I loved Blind Guardian and their old school legendary back catalogue, until Nightfall…album, later on they became too prog with too riff soup songs that were too long and lost their anthemic value to epic prog metal and I found most of their newer albums pretty boring. But, lo and behold the new one is upon us and it is a step back to that old school glory days, meaning more aggressive sound, faster songs and their trademark power/true metal which made them so beloved in the first place. Hansi Kursch sings like he is back in Imaginations…era and most of all, here is quality songwriting at play. Opener Deliver Us From Evil is a straightforward warrior song with all BG qualities, fast riffs, superb melody and sing along anthem. Damnation is a dramatic song with choir refrain, wicked guitar solo and tempo shifts but not pretentious, rather practical. Secrets Of The American Gods is a song that I heard prior to album and it promised to be, despite its length, a nice addition to the band´s setlist for tours. A bit more slower, but hits you right in the eye with Neil Gaiman inspired atmosphere coupled with fantastic guitar work of Olbrich/Siepen. Violent Shadows is by far the hardest song, total thrash speed metal attack with double bass drumming and blistering speed. Life Beyond The Spheres is the song I personally don´t like, it is boring and too long and belongs to that part of Blind Guardian I am not too fond of, but luckily, album goes on. Architects Of Doom is for me another highlight on this album, again treading into thrash speed metal waters but retaining enough BG melody in chorus to counter all harshness. Blind Guardian gave us some of the greatest ballads, so this album also has one, called Let It Be No More. In my opinion, this one is not the same level as those ballads that went to become legendary, this one is average metal ballad, not memorable. Blood Of The Elves is another banger of a song, melting your face with sharp riffs and great chorus. Destiny closes the album in grandiose and bombastic style. Although there are couple of weaker songs, this is a strong album by German legends.

8/10