Edguy // Review
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CD: Tinnitus Sanctus Released: 17 November 2008 |
As far as metal sub-genres go, Euro power metal attracts just as much heated debate as the eye-catching fringes of the metalcore scene, emo or Christian death metal and for haters of the scene Edguy have been the targets of much derision for the best part of a decade. However, along with fellow Germans Helloween and Gamma Ray, Edguy have long been considered at the heart of the scene and now, eight albums into their career, the band returns with Tinnitus Sanctus and their bid to claim dominance of the style they have embraced for so long.
On the surface, Tinnitus Sanctus carries on where the last two albums left off, with a generous helping of uplifting choruses and sing-alongs to bring a smile to the most jaded of metalheads. Delve further into the sound, however, and the album could prove something of a curveball for long time fans. The band have injected a ballsier, harder edge to a number of their songs, with the likes of rousing opener Ministry of Saints and Dead or Rock kicking things into gear with more classic metal riffing than we have come to expect from these famously tongue-in-cheek lads.
They have lost none of the humour of previous albums though, and this is where problems arise that stop the album reaching the heights the band has previously scaled. Many of the more cheesy lyrics simply seem at odds with the more straight-forward, hard rocking style of the album. Nonsensical and unfortunately prominent lines such as "You're alive, said the maker and smiled at the aardvark", threaten to spoil such potential classics as The Pride of Creation, whilst elsewhere the innuendo of Hellfire Club's Lavatory Love Machine is taken to it's ridiculous and pointless conclusion with Aren't You a little Pervert Too?!, a short, bluesy track tagged on the end of the album that feels completely at odds with everything that came before it.
Fans of the band will undoubtedly find plenty to lap up here though, with each track providing plenty of the headbanging riffage and fun sing-alongs that come close to rivaling their best moments from the past. Definitely not the album of their career then, but coupled with the bonus Live in LA disc, which features a number of past favourites, certainly one to enjoy all the same.
Review by Peter Thompson
Track Listing
| Tinnitus Sanctus |
[01] Ministry of Saints |
Buy From
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