Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Blind Guardian
Label: Virgin Records
Released: 1998
Length: 65:31
Rating: 5/5
Contrary to the popular belief floating around the metal community, German power/prog metal champions Blind Guardian hadn’t actually written all that many songs based on the works of British fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien before their 1998 magnum opus, »Nightfall in Middle-Earth«, which was inspired by the literary masterpiece ‘Silmarillion’. You could count every Tolkien-fueled track they put out before »Nightfall in Middle-Earth« on one hand (»Majesty«, »Run For the Night«, »By the Gates of Moria«, »Gandalf’s Rebirth«, »Lord of the Rings« and »The Bard’s Song – The Hobbit«), since Blind Guardian also found plenty of inspiration in the creations of numerous other writers like Stephen King, Frank Herbert and Michael Moorcock, to name just a few. Still, Blind Guardian are to this day best known for ‘dissecting’ Tolkien’s mythology, and that hit its peak with »Nightfall in Middle-Earth«, the record that marked their artistic climax.
This was the first Blind Guardian album on which singer Hansi Kursch put down the bass guitar and focused entirely on vocals, while guest musician Oliver Holzwarth picked up the bass and soon became a regular collaborator. After countless hours of training, Kursch brought his voice to an astonishing level, and his performance is the key reason the ambitious concept comes to life so convincingly across most of the record. Both guitarists, Andre Olbrich and Markus Siepen, delivered incredibly tasteful harmonies, lightning-fast guitar runs and plenty of acoustic interludes, while guest keyboardist Michael Schuren, later a longtime live collaborator too, helped out with the symphonic arrangements. Thomas Stauch’s often white-hot drum fills were crucial in making sure the band didn’t lose an ounce of sharpness even in the most dramatic conceptual moments. Some parts also featured guest orchestral arrangements, including flute, which cemented Blind Guardian’s gradual evolution from speed and power metal into progressive metal.
The concept of the ‘nightfall’ in Middle-Earth will be familiar to anyone who has read Tolkien’s Middle-Earth ‘bible’, ‘Silmarillion’. »Nightfall in Middle-Earth« focuses on the stories of the first dark lord Melkor, a.k.a. Morgoth, the stubborn elf Feanor and the tragic journey of his people to the west, the jewels known as the Silmarils, the hidden elven city of Gondolin, and the love story of the mortal Beren and the elven princess Luthien, all set in the so-called First Age of Middle-Earth. The individual songs were stitched together by short instrumental overtures and brief dialogues, all of them top quality, which also means they steered clear of the ‘Swabian’ English that tended to creep into some related German bands. The excellent Marshall cover art, with Luthien dancing before Morgoth, Sauron (in the background, with a shield), Beren (in his altered, wolf form) and an army of orcs and goblins, brought a hefty dose of Tolkien magic.
The opener, »War of Wrath«, features a dialogue between the future ‘Lord of the Rings’ Sauron, back then still a humble, frightened servant, and his arrogant master, the first dark lord Morgoth, who craves stealing the Silmarils from the elf Feanor and snuffing out all the light in Middle-Earth. It’s the most memorable opening in the band’s entire history. It was followed by the hard-hitting evergreen »Into the Storm«, an instant live classic where Kursch served up a superb, fully theatrical vocal drama, especially because he threw himself completely into the role of the dark lord, backed by punchy guitar runs, wild drum fills and epic harmonies. »Lammoth«, where Melkor, trapped in the web of the giant spider Ungoliath, howls for his loyal army of orcs and goblins, served as the overture to the melancholic evergreen »Nightfall«. The latter is yet another epic evergreen, with mighty vocal harmonies strongly influenced by the legendary Queen that truly give the impression of collective mourning, while Kursch proved once again that he had by then grown into one of the leading vocal masters of the European metal scene.
That epic, almost cinematic atmosphere, with countless vivid characters from Tolkien’s literary classic springing to life through the music and lyrics, builds to an extreme intensity across the entire album. The troubadour ballad »The Minstrel« was the intro to the dramatic epic »The Curse of Feanor«, which, through a combination of mighty guitar harmonies, killer drum fills and a brutally epic vocal performance, vividly portrays Feanor’s immense fury at the dark lord, the tragedy of his people during their migration to the western part of Middle-Earth, and the curse that engulfed his entire line. »Captured« featured Morgoth arrogantly mocking Feanor’s captured son Maedhros and served as the intro to the highly dynamic epic »Blood Tears«, which thrilled above all with gorgeous vocal harmonies, brilliant guitar runs and lovely symphonic arrangements that combine nicely to capture the suffering of the shackled Maedhros.
The evergreen masterpiece »Mirror Mirror«, the epic tale of the building of the hidden elven city of Gondolin under the wise king Turgon, which also came out as a single, has forever earned its place among Blind Guardian’s greatest classics. A majestic, dramatic blend of epic guitar harmonies and mighty orchestral arrangements, laid over drum stampedes, it’s crowned by one of the best vocal performances of Kursch’s career. »Face The Truth« was a short intro to the eclectic treat »Noldor (Dead Winter Reigns)«, which reveals the cruel fate of the Noldor branch of the elves, who suffer heavy losses in the snowy wastes. Kursch once again wows with his vocal chameleon act, while the dramatic mood keeps building through epic vocal harmonies.
