At The Edge of Time by Blind Guardian

I was first introduced to Blind Guardian via the music review podcast, For Those About to Rock, which can be found at Simply Syndicated.  Now, I'm not always the biggest of metal fans, so I began listening to this particular episode with just a half an ear.

But then I heard something surprising.  The band has recorded two (2!) songs based on the epic fantasy series, The Wheel of Time.  Oh, and two based on some as of yet unfinished fantasy series that currently has a series on HBO.

Moving on...

So I immediately focused...another quarter of my ears to the episode (hey, I was at work, had to keep some audio channels open for work related stuff)

Really, this is an AMAZING album.  From the episode by FTATR, and my own research of them, the band is very much influenced by the fantasy genre.  Which is really cool.  And the two WoT songs are very well done, and you can tell that they are familiar with the source material.

Here was one of my thoughts as to their musical style.

"Oh, a flute and some other instruments one would not expect from OMFG my face has just melted off ala Raiders of the Lost Ark due to the amount of awesome that is thundering into my ears at this very moment!!!"

Yes, I did just make that all up.  At least the statement.  The rock was indeed face melting.  But I just looked away, cause thats how you stop the Ark from melting your face.

In the end, go seek out this album.  Especially if you like metal, epic rock and fantasy novels.

I ramble just a tad to much methinks...