Track Listing
1. Majesty 2. Guardian of the blind 3. Trial by the Archon 4. Wizard's crown 5. Run for the night 6. The martyr 7. Batallions of fear 8. By the gates of Moria 9. Gandalf's rebirth Year: 1988 Label: EMI - Official Site |
Blind Guardian - 'Batallions of fear' - By J. Korkiam�ki
One of the most distinguished bands in the German power metal scene is Blind Guardian. The band has impressed its listeners with their own, exclusive, progressive power metal style throughout the years, and hasn�t changed much, at least after their third album Tales From The Twilight World, although they are maybe more ambitious nowadays. Battalions Of Fear was the band�s first and somewhat legendary vinyl, that combines the harsh outcome of Venom, the riffs and hi-octane licks of Iron Maiden and the musical sincerity of Rage. Does it sound interesting? Read forward, please... The opening track "Majesty" is a fantastic display of the number of styles I just mentioned. The solos and bridges are very close to the ones on Maiden�s Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son album, for example, the vocalist/bass player Hansi K�rsch�s weird, but stylish vocals can one moment sound like Kai Hansen, and in an instant it can change into Cronos, and the music itself, almost throughout the whole album, especially during the heavier songs, sounds quite much like Rage in the Execution Guaranteed era. The three instrumentals (yes, I think there are too much on an album this size, too) "Trial By The Archon", "By The Gates Of Archon" and "Gandalf�s Rebirth" (only on the CD version), could as well be composed by the gentlemen in Iron Maiden, with different themes, of course. It could sound like Battalions Of Fear is a great album, but unfortunately, it isn�t. Like I said, there are too much instrumentals, considering that there are only nine songs on the album. From the six songs sung, almost half of them are gray, dull farts, that could�ve been very good back then, when someone else hadn�t done songs by the exact same formula. Having heard all of the later Blind Guardian albums, I could say that the band should have spent more time figuring out the song basics and songwriting itself before going into studio. They did have potential on Battalions, of course, and they knew how to play. The licks and riffs I spoke of earlier, are clear evidence of that. The songs just don�t have the same explosive power they had already on the next album. So, the band doesn�t show its true skill just yet, not on Battalions Of Fear. It�s a decent album, but not really a good place to start, if you�re planning on collecting a remarkable Blind Guardian album collection. On the later albums the band�s own style was figured out much better, from this album you won�t find much new and sensational, if you�re already a fan of double bass drum power metal, or Iron Maiden�s, you should buy this, when you don�t have anything else to buy from the band. Metal Obsessive Grade: 75% |