Blind Guardian - A Twist in the Myth (2006)^{Release ID: 739}

After the ridiculously ambitious albums 'Nightfall in Middle Earth' and 'A Night at the Opera', I think it's fair to say that Blind Guardian deserved a bit of a break, and so here we have 'A Twist in the Myth', a release that saw the band break away from the ten-minute songs brimming with multiple vocal harmonies and orchestrations, to instead, focus on more easily accessible compositions, that still maintain the bands signature sound.

Blind Guardian's trademark take on power and progressive metal is in full effect here, not being diminished by the more stripped-down and laid back approach. There's still plenty of guitar harmonies and epic vocal performances, and the evident folk influences gives this record a more upbeat and energetic feel than previous releases. It's a good starting point for those who are deterred by serious, Tolkien-inspired concept albums.

There's a couple of filler songs that prevent this from getting five stars, but otherwise it's an all-round solid effort. Songs like 'Another Stranger Me', 'Fly', 'Turn the Page', 'This Will Never End' and 'Straight Through the Mirror' are all great tracks that can easily go next to any of the bands bigger pieces without seeming out of place. However, ambitious, over-the-top epics is where Blind Guardian really flourish, and as it is, while 'A Twist in the Myth' is a great album, it'll never be their best.