From the Black Metal scene of Norway at the end of the previous millennium appeared Guardians of Time with a more power / progressive sound affected by bands like Queensryche and Gamma Ray.
In 2004 their last album entitled “Machines of Mental Design “was released. After this release the band broke up and its members were involved in various projects. A few years ago the two main members of the band, the singer Bernt Fjellstad and the guitarist Paul Olsen said that they would release another album and for that reason they recruited new guys for the remaining positions.
The “A Beautiful Atrocity” is a generally good album that has the misfortune to have a mediocre production. It is a classic power metal album with many progressive elements. Surely they are not the first to do that, but they managed to create a really good album using a tested formula. Their usage of black vocals is kept at a minimum but they help make the sound more modern.
Lyrically “A Beautiful Atrocity” is a concept album that tells the story of Jeffery Callahan. A prisoner, who is on death row, is lead to the electric chair at the end of the album.
The production of the album could be better. Mainly the drum parts sound raw, and some times the cymbals sound really noisy behind the songs.
Most of the songs are really good. And then there is the bonus track. When I heard “The Man” at first I thought that I had changed the CD. It is a really different and excellent song which sounds really like “Led Zeppelin”. And here is the question: Why there aren’t any more similar songs in the album to break the monotony of the power metal??? I really hope in the next album we will hear more songs like this.
The return to discography for the Guardians of Time is considered successful. With more releases like this we will hear even more for them.
