Imaginations from the Other Side

When it comes to history of metal, there is a certain tendency to paint the early to mid 90s as a sort of a dark age. And while it is true that, in regards to commercial success, metal took a whole other level of beating due to the advent of grunge, upon closer inspection one soon realises that the period from early to mid 90s hosts some of metal's greatest achievements, particularly in subgenres like death metal (Morbid Angel, Death), black metal (Darkthrone, Mayhem, Immortal) and especially power metal in form of Gamma Ray and Blind Guardian, and the latter would in 1995 release what I consider the greatest metal album of the 90s.

Stylistically, this album takes the the best of the 80s thrash metal which is brutality and aggression, and the best parts of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden which is melodic guitar playing and operatic vocal style and meshes them together into an unbridled rampage of anger, despair and even some melancholy. Songs like "I'm Alive" and "Another Holy War" just pummel the listener's ears with relentlessly brutal riffing, thunderous drumming and vocals that are mind-numbingly high while still maintaining a little bit of thrash metal's roughness. On the other side, we also have softer songs which display more melodic and despairful tone, primarily in form of two power pseudo-ballads "Mordred's Song" and "Bright Eyes". However, what pretty much surprised me on subsequent relistens is how well the album flows together. Raw, brutal tracks give way to softer tracks, avoiding the danger of album sounding samey, while still maintaining the sound that is unique to the album.

Production wise, all the instruments can be heard without intruding on one another, even if bass does get a bit lost in the mix. Guitars and vocals both shine high without overtaking each other, but I would like to clarify I am listening to the more modern vinyl re-release which changes some things from the original and 2007 master. It sounds cleaner and less raw and murky, and while I prefer the cleaner production, it's understandable some people would be disappointed that some of the rawness in production is gone.

Performance wise, this is Blind Guardian collectively at their best. Andre Olbrich just pulverises every single riff on the album while still introducing more complex and melodic playing in the album's slower moments and pre-choruses, and somehow it all sounds precise and concentrated at the same time. This is Hansi's second best performance in Blind Guardian's history. Not only does he manage to pull off ear-piercing screams and high pitched vocals, at the same time he blends in the grit and roughness that wouldn't be out of place on a thrash metal album, so what you get is very often the sound of a man screaming in anger and desperation. Thomen is a mean drum machine here. Drumming is extremely fast and extremely aggressive while utilising the double kick to its fullest potential, creating the sensation of a being in a middle of the hurricane. Marcus Siepen is probably the least talked about on this album and is probably its unsung hero. As a rhytm guitarist, he is basically a human metronome, keeping the entire band together and turning the entire album from chaos to a laser precise artillery bombardment. Really, only thing I would complain about is the bass. It's nothing bad and it's competently done, but it's not extremely creative and, like I said before, it kind of gets lost in the mixing, but it doesn't detract from the full experience at all, so it gets a pass.

The impact of the album cannot be overstated either. While "Nightfall" is tradtionally held as Blind Guardian's most influential album, what IFTOS started was a wave of power metal that most modern bands like Powerwolf, Sabaton, Edguy, Nightwish and others are very much surfing to this very day.

Overall, this is an excellent album that combines best of thrash and power into a concentrated assault and as such I would recommend it to people asking for both the raw, aggressive assault and a more melodic approach to metal.