Blind Guardian - Legacy of the Dark Lands - Reviews (2024)

Legacy of the Dark Lands is a vanity project, perhaps misbranded under the Blind Guardian moniker, in which Hansi Kursch gets his fantasy nerdery on in an even more hardcore manner than he ever did with his mainstay. Granted, there's a pretty huge crossover audience for this stuff, with lots of Blind Guardian tunes devoted to various fictional universes, some of which probably brought new fans over to the band and to the power metal genre in general, so it's not all that unusual to tie this in with the band. There's also some orchestration involved with some of their heavier albums, but nowhere near this level of overt, pompous cheese. Hansi drafts up the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, who seem to appear on a lot of metal or metal adjacent works, and a whole slew of guest vocalists to join him in exploring his epic fantasy milieu, his 'Twilight Orchestra'. It even features narration!

Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings this is not, but more of a serious if a bit generic fantasy saga like you'd find on a string of Rhapsody of Fire albums. It's certainly not intentionally stupid or silly, and there's a dark tone to the 24 tracks and 75 minutes, which range from intros and interludes, with the narrators telling the tale, to epic symphonic tracks in which Hansi flexes his pipes against the choir. If you enjoy opera or glorious Wagnerian compositions, these will probably have some appeal for you, between the calmer and whimsical flights and the sweltering belligerence. Despite the vocal presence, Kursch really lets the symphony itself shine, and they get in a lot of time and for my dollar many of the better moments on the album like "War Feeds War" and "In the Red Dwarf's Tower", the title of which does make me crack up, as much as I love the vertically stunted fantasy race in a number of IPs. The tunes have wonder, they have magnificence, they have conflict, and if you find some of the narration and chorus parts to be too dweeby or cringeworthy, you can always put on the instrumental side, which would be a far better accompaniment for your night of fiddling with your...Baldur's Gate 3, or as a soundtrack to your D&D session.

You MIGHT even hear a little of the reflection in how Hansi contributes to the Blind Guardian writing process, because there are more than a few points where I'm just imagining one of Olbrich's charging, squealing, processed guitar lines ringing out, and I was a little surprised that the tunes weren't more metalized, or that a version like that wasn't included on an extra disc. Some of the instruments and key tones (like in "Point of No Return") even feel like they might have appeared on A Twist in the Myth or something. There are also versions of this without the interludes, or an 'audio book' approach which I'm assuming must have more of the narration at the forefront with the music taking on a backing role. The production is pretty nice, and it's all pretty pro...the conductor is obviously great, as are most of the guest roles, a few of which are metal guys used to these sorts of massive projects. Does the music stir me as much as proper fantasy soundtrack? No, and it's not something I get absorbed into as much as Blind Guardian proper, but it's clearly a labor of love for Hansi and I don't mind an occasional spin.

Let's put it this way, if your inroads was "Sacred Worlds" and you dug the Sacred tie-in but thought the metal stuff was too heavy, this has your name written all over it. Otherwise, if you're a metalhead, just know what this is, and if you're not into the same sort of epic fantasy fiction and the hilarious pretentiousness of the whole thing, it's probably one to avoid at all cost.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

I feel like it's not all that controversial to say that while a lot of people enjoy Blind Guardian's generous layering and bombastic-ness, no one who heard Night at the Opera or Red Mirror or whatever was thinking "this is good but I reckon it needs more classical". I dare say very few people skip Mirror Mirror and Curse of Feanor for the interludes on NiME. Blind Guardian's attempt at high art is more redolent of Metallica releasing an album where there's nothing but Lars drumming. It is the equivalent of Dave Mustaine releasing an acappella album.

It is bad bad bad bad bad. It is a really mediocre soundtrack of a bad movie, with the worst vocals Hansi has ever? done. Hansi seems like a nice dude and I love his voice in a whole bunch of albums so I don't feel particularly good in telling him that sh*t sucks, but his voice- surprisingly restrained throughout, really- is really thin and underwhelming in this, and as I've seen from a few other random "guy singing with orchestral backing" tunes in metal it just really shows that someone who's got a powerful voice and is great at tunefully screaming is a long, long, longlonglong way from being on the same level as some classically trained tenor.

