Nightfall in Middle-Earth Review
| Band | |
|---|---|
| Album |  Nightfall in Middle-Earth |
| Type | Album (Studio full-length) |
| Released | April 24, 1998 |
| Genres | Power Metal |
| Labels | Virgin Records |
| Length | 1:09:07 |
| Ranked | #9 for 1998 , #157 all-time |
Album rating : 92.3 / 100
Votes : 49 (7 reviews)
Votes : 49 (7 reviews)
January 25, 2024
Blind Guardian’s first full on epic concept album exclusively focused on Middle-Earth lore, and this one seemed to be a breakthrough for them. Overall, the style is a bit softer, focusing more on varied instrumentation (folk and classical acoustics, as well as some keys) and hyper anthemic gang vocal choruses. Power Metal is still the core here, but it’s more progressive and less aggressive, and plenty of songs stray from the genre entirely.
The meat of the album is very strong, compelling, passionate and catchy. The concept story is an added bonus, but the music is plenty entertaining without it, and the tracks totally stand on their own. Despite this, I will say it’s decidedly less to my taste than their more aggressive fare.
In order to make the album flow more like a story, Blind Guardian added short spoken word interludes between almost every track, and I gotta say… I do not think that was the play. The 11 regular tracks are great, but the TWENTY TWO total tracks just makes this ridiculously hard to listen to front to back. It also makes the album very difficult to rate. The main tracks are top quality as usual, but the segues are boring and ruin the flow. Unfortunately I cannot simply ignore them, and they make this probably my least favorite release they had done at the time.
The meat of the album is very strong, compelling, passionate and catchy. The concept story is an added bonus, but the music is plenty entertaining without it, and the tracks totally stand on their own. Despite this, I will say it’s decidedly less to my taste than their more aggressive fare.
In order to make the album flow more like a story, Blind Guardian added short spoken word interludes between almost every track, and I gotta say… I do not think that was the play. The 11 regular tracks are great, but the TWENTY TWO total tracks just makes this ridiculously hard to listen to front to back. It also makes the album very difficult to rate. The main tracks are top quality as usual, but the segues are boring and ruin the flow. Unfortunately I cannot simply ignore them, and they make this probably my least favorite release they had done at the time.
Track listing (Songs)
| title | rating | votes | video | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | War of Wrath | 1:50 | 80 | 9 | |
| 2. | Into the Storm | 4:24 | 94.7 | 20 | Audio |
| 3. | Lammoth | 0:28 | 73.3 | 9 | |
| 4. | Nightfall | 5:34 | 96 | 25 | Audio |
| 5. | The Minstrel | 0:32 | 75 | 9 | |
| 6. | The Curse of Fëanor | 5:41 | 90.5 | 13 | Audio |
| 7. | Captured | 0:26 | 72.2 | 9 | |
| 8. | Blood Tears | 5:23 | 90 | 14 | Audio |
| 9. | Mirror Mirror | 5:06 | 97.5 | 24 | Audio Music Video |
| 10. | Face the Truth | 0:24 | 73.3 | 9 | |
| 11. | Noldor (Dead Winter Reigns) | 6:51 | 89.6 | 14 | Audio |
| 12. | Battle of Sudden Flame | 0:43 | 77.2 | 9 | |
| 13. | Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill) | 4:53 | 93.9 | 16 | Audio |
