Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Release date: September 2, 2022
Production: Charlie Bauerfeind & Joost van den Broek
Album length: 51.08 min
Genre: Power Metal / Progressive Metal
Rating: 9.0/10
Blind Guardian, the Teutonic lords of the rings of progressive power metal, climbed back to the top of the metal Olympus in 2022 with their new studio album “The God Machine”. The big talk about going back to their roots has come true, because “The God Machine” is once again a classic Blind Guardian album that will thrill most of their longtime followers. This kind of return to the source was almost a must. After the otherwise excellent orchestral project “Legacy of the Dark Lands” (2019), on which only vocal thunderer Hansi Kürsch and lead guitarist Andre Olbricht (and him only as a composer) took part from the cult band’s ranks, caused no small amount of confusion, not to mention outright incomprehension and fierce outrage among some (power) metal purists, they’re back on “The God Machine” with the full lineup and all their trademark strengths: mighty multi-part vocals with the occasional operatic touch, distorted guitar harmonies, a fiery rhythm section, complex symphonic metal arrangements, and all the other sonic ingredients that have made their music so much more interesting than the plethora of similar prog/power metal bands over the past three decades.
Some people have even called “The God Machine” a stylistic sequel to the classic “Imaginations From the Other Side” (1995) when it came out, which is only partly true, since the two albums are quite different, each its own story, but quite a few songs here do sound related to certain Blind Guardian creations from the nineties. At the same time, they haven’t sounded this punchy in ages, which will delight everyone who still remembers their speed metal roots well. Before the release, Hansi reportedly wanted the new album to hit even harder and even planned to work in some death metal elements, but luckily the rest of the band shot down that idea.
The opening track, the “supersonic” energy catalyst “Deliver Us For Evil”, one of the heaviest Blind Guardian songs in the past twenty years, draws its lyrical inspiration from the play ‘The Crucible’, written by famed American playwright Arthur Miller, better known around here as Marilyn Monroe’s third and last husband. “Damnation” is also a thoroughly classic Blind Guardian creation, with epic harmonies and mighty multi-part vocals that will thrill all fans of power, prog and speed metal. Its lyrics are modeled on the fantasy trilogy ‘The Kingkiller Chronicle’ by American fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss. The ambitious epic “Secrets of the American Gods”, also released as a single, is among the standout pieces on “The God Machine”. The symphonic elements and choir harmonies come to the fore here, so at times, even though the punch never really lets up, it sounds like the backdrop for a film score. This time the inspiration was the novel ‘American Gods’, written by English author Neil Gaiman, best known for the cult comic series ‘The Sandman’.
The epic fantasy novel series ‘The Stormlight Archive’ by American author Brandon Sanderson was the basis for the rhythmically uncompromising but still very epic “Violent Shadows”, where a great guitar solo also plays an important part. The lyrics of “Life Beyond the Spheres” will be easier to follow even for those who don’t read fantasy and sci-fi novels, since they’re about the birth of the universe, aka the big bang. Majestic harmonies are tastefully woven throughout with choir-like multi-part vocals under Hansi’s command, while the instrumental moments come off superbly too. The end result is one of the highlights of this album. Fans of the sci-fi series ‘Battlestar Galactica’ will figure out that the show was the main inspiration for the song “Architects of Doom”. That one could easily have fit on the unforgettable “Imaginations From the Other Side”.
“Let It Be No More” is a very good power ballad, dedicated to Hansi’s late mother and to the American TV series ‘The Leftovers’. A power ballad this good hasn’t been heard on a Blind Guardian album in years. It makes for an excellent contrast and slows the tempo down a bit on this hard-hitting and often seriously ‘wound-up’ album. While listening to the excellent and utterly melodramatic “Blood of the Elves”, the hearts of all fans of the famous fantasy saga ‘The Witcher’, created by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, will skip a beat, since the lyrics are inspired by ‘Blood of Elves’, the third book in the series of novels about the witcher Geralt of Rivia. Geralt’s dilemma, as he finds himself, despite his traditional neutrality, in the middle of a conflict between elves and humans, is brought across very successfully through uncompromising shifts into epic sections with mighty guitar passages and almost solemn vocal harmonies.
“Destiny”, the closing track on the album, draws its inspiration from the rather dark and gloomy fairy tale ‘The Ice Maiden’, a lesser-known work by the famous Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (no wonder the tale has a gloomy ending). The mood of the song is fittingly dark and combative, and while it’s a very solid piece, it certainly isn’t among the most outstanding album closers in Blind Guardian’s discography so far.
“The God Machine”, made on the heels of an ambitious orchestral project, surely wasn’t an easy feat for the German prog/power metal champions, but it turned out great regardless. Without exaggeration, it can be ranked among their best achievements since the end of the classic Blind Guardian era with “Nightfall In Middle-Earth” (1998) and “A Night At the Opera” (2002). The only thing that might stir up some grumbling among longtime followers is the cover, which is pretty unfortunate and somewhat generic by Blind Guardian standards. It looks less like the sleeve of the masters of progressive power metal and more like an alternate cover for the Japanese RPG video game series ‘Final Fantasy’, or for an unofficial ‘expansion’ of the popular, brutally unforgiving fantasy game ‘Elden Ring’, which Hansi and the gang are probably playing with gusto when they’re not in the recording studio or out on tour.
Author: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Deliver Us From Evil (5:21)
2. Damnation (5:20)
3. Secrets Of The American Gods (7:28)
4. Violent Shadows (4:17)
5. Life Beyond The Spheres (6:02)
6. Architects Of Doom (6:20)
7. Let It Be No More (4:48)
8. Blood Of The Elves (4:37)
9. Destiny (6:46)
Lineup:
Hansi Kürsch – vocals
André Olbrich – lead guitar
Marcus Siepen – rhythm guitar
Frederik Ehmke – drums
Guest musicians:
Barend Courbois – bass guitar
Thomas Geiger – effects and keyboards
Joost van den Broek – keyboards on “Life Beyond the Spheres”
