This is one of my favourite releases from the last 25 years, and it’s nice to see it get a release on vinyl, having originally only being available on CD. However, they have now swapped labels from Inside Out to Frontiers. Try to think of Judas Priest mixed with Images and Words era Dream Theater, and you would be close. The production on this record is exceptional, and it always amazes me how full and huge the instruments sound. The guitar sound is bigger than the biggest thing you can think of, and the drums sound so full and massive. They certainly know how to make a record.
The opening salvo of instrumental piece Fire Blossom that leads into Rainmaker is a freakin’ awesome opening to a record – it really sets the scene for the rest of the album. Every song sounds epic and grandiose, and vocalist Andy Kuntz sings for his life on every track. The ending of Day I Die is so huge and monster sounding that it will send goosebumps down your body. They definitely have a sense of the dramatic, and it can be heard in the opening to Garden Of Stones. It has a slow almost operatic build up, with a beautiful guitar lead in to the fat monster riff of the main song – it is really well put together. This is the format for the whole album, and the quality of each piece is off the charts.
If I’m pushed for a favourite track (and believe me, it’s so hard as they are all awesome) I would go for We’re Not God. The guitar tone alone is just unreal, coupled with the melody and the composition of the tune – its incredible. The band are huge in their native Germany, and I am at a loss why world domination has a eluded them.
This is 10/10 all day every day from The Grooveman.