Yeah, so the vocals are bad, the narration is about as bad as you'd expect, and the music is, well, I lack the terminology to describe it, but I guess if I was really forced I'd say it's some sort of neo-romantic pastiche (???) with a few very obvious THIS IS MEANT TO BE PASTORAL, THIS IS MEANT TO BE OMINOUS sort of markers around the place. As you'd expect from a decent orchestra the playing is impeccable, but the music itself has about as much subtlety as a toddler and less depth than the wading pool of said toddler. If you're looking for subtlety or ambiguity or interesting touches in the compositions you're thoroughly out of luck. You know sometimes on a TV show or whatever there'll be a metal band playing something and it just sounds like a barebones, hopelessly crude sketch written by someone who's heard Enter Sandman once? This is a lot like that. Someone heard Flight of the Valkyries and.. I don't know, they played a bit of skyrim or something and decided that was all they needed to ever hear on the subject.

"You knew there were no guitars and that this was an orchestral album, Caspian! What did you expect?" Well to be fair, I expected it to be bad, but I feel like I tried giving it a fair go. It's a bit of a "I'm not racist, I have black friends" kinda comment but I love a bunch of plainchant, a decent amount of baroque stuff, and I can bluff my way through most conversations about romantic era stuff. One can only imagine being in the Prague Orchestra, spending years perfecting your art and your skill on whatever instrument, and then having to crank out some deeply sh*t tunes like this. Breathtakingly bad. I think I'm going to go back to Tokyo Tales now and pretending that Blind Guardian split up after Nightfall in Middle Earth.

Rome wasn't built in one day. JRR Tolkien didn't invent the Middle-Earth in a week at an office in Oxford. “Legacy Of The Dark Lands” is Hansi Kürsch and André Olbrich's Rome and the Middle-Earth.

Direct sequel to the book “Die dunklen Lande” by Markus Heitz, this work took 23 years to complete, thus originating before the magnificent “Nightfall in Middle-Earth” (1998). And it isn't lightly, but certainly, that “Legacy Of The Dark Lands” is said to be the biggest financial and creative investment of these two guys of Blind Guardian since 1998.

Together with the very experienced Prague Filmharmonic and with the enthusiastic narrators of “Nightfall in Middle-Earth”, Kürsch and Olbrich prove that Blind Guardian can really be the soundtrack that any fantasy film would like to have. Over 75 minutes we have to forget that Blind Guardian is a power metal band that feeds on masterful riffs and bombastic drumming. Over 75 minutes we have to immerse ourselves in an orchestral world that, as we know, isn't that far from bands like this and like so many others.

Intertwined with the always exciting narrations starring a group of passioned British men, the track of “Legacy Of The Dark Lands” are a sea of emotions, with gigantic waves in moments of sentimental explosion but also with some soft waves kissing the sand of a beach where a battalion with a lot of creative sense will land. With all this, take into account tracks like “The Great Ordeal” that can make us imagine a bunch of hobbits running through green plains and ending up on a hilltop looking at the horizon, or “In the Red Dwarf's Tower” that, with its darker tone, makes us believe that it would work as a heavy power metal music. “Point of No Return” would also work as a beautiful power metal song but in an opposite side, with more epic and youthful contours rather than darkened. Of course, this premise applies virtually to the whole album; therefore, a metal version of “Legacy Of The Dark Lands” is something that would work excellently and that the band should consider, even if it took another 23 years.

Through all the experiences we obtain with the beautiful arrangements performed by the Prague Filmharmonic, the highlight has to be to the phenomenal performance of vocalist Hansi Kürsch, who, several times accompanied by choirs in his support, shows that he's undoubtedly one of the best vocalists ever, not only on the metal scene but also on a universal scale. The world is made up of coward people and brave people - Hansi could be very brave and fail completely, but we already know him and we know what the German is capable of, thus clarifying all the skeptics and fully guaranteeing that he will be part of History.

Like any orchestral work, whether classical or neoclassical, "Legacy Of The Dark Lands" isn't for any moment, because it needs a lot of passion and attention. Listening to an orchestra without pictures is like reading a book - immense imaginative flexibility is required. Again, think of "Lord of the Rings" before the film... It was beautiful to imagine how Aragorn would look like, what Frodo's suffering would be like and what the fiery Mordor would be like. Do the same with “Legacy Of The Dark Lands” - it pays off.

