- Country: Germany
- Style: Power metal / Symphonic metal
- Label: Nuclear Blast
- Release date: 30 January 2015
Choirs from Prague, Budapest and Boston, two full orchestras, and a band that has never once heard the word “enough”. Beyond the Red Mirror opens with “The Ninth Wave”, a wall of chanting voices that builds for minutes before Hansi Kürsch even gets a word in, and that tells you everything about what follows.
It works far more often than it should. “Twilight of the Gods” is the hit, compact and very Queen in its stacked vocal harmonies, and “The Holy Grail” rips along at a speed that recalls the band’s faster 1990s material. André Olbrich’s lead lines still carry the melodies even when the orchestra threatens to swallow them, and Charlie Bauerfeind keeps the mix surprisingly readable for something this dense.
There is no single song here that will replace the old classics in the setlist, and the album asks for patience. But “Grand Parade” is a ridiculous, glorious ending. For a tenth record, this is remarkably hungry.
Best tracks:
The Ninth Wave
Twilight of the Gods
The Holy Grail
Grand Parade
Author’s rating: 8.2/10
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