, years following its release.

I might not think that Nightfall in Middle Earth is the very best Blind Guardian album, but it was my first experience of them, and I can still see why so many fans point the finger at this sombre concept album whenever their name and 'magnum opus' are mentioned at once. In a nutshell; with Somewhere Far Beyond and Imaginations from the Other Side, the band had all but perfected their 'Queen meets Helloween' style of progressive metal. The speed metal roots were long gone by this point, exchanged for a bombastic mode of orchestration that got progressively more intense with each album. Releasing another set of songs in the style of its two predecessors would have met no contest from fans or critics, but they went a step further. They did more on Nightfall in Middle Earth than pad the music with interludes and conceptual narrative; Blind Guardian got surprisingly dark and serious in their tone with this one. Power metal detractors love to bash this genre often on the basis that it's too light, uplifting and flowery, too bombastic and 'cheesy' for its own good. I might be able to see some listeners still thinking those last two things about Nightfall in Middle Earth, but uplifting it is not. There's no denying the sobering tone and atmosphere on this album. It has more in common with a grim Medieval opera hosted in a dungeon than anything by Rhapsody or Avantasia.

In spite of the album's seriousness, the vast majority of the songs here are incredible, and all of them memorable. Following the mandatory intro "War of Wrath", "Into the Storm" hits with a frantic urgency that sounds more energetic than anything from their speed metal days. It's one of my favourite openers ever, complete with an epic chorus that acts as beckoning overture to the rest of the madness on the album. I'll never forget "Nightfall" either, a self-contained six minute masterpiece that lingers between melancholic Medieval-tinged acoustics and thunderous power metal anthemry as you've never heard it before. "The Curse of Feanor", "Thorn" and "The Dark Passage" all earn the impression of smallscale epics in their own rights. Although they are insignificantly longer than an 'average' song, they feel so boldly sculpted that it's daunting to fathom how much time went into their crafting. And then, of course, there are the faster-paced tracks fans of the band's first three albums should love; "Mirror Mirror", "Time Stands Still" and "When Sorrow Sang" all bear their fangs sharply; though they're more visceral than the aforementioned 'epics', there's still just as much detail invested in their arrangement. Medieval musical influences are replete throughout the band's accompaniments, and it's quite easy to imagine the band playing alongside an ensemble of minstrels as the album roars along.

"The Eldar" and "Blood Tears" bolster the album as ballads from two sides of the spectrum. "The Eldar" is gentle and piano-driven; ultimately, it sounds like a Hansi Kursch loveletter to the operatic sweetness of Freddy Mercury; it's not often we hear him sounding so tender and vulnerable. "Blood Tears" is slow, brooding and occasionally heavy, but doesn't excite me like so much of the album. Between "Blood Tears" and the somewhat disappointing mid-pacer "Noldor", Nightfall in Middle-Earth has a couple of less-impressive tunes that keep the album from being excellent from start-to-finish.

Needless to say, there are also the interludes to contend with. As much as I truly believe Nightfall in Middle-Earth deserves recognition among the best power metal has to offer, so many of the little segues are unnecessarily padded. The acoustic minstrel pieces ("The Minstrel" and "Battle of Sudden Flame" etc) add colour and flow to the album, but spoken word tracks like "Nom the Wise" and "Final Chapter" don't appear to serve any purpose, save to add loading time between one song and the next. I can't imagine a concept album about The Simarillion without some kind of padded interluding, but the approach they took to the narrative is misguided. Not to mention, it makes the track listing look like a fucking bomb went off.

The interludes are certainly annoying (especially after you've listened to the album a hundred times) but the music itself is often incredible. If there was any overhanging criticism I'd have of Blind Guardian's output here, it would be the production, which seems to struggle a bit in making sure all of the musical ingredients have a voice. A 2007 remaster has largely improved upon that issue however. As I'm writing this, I've listened to and owned this album for near a decade. It was the first Blind Guardian record I ever owned, and it's one of the few albums I've heard in my life where I can precisely remember the occasion I first slid in the disc and sat back to listen. Nightfall in Middle-Earth is imperfect in all of its bombast and ambition, but it's the sort of album only Blind Guardian could have made.

Share this BLIND GUARDIAN review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Conor Fynes
• Report this review (#204979)
• Buy BLIND GUARDIAN music online with PA partners
• Show all BLIND GUARDIAN MP3/Stream
• Go to BLIND GUARDIAN page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Nightfall In Middle-Earth page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for BLIND GUARDIAN related discussions