»The Battle of Sudden Flame«, which touches on the siege of Morgoth’s fortress Angband, was the overture to the ultimate classic »Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill)«, arguably even the epic peak of the whole album, where the elven king Fingolfin clashes on the battlefield with the repeatedly wounded Morgoth, who ends up winning this epic showdown. The climax of this masterpiece is the meeting between the elven king and the dark lord, where Kursch, backed by epic multi-part vocals and mighty multi-harmonies, sinks into both roles unbelievably well.
»The Dark Elf«, dedicated to the dark elf Eol, who fathered the traitor Maeglin with Turgon’s sister, the one chiefly to blame for the fall of Gondolin, is a short overture to the eclectic drama »Thorn«, where the mood shifts from second to second. It reveals the tragic fate of both the treacherous elf Maeglin and the mortal Turin Turambar, who was tricked into marrying his own sister, into the darkness of fallen heroes, both of them misled by the dark lord and his dragon Glaurung, who indirectly brought about their tragic end.
»The Eldar«, one of the few ballad moments on the album, carries, through Kursch’s exceptional singing, the farewell of the dying, poisoned elven king Finrod Felagund to his friend, the mortal Beren. »Nom the Wise« was Beren’s short lament for the departed Felagund. The white-hot epic march »When Sorrow Sang«, where Beren sings of his love for Luthien while aware of his final moments before death in the jaws of Morgoth’s wolf Carcaroth, is yet another of the grand highlights of this grandiose concept album.
»Out On the Water« was a short acoustic ballad dedicated to the final dwelling place of Beren and Luthien. »The Steadfast« marks Morgoth’s sneering before the captured Hurin, who, despite the torture, refused to reveal the secret of Gondolin to him. The dark masterpiece »A Dark Passage«, featuring Morgoth’s triumph and boasting after he has cursed Hurin’s entire line and defeated the united armies of his greatest enemies, was the epic climax of »Nightfall in Middle-Earth«. Kursh once again slipped brilliantly into the role of the arrogant dark lord, while vivid time changes, superb guitar harmonies and orchestral touches fired up the epic atmosphere all the way to the closing march, and once again delivered an exceptional mood. The closer, »Final Chapter (Thus Ends…)«, is the final message of Morgoth’s (temporary) triumph through treachery, yet it also carries a ray of fresh hope for all the free peoples of Middle-Earth.
The 2007 reissue of the album included the acoustic-leaning ballad »Harvest of Sorrow«, which came out in a Spanish version in 2002 on the following album, »A Night at the Opera«, even though conceptually it belonged on »Nightfall in Middle-Earth«, as it’s about Turin’s farewell to his late sister Nienor.
»Nighfall in Middle-Earth« is still the brightest jewel in the crown of Germany’s prog/power metal champions to this day. A conceptual masterpiece built on the stories and events of Tolkien’s literary masterpiece ‘Silmarillion’, it came out just before the film version of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy hit cinemas and massively boosted interest in everything connected to the works of the British master of fantasy literature.
Unlike many related power metal bands, who mostly present fantasy themes through music in an overly pompous way, with plenty of over-the-top excess, Blind Guardian managed to create a prog/power metal concept classic that has aged brilliantly and passed the test of time. It was also their first record to be released in America, which means it finally gave them a breakthrough beyond European borders. Had it come out later, the album would probably have met with an even bigger commercial response, while presenting the concept exclusively in German in the album booklet was the one truly misguided move on the band’s part. Despite numerous announcements that »Nightfall in Middle-Earth« would get a follow-up and that Blind Guardian were planning a second part of the epic concept about the Silmarils and Morgoth, the sequel has still not materialized so far.
Lineup
Hansi Kürsch – lead and backing vocals
André Olbrich – electric guitar and acoustic guitar
Marcus Siepen – rhythm guitar
Thomas Stauch – drums, percussion
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Mathias Wiesner – keyboards, orchestral effects
Michael Schüren – grand piano
Max Zelzner – flute
Oliver Holzwarth – bass guitar
Rolf Köhler – backing vocals
Billy King – backing vocals
Thomas Hackmann – backing vocals
Olaf Senkbeil – backing vocals
Douglas Fielding – narration
Norman Eshley – narration
Production
Flemming Rasmussen and Blind Guardian
Tracklist
1. War Of Wrath (1:50)
2. Into The Storm (4:24)
3. Lammoth (0:28)
4. Nightfall (5:34)
5. The Minstrel (0:32)
6. The Curse Of Feanor (5:41)
7. Captured (0:26)
8. Blood Tears (5:25)
9. Mirror Mirror (5:06)
10. Face The Truth (0:24)
11. Noldor (Dead Winter Reigns) (6:51)
12. Battle Of Sudden Flame (0:44)
13. Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill) (4:53)
14. The Dark Elf (0:23)
15. Thorn (6:19)
16. The Eldar (3:39)
17. Nom The Wise (0:33)
18. When Sorrow Sang (4:25)
19. Out On The Water (0:44)
20. The Steadfast (0:21)
21. A Dark Passage (6:01)
22. Final Chapter (Thus Ends…) (0:48)
