German power metal band going strong

If 2006’s “A Twist In the Myth” was Blind Guardian taking a small step in a new direction, then “At the Edge of Time” is a step right back. The songs are long, speedy and immersed in fantastical subject matter.

None of this is really a bad thing, since the German power metal masters have been doing this sort of thing so well and for so long that complaining about a lack of variation would seem extremely petty. They are in a position much like AC/DC, where they know exactly what is expected of them and proceed to deliver just that.

Unlike most other bands in that category however, Blind Guardian has been releasing new material far more consistently, so they don’t feel like just another novelty act making a comeback.

That said, they don’t fill out the eight minute epics quite as well as they used to, and some listeners might be taken aback at how much the lyrics sound like a “World of Warcraft” campaign. Those people, however, probably aren’t power metal fans.