Beyond the Red Mirror

Beyond the Red Mirror is the tenth studio album by German metal band Blind Guardian, released on 30 January 2015 through Nuclear Blast.[2] It is the band's first album since 2010's At the Edge of Time, marking the longest gap between two studio albums in their career until it was surpassed by 2019's Legacy of the Dark Lands. It is also their first album without former session member Oliver Holzwarth on bass guitar since 1995's Imaginations from the Other Side, with Barend Courbois replacing him. "Twilight of the Gods" was released as a single to promote this album.

Beyond the Red Mirror
Studio album by
Blind Guardian
Released30 January 2015
Recorded2014
StudioTwilight Hall Studio, Grefrath, Germany
Genre
Length65:03
70:54 (Limited editions and vinyl versions)
76:42 (Earbook version)
LabelNuclear Blast
ProducerCharlie Bauerfeind
Blind Guardian chronology
At the Edge of Time
(2010)		 Beyond the Red Mirror
(2015)		 Legacy of the Dark Lands
(2019)
Singles from Beyond the Red Mirror
  1. "Twilight of the Gods"
    Released: 5 December 2014[1]

A concept album and a sequel to Imaginations from the Other Side, Beyond the Red Mirror has been described by Hansi Kürsch as "A story between science fiction and fantasy. [...] The two worlds described have changed dramatically for the worse since then. While there used to be several passages between the worlds, there is only one gate left now: The Red Mirror. It has to be found at any cost."[3]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Blabbermouth.net9.5/10[5]
Rock Hard (Germany)9.5/10[6]
Lords of Metal95/100[7]
Metal110/10[8]
Sputnikmusic[9]

Beyond the Red Mirror received a positive review from Ray Van Horn, Jr. of Blabbermouth.net, who gave the album a rating of nine-and-a-half of ten and states, "Previewing their tenth album Beyond the Red Mirror with the previously-released Twilight of the Gods single, German power-symphonic metal maestros Blind Guardian capitalize on a long break with an encompassing and magical effort. For Beyond the Red Mirror, the band worked with three different worldwide choirs from Budapest, Prague and Boston, along with two full-scale orchestras bearing 90 members apiece. The results are as larger-than-life as the band intended, fleshing out a sci-fi and fantasy piece bridged to their 1995 album, Imaginations from the Other Side."[5]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Kürsch; all music is composed by André Olbrich and Hansi Kürsch, except where noted.

I. The Cleansing of the Promised Land
No.TitleMusicLength
1."The Ninth Wave"Olbrich, Matthias Ulmer, Kürsch9:28
2."Twilight of the Gods" 4:50
II. The Awakening
No.TitleLength
3."Prophecies"5:26
4."At the Edge of Time"6:54
III. Disturbance in the Here and Now
No.TitleMusicLength
5."Ashes of Eternity" 5:39
6."The Holy Grail"Frederik Ehmke, Olbrich, Kürsch5:59
IV. The Descending of the Nine
No.TitleMusicLength
7."The Throne"Olbrich, Charlie Bauerfeind, Kürsch7:54
V. The Fallen and the Chosen One
No.TitleMusicLength
8."Sacred Mind" 6:22
9."Miracle Machine"Michael Schüren, Kürsch3:03
VI. Beyond the Red Mirror
No.TitleLength
10."Grand Parade"9:28

Bonus tracks limited, vinyl, and earbook versions

"Chapter IV. The Mirror Speaks", which contains only one track, "Distant Memories", was put right between the two tracks "Chapter III. Disturbance in the Here and Now". This caused the second track from that chapter, "The Holy Grail", to end up in a new chapter, "V. Disturbance in the Here and Now (Reprise)". "Chapter IX. Damnation", which contains only one track, "Doom", is just a bonus epilogue chapter.

Some copies of the earbook came with a bonus vinyl disc, containing alternate versions of two album tracks.

IV. The Mirror Speaks
No.TitleLength
6."Distant Memories"5:51
IX. Damnation
No.TitleMusicLength
12."Doom"Marcus Siepen, Olbrich, Kürsch5:48
Bonus 10" vinyl single
No.TitleLength
1."Grand Parade" (Alternate Version)9:26
2."Miracle Machine" (Alternate Mix)3:04

Lyrical references
  • "Sacred Mind" could be inferred to be about Xanadu, the large estate owned by the title character in the film Citizen Kane. It could additionally be a reference to Shangdu, the capital city of Kublai Khan's empire, particularly as referenced in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan".
  • The bonus track "Doom" was originally written for Nightfall in Middle-Earth. The version on this album has slightly rewritten lyrics to be able to fit the concept of this album better. It originally depicted Húrin being cursed by Morgoth, and traces of that idea appeared here while still showing what happened after "Grand Parade". "Doom" also appears on the 2018 deluxe edition of Nightfall in Middle-Earth with the original lyrics.

Personnel
Blind Guardian
Additional personnel
  • Barend Courbois – bass
  • Michael Schüren – piano
  • Mattias Ulmer – keyboards, piano
  • Thomas Hackmann, William "Billy" King, Olaf Senkbeil – the choir company
  • Charlie Bauerfeind – production
  • Felipe Machado Franco – cover and booklet artworks
Orchestras
  • Hungarian Studio Orchestra Budapest (Peter Pejtsik – conductor)
  • FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague (Adam Klemens – conductor)
Choirs
  • Hungarian Studio Choir Budapest (Peter Pejtsik – conductor)
  • FILMharmonic Choir Prague (Stanislav Mistr – conductor)
  • Vox Futura Choir Boston (Andrew Shenton – conductor)

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[10] 8
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[11] 84
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[12] 118
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[13] 14
French Albums (SNEP)[14] 72
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 4
Italian Albums (FIMI)[16] 36
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[17] 45
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[18] 31
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[19] 34
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 10

References
  1. "Blind Guardian To Release 'Twilight Of The Gods' Single In December; New Album Due In January". Blabbermouth.net. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  2. "Blind Guardian To Release 'Beyond The Red Mirror' In January". Blabbermouth.net. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  3. "What lies Beyond the Red Mirror?". Blind Guardian's official website. 7 November 2014. Archived from the original on 21 November 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  4. Beyond the Red Mirror at AllMusic. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  5. "CD Reviews – Beyond The Red Mirror Blind Guardian". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  6. Rensen, Michael. "Rock Hard review (in German)". rockhard.de/. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  7. Sadeghi, Nima. "Lords of Metal review". lordsofmetal.nl. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  8. Ilius, Christoph. "Metal1 review". Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  9. James, Trevor. "Sputnikmusic review". Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  10. "Austriancharts.at – Blind Guardian – Beyond The Red Mirror" (in German). Hung Medien.
  11. "Ultratop.be – Blind Guardian – Beyond The Red Mirror" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  12. "Ultratop.be – Blind Guardian – Beyond The Red Mirror" (in French). Hung Medien.
  13. "Blind Guardian: Beyond The Red Mirror" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  14. "Lescharts.com – Blind Guardian – Beyond The Red Mirror". Hung Medien.
  15. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
  16. "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 6 (dal 2015-02-02 al 2015-02-08)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  17. "Blind Guardian – Beyond The Red Mirror". oricn ME inc.
  18. "Spanishcharts.com – Blind Guardian – Beyond The Red Mirror". Hung Medien.
  19. "Swedishcharts.com – Blind Guardian – Beyond The Red Mirror". Hung Medien.
  20. "Swisscharts.com – Blind Guardian – Beyond The Red Mirror". Hung Medien.
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