Blind Guardian's Twilight Orchestra: Legacy of the Dark Lands has been two decades in the making. It has taken lots of patience, determination and courage to finally bring this project to life. The record is bound to be controversially received. This isn't a metal album at all but an entirely orchestral record with lead vocals by Hansi Kürsch. There are no keyboards, electric guitars or bass guitars to be found on this album at all. The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra has performed all instruments and backing choirs and the only elements that link this release to other Blind Guardian outputs are the lead vocals, the imaginative lyrics and the splendid cover artwork and booklet. One has to wonder whether this record has been released under the Blind Guardian banner for marketing reasons alone.

More than seventy-five minutes of orchestral music might not be everybody's cup of tea. The only remotely comparable record by a metal band is Therion's Beloved Antichrist released last year. Whether you like it or not, this album is a revolution for the metal genre since something as radical as this has never been attempted before.

There are a lot of things to be liked here if you like fantasy novels and medieval themes, classical and orchestral music as well as audio books and radio plays. The narrative interludes give the release its concept and are thoroughly entertaining. The longer tracks tell the story in dramatic, elaborate and epic fashion. The orchestral work is as professional as it gets and varies from smooth and enchanting parts over joyous and playful elements to bombastic and epic outbursts that are stylistically close to the essence of metal music. Hansi Kürsch's vocals blend in splendidly as he performs with lots of feeling in the slower parts, mid-paced sections and few energetic passages. This record has the potential to become the soundtrack to a musical that would certainly attract open-minded metal fans and more wealthy, sophisticated and intellectual audiences alike.

Despite a length of more than seventy-five minutes and twenty-four tracks in total, the record is thoroughly entertaining and dynamic, diversified and creative enough to fascinate with its complex story. The lush production accentuates the stunning orchestral performances, the epic but moderately employed choirs and the brilliant lead vocals that finally get the occasion to shine without having to compete with bumble bee bass guitar sounds, fast-paced guitar solos and double-bass drum patterns. Despite its unusual style, this album might be the easiest to digest in Blind Guardian's discography in that regard as you won't have to process information overload.

In the end, Blind Guardian's Twilight Orchestra: Legacy of the Dark Lands should be approached with precaution. You must know that this is a conceptual orchestral record and not a metal or even rock album. If you like classical music, orchestral music and soundtracks with narrative parts, you will certainly appreciate this imaginative output. If those descriptions sound horrendous to you, ignore this album even if you are an avid Blind Guardian fan. This is certainly an acquired taste.

Some years ago I saw Fabio Lione (Angra, Rhapsody of Fire, Lione/Turilli Rhapsody and a lot more projects that I don’t care to count) saying that in Italy erudite music – I say erudite because the term “classical” is much more specific than people realize – is a very common thing in households and is usually that way children and young people start to study music. I imagine it must be rather similar in Germany.

Throughout the long history of Heavy Metal we saw many examples of erudite music being part of the genre, in greater or lesser degrees, and many of the times the bands which do that are from Germany. It is in their minds, it is part of them, the north star which guides them on the adventures through the deep oceans of the genre. So, it is absolutely no surprise that the boldest project mixing Metal and erudite music comes from there, and also by no one else than the mighty Blind Guardian.

Twenty years in the making and this record is worth each and every day of the waiting. No guitars? No bass? No drums? Who the hell cares? All the essence of the songwriting that makes Blind Guardian so special and so unique are there, and in the end of the day, that’s what really matters. The epicness, the bombastic chorus, the breathtaking and heartwarming passages, the inimitable voice of Hansi Kürsch who leads you effortlessly to a world of magic, fantasy, adventures and imminent danger and darkness. It’s pretty much a proper opera, standing on the shoulders of Teutonic giants. How not to love?

This an album in which you can feel all the painstaking hours of hard work, by Hansi and André, but also of the people who made possible to translate in the right way their ideas to the musical sheet of an full blown orchestra, the very same orchestra, the choir, the back singers, Markus Heitz and the world he helped to set up in his book Die Dunkle Land. Even more than a piece of great music, it is a piece of love, a chunk of the soul of those creative minds who refuse to settle for what is comfortable and guaranteed. The ones who acknowledge that the only way is forward.