| 14. | The Dark Elf | 0:23 | 75.6 | 9 | |
| 15. | Thorn | 6:18 | 89.5 | 12 | Audio |
| 16. | The Eldar | 3:39 | 89.2 | 14 | Audio |
| 17. | Nom the Wise | 0:33 | 75 | 9 | |
| 18. | When Sorrow Sang | 4:25 | 88 | 12 | Audio |
| 19. | Out on the Water | 0:44 | 76.7 | 9 | |
| 20. | The Steadfast | 0:21 | 72.2 | 9 | |
| 21. | A Dark Passage | 6:01 | 88.2 | 13 | Audio |
| 22. | Final Chapter (Thus Ends...) | 0:48 | 77.2 | 9 | |
| 2007 re-release bonus track | |||||
| 23. | Harvest of Sorrow | 3:39 | 85 | 1 | Audio |
Line-up (members)
- Hansi Kürsch : Vocals
- André Olbrich : Guitars
- Marcus Siepen : Guitars
- Thomas Stauch : Drums, Percussion
10,446 reviews
| cover art | Artist | Album review | Reviewer | Rating | Date | Likes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | | Obsolete Review (1998) | 55 | Jan 25, 2024 | 0 | ||
 | | 60 | Jan 25, 2024 | 0 | |||
 | | 70 | Jan 25, 2024 | 0 | |||
 | | 90 | Jan 25, 2024 | 0 | |||
 | | 90 | Jan 25, 2024 | 0 | |||
 | | Odd Fellows Rest Review (1998) | 75 | Jan 25, 2024 | 0 | ||
 | | The Chemical Wedding Review (1998) | 80 | Jan 25, 2024 | 0 | ||
 | | Amplifier Worship Review (1998) | 40 | Jan 25, 2024 | 0 | ||
 | | ▶ Nightfall in Middle-Earth Review (1998) | 80 | Jan 25, 2024 | 0 | ||
 | | Alternative 4 Review (1998) | 100 | Jan 24, 2024 | 1 | ||
 | | Master of Puppets Review (1986) | 100 | Jan 23, 2024 | 2 | ||
 | | Ride the Lightning Review (1984) | 100 | Jan 23, 2024 | 2 | ||
 | | Tales of Othertime Review (2021) | 95 | Jan 22, 2024 | 3 | ||
 | | Burzum/Aske Review (1995) [Compilation] | 100 | Jan 22, 2024 | 1 | ||
 | | Rebirth by Blasphemy Review (2020) | 90 | Jan 22, 2024 | 0 | ||
 | | W Imię Nocy Review (1998) | 100 | Jan 21, 2024 | 0 | ||
 | | Mantra III Review (1998) | 65 | Jan 21, 2024 | 0 | ||
 | | Hellfire's Dominion Review (1998) | 75 | Jan 21, 2024 | 0 | ||
 | | American Nervoso Review (1998) | 55 | Jan 20, 2024 | 0 | ||
 | | Ecclesia Gnostica Review (2024) | 90 | Jan 19, 2024 | 0 |
B1N4RYSUNSET 100/100Mar 1, 2019 Likes : 9
나를 헤비메탈의 세계로 인도한 운명적인 작품이다.
중학생이었던 나는 당시 던전드래곤, 매직 더 개더링등의
판타지 게임에 미쳐있었고, 문득 판타지와 관련된 음악을 알아보고
싶어서 동네 레코드 가게를 찾았다.
블라인드 가디언 이라는 멋드러진 이름에 끌려서 진열장에서 테잎을... Read More
KimiRaikkonen 96/100Jul 7, 2011 Likes : 4
블라인드 가디언의 음악을 집대성한 걸작.
Wheel Of Time 한 곡만으로도 먹고 들어가는 앨범이다. 웅장하고 화려한 사운드에 빈틈없는 구조가 인상적인 명곡. 특히 후반부의 역동적인 보컬 멜로디가 극적인 분위기를 잘 살려준다. 물론 이 곡만 좋은 건 아니고... 첫곡 Sacred Worlds도 이 곡과 맞... Read More
SilentScream213 90/100Oct 13, 2022 Likes : 3
On their 5th album, Blind Guardian released what I consider to be their best work up to that point. I’m one of the few who preferred their aggressive Thrash/Speed days on their first two albums to the more polished and melodic albums that followed (though this is mostly because they always had useless interludes bloating them). Well, Imaginations still has one of those in the... Read More
xxnoodlesxx0 90/100May 14, 2022 Likes : 3
A great start for Blind Guardian in their metal journey. Well, this album is quite different from their later albums, where they went more in the European power metal direction. The album starts with the fan favorite track, "Majesty", which has a very interesting intro that you wouldn't guess the song will speed up later. The intro suddenly ends with a thunder sound effect, the... Read More
