Back to Times of Splendor
| Back to Times of Splendor | ||||
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| Studio album by Disillusion | ||||
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Publication |
2004 |
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admission |
May to December 2003 |
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| Label (s) | Metal Blade Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
6th |
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running time |
56:52 |
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| occupation |
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|
Andy Schmidt |
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Studio (s) |
Salvation Recording, Leipzig |
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Back to Times of Splendor is the debut album by the German progressive metal band Disillusion . It was released on Metal Blade Records in 2004 .
Creation and publication
After the self-produced EP Three Neuron Kings and the single The Porter , released on the small label Voice of Life, had met with great approval in the underground, Disillusion received a contract with Metal Blade. The debut Back to Times of Splendor was recorded over several months in 2003, mainly in Leipzig. Guest musicians were Thomas Bremer from Dark Suns ( piano ), Matthias Schifter (bass), Denise Schneider (vocals), Stefan Launicke (piano, strings) and Alex Tscholakov (percussion). Tscholakov was also the sound engineer for the recordings, the mastering was done by Alexander Krull from Atrocity .
Track list
- … And the Mirror Cracked - 8:27
- Case - 4:54
- Alone I Stand in Fires - 6:53
- Back to Times of Splendor - 14:39
- A Day by the Lake - 4:54
- The Sleep of Restless Hours - 17:03
style
Back to Times of Splendor is a concept album about unrequited love. It is often assigned to Progressive Metal, but also uses many stylistic elements from Thrash Metal and Melodic Death Metal . The pieces are varied and complexly structured. There are hard and virtuoso riffs, atmospheric and acoustic passages, electronic sounds and orchestral arrangements. In addition to catchy refrains with clear vocals, the singing is often guttural . In the press comparisons were made e.g. B. moved to Opeth , Soilwork , Dark Tranquility , Nevermore and Pain of Salvation .
reception
The album was positively received by the press. Allmusic's John Serba praises the “impressive” technical skills of the musicians and the surprising twists and turns of the compositions. Patrick Schmidt from Rock Hard speaks of “maximum excitement at the highest level”. Thorsten Gürntke from the Babyblauen Seiten thinks it is “[ really ] exhausting what's going on, and to be honest, I sometimes get fed up with the stick portion . The bottom line is a pretty good mixture of Thrash Metal and Prog Metal. ”Gunnar Claussen thinks the compositions are“ imaginative ”and sums it up,“ that the mixture 'tricky riffing, orchestral widescreen bombast, now and then relaxed rock' is very good works and, put together to form the […] concept, also constitutes the essential part of the progress that Disillusion brought to the genre with this album. ”The eclipsed magazine included Back to Times of Splendor in its list of 50 Progmetal milestones.
Web links
- Back to Times of Splendor at Allmusic (English)
- Reviews of Back to Times of Splendor on the Babyblauen Seiten
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Patrick Schmidt: Disillusion. Back To Times Of Splendor , Rock Hard # 203, accessed August 7, 2015.
- ↑ a b Baby Blue Prog Reviews: Disillusion. Back to Times of Splendor , Baby Blue Pages , accessed August 7, 2015.
- ↑ a b John Serba: Back to Times of Splendor at Allmusic , accessed on August 7, 2015.
- ↑ eclipsed No. 144, p. 31.