But, as I point in the title of this review, it is “near perfect”. The down side to me is that the interludes – even though playing an import role on the storytelling – eventually becomes bit too much to swallow, making the audition flirts with tiredness and sluggishness. Maybe it would work better with only half of them disposed differently and with some music behind, for more impact and more immersion. (But I gotta admit that the narrators from Nightfall in Middle-Earth made me shed a tear of two.)

The other thing that sting me is the story itself. All that religious and biblical and Book of the Revelation motifs are too much beaten and worn down to my taste and, honestly, it goes dangerously borderline with cheesiness and cliché. I think Hansi could come with something fresher for this project.

But you know what? I don’t really care about the story; the music is just to awesome and fantastic that I am willing to let it pass and sing along from the top of my lungs.

Easily my favorite album of the 2019 and a surely a career peak to André and Hansi.

May the Twilight Orchestra gather again. The Gods know I will ride this train.

The day has finally come! Twenty-or-so years of waiting and we finally have the long-awaited orchestral Blind Guardian record! Does it live up to the hype? My feelings are yes and no.

One thing to get out of the way right now is this is not a symphonic metal album. If you were expecting an album full of "At the Edge of Time" and "The Grand Parade" then you clearly have not been paying attention. If "Blind Guardian - Twilight Orchestra" didn't give it away then you would hope that the singles released prior to the album's release would have tipped these people off. Alas, some people seem to have gone into this album with expectations that are very out of place. Twenty years of build-up and interviews about exactly what kind of album this will be and people still had expectations that were totally out of field. This is an orchestral album through and through, with Hansi Kursch's vocals -- no guitar, no drums, no bass.

Now, as far as the actual album goes, taking it for what it was meant to be and what we were told it was, my impression is it's pretty good. It's not amazing, it didn't blow me away, it didn't leave me hungering for another orchestral album. However, what I will say is that this is a deep, layered, and textured album. While the first listen did not knock me on my butt, I did find myself very curiously drawn to the album, needing to go back and listen again. This album is definitely a grower, not a shower ;-)

The production is one point of interest for me because, as some have pointed out already, it is essentially the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra + Hansi Kursch, with an obvious Blind Guardian flair in the songwriting (thanks Andre Olbrich!). The production on this album does not feel like a standard orchestral recording. I am not an audio engineer, so I don't know if this is due to the mix, how it was recorded, or what. All I can say is the album, sonically, for an orchestral album, feels strangely contained and not bombastic.

One last point of interest for me is 'Nightfall in Middle-Earth' is based on The Silmarillion, a somewhat esoteric book set in the Tolkein universe. While not as popular as 'The Lord of the Rings,' it is set in a universe we are familiar with and love. The voice acting and narration throughout that album therefore take on more significance. It's still engrossing while not being familiar. What I'm trying to get at is I found myself just not caring about any of the voice acting or narration in 'Legacy of the Dark Lands.' I just...didn't care. It's splendidly performed, but I didn't have even a rough idea of what was going on and I didn't really care to know either. This is probably unfair of me to bring up but I can't be the only one who felt this way. I don't count this as a mark against the album because I honor Blind Guardian's freedom to write about whatever the hell they want without catering to people who are fans of their music but not fantasy book fans.

Anyways, the album is.... it's pretty good. It is definitely above average, and as I mentioned before the music does grow on you, although six months from now I'm not sure it will be in my regular rotation anymore. I am extremely proud of Blind Guardian for doing this -- what a triumph! But I think we may need more time to see where exactly this album fits in their legacy.

Highlights: War Feeds War, This Storm, Harvester of Souls (aka At the Edge of Time 2.0), The Great Ordeal, Dark Cloud's Rising

Exactly how to go about approaching Legacy of the Dark Lands, released under the moniker Blind Guardian Twilight Orchestra, is a thing of mystery. It is the fruition of Blind Guardian’s age old dream to produce a symphonic album set to a full orchestra, an oft voiced idea since some twenty years ago with the success of Nightfall in Middle-Earth (1999). Even the label seems uncertain how to approach the project, being as how it’s been marketed as would a regular Blind Guardian release when it’s anything but.

