GUARDIANS OF TIME – A Beautiful Atrocity

This is the end. This is the time for the ending of a life — the execution of a life taker, a monster, a criminal murderous mastermind. Time and time over, stories of this kind return via different images in music. The Norwegian Power Metal group, Guardians Of Time, weren’t the first to form a story of a criminal’s end, yet, their new album, A Beautiful Atrocity, once again proves that no matter how this subject might seem banal, every band has its own methods on how to reach into a listener’s mind, and this release intended to stray the listener’s mind out of focus and into a new course of thought. Besides the theme that went into more psychological experiences within a convicted man’s mind, the most important part that lifts this album up is the band’s twisted form of Heavy / Power Metal.

Diversity is the name of the game here. In order not to sound predictable and repetitive like many other European Power Metal acts, Guardians Of Time reshaped their approach into a new form of Melodic Metal that would still cross hearts yet come across as more constructive and interesting. It was surely a hard task to achieve, yet the guys did it and did it quite good. Part of the success was the fine sound production that was a bit gloomy, yet it provided the band enough means to showcase their material. Furthermore, the decision to go modern was a well-taken risk… and so far it served them well.

As for the material, it kept to a certain flow that caused the music to become a sort of unknown shape, meaning you can’t reasonably expect what will come next. There is no black or white over this one. This is Modern Melodic Metal, with Traditional Metal, Power Metal, and Hard Rock outbursts… and is there anything more compelling than that mix? Within this release you have almost everything from deep-rooted heaviness (“Heart Of Darkness”, “Dreamworld Messiah”) to soft and touchy sections (“Sleep Eternal”), to raw and even growling vocals, to emotive high & mighty pitchers of great quality, and solid lead guitar sections that present well-written solos placed in their rightful spots.

However, even with superb tracks such as the impeccable classic Metal charmer “Only A Dream”, heavy cracker “Monster”, and the modernized “I, Sinner”, A Beautiful Atrocity isn’t totally perfect. There aren’t too many slip-ups, if you can call them that, yet it was hard to really connect to every song on the tracklist. Nevertheless, since this is a full concept album, you must experience the entire package in order to capture what secrets lay behind the dark curtain of a monster. If you ever thought that you’ve heard it all, you might want to think again…

Tracklist

1. The Beginning Of The End
2. Perverse Perfection
3. God V 2.0
4. Monster
5. Altered In Red
6. Mind Divided
7. Heart Of Darkness
8. Sleep Eternal
9. Dreamworld Messiah
10. Tide Of Time
11. Only A Dream
12. I, Sinner
13. The Man

Lineup

Bernt Fjellstad – Vocals
Pål Olsen – Guitars
Bent Lindebø – Guitar
Martin Eltvik – Bass
Øivind Vågane – Drums