The biggest game changer – and one that will be the deal breaker for many hardcore fans – is the exclusion of most traditional metal elements; gone are Frederik Ehmke’s bombastic double bass beats and André Olbrich’s furious guitar harmonies. All replaced by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, and joined by Hansi Kürsch’s operatic baritone.

The only two members of the band present are in fact Kürsch and Olbrich; the former obviously handling the vocals, and the latter arrangements and songwriting. Thing is, these guys are no beginners and this most certainly is not their first dance. Legacy of the Dark Lands is a well crafted work of art. As a tie in to a fantasy novel released around the same time - Markus Heitz’s The Dark Lands - which is an entirely new story, this isn’t the easiest task in the world, but in all likelihood rewarding for those prepared to venture there.

The melodies, progressive structuring and vocal harmonies are so undeniably Blind Guardian that any fan should find some familiar footing. A lot of the stuff here wouldn’t be amiss on a regular Blind Guardian release; the ominous Harvester of Souls or heavy sounding single This Storm could be tossed into Beyond the Red Mirror (2015) without feeling misplaced. Kürsch, always a master of his trade, gives some of his best performances ever and is the guiding star on the album; daemoniac, deep and growly at parts, heavenly and epic in the overdubbed choruses.

If ones interest in Blind Guardian is strictly with the speed metal days of yore - or if one is strictly a metal fan and nothing else - then Legacy of the Dark Lands is likely to float exactly zero boats. Fans of the more symphonic elements of the band’s music however, will find that much more. Given the ambition, structure and theme, the obvious comparison point would be Nightfall in Middle-Earth, but in truth the album has more in common with the band’s latter day releases in terms of the musical style; they’ve already included many orchestral and symphonic elements - beyond the traditional keyboards - on albums like At the Edge of Time (2010) and Beyond the Red Mirror.

Meticulous and powerful in its own right, the album proves very much the versatility of Blind Guardian's art, and how their style transcends genres. But it is also an extensive album that will require the listener to immerse themselves into the mythos and the music. Obviously, Legacy of the Dark Lands isn’t easy listening; you need to submerge yourself to appreciate it in full, and for so many - myself included - the lack of metal elements will make the album suitable for an occasional taste rather than overindulgence.

Standout tracks: War Feeds War, Harvester of Souls, This Storm

I'm just going to get straight to the point. A band as influential and beloved as Blind Guardian has every right to hype up their upcoming releases; and fans, of course, have every right to expect a band who has consistently put out solid material to deliver on their reputation.

For the past month and a half, I've been eagerly anticipating the release of Legacy of the Dark Lands by the freshly-dubbed Blind Guardian Twilight Orchestra. I didn't listen to the singles released in advance, as I didn't want to spoil the surprise of what I expected to be an epic power metal masterpiece in the vein of the same band's Nightfall in Middle Earth from two decades prior. Instead, when I put this album on today, I was extraordinarily underwhelmed.

This album is not a metal album in any way. The only member of Blind Guardian to appear at all on this release is singer Hansi Kürsch, who delivers his classic raspy high notes while backed by... the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra? Yes, this album is basically an orchestral solo project for Kürsch. There are no guitars, bass, or drums to be found anywhere on the release.

The songs are written in the regular Blind Guardian style: Relatively progressive song structures with few defined chorus, but accented by Kürsch's breathtaking melodies. Unfortunately, without the accompanying piercing guitar harmonies and rapid double bass patterns that typically define Blind Guardian's sound, the whole album just feels strange. While the orchestral parts are undeniably well-composed and thoroughly thought-out, they fail to be truly captivating and instead aim to create atmosphere.

Production-wise, this album sounds great. The orchestra is mixed in a way that all instruments can be heard clearly yet all take a back seat when vocals are present. Unfortunately, all of the songs blend together for the listener and are nearly indistinguishable due to the lack of (any) interesting riffs.

All in all, Legacy of the Dark Lands is a more-or-less unforgivable release. It represents a near-total departure from anything Blind Guardian has released in the past, and is completely disappointing to any hopeful metalheads who had been pleased by the groups other more recent work. I am glad I decided not to pre-order a physical copy of this album, as I'm sure if I had I would now be extremely angry at myself for wasting my money on such a useless and silly purchase.

Best song: "The Great Ordeal"