A Twist in the Myth

A Twist in the Myth
Studio album by Blind Guardian
Released	September 1, 2006
Recorded	September 2005–April 2006, Twilight Hall Studios
Genre	Power metal, progressive metal
Length	51:31
Label	Nuclear Blast
Producer	Charlie Bauerfeind
Blind Guardian chronology
A Night at the Opera (2002) A Twist in the Myth (2006) At the Edge of Time (2010)
Singles from A Twist in the Myth
"Fly" Released: February 24, 2006 "Another Stranger Me" Released: May 4, 2007

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Sea of Tranquility	[2]
Lords of Metal	(89/100)[3]
Rock Hard	(8.5/10)[4]

A Twist in the Myth is the eighth studio album by the German heavy metal band Blind Guardian. It was originally set to be released on September 5, 2006 in Europe (which became the North American release date), but Nuclear Blast changed the release date to September 1, 2006.

The album was released in several different formats: a normal version, a digipak version with a bonus track and bonus CD, and a limited edition book-version. The book contains the digipak, along with a guitar pick, booklet and certificate of authenticity and autographs, as well as a dragon-shaped seal and a bar of red sealing wax.

Track listing

All music written by André Olbrich and Hansi Kürsch. All lyrics written by Kürsch.

• "All the King's Horses" is also available on the single "Another Stranger Me".
• "Market Square" is the demo version of "Straight Through the Mirror" and is only available on the Double LP and Limited Book versions of the album.

Lyrical references

• "This Will Never End" is inspired by Walter Moers' A Wild Ride Through the Night and tells of a meeting between the young illustrator Gustave Dore and the Grim Reaper who begins to doubt the existence of a divine masterplan and thus his own purpose.
• "Otherland" is based on Tad Williams' Otherland series of novels.
• "Turn the Page" is about the Wiccan ritual of renewal and change of seasons, dealing with the Horned God and also contains references to the historical shift from Paganism to Christianity.
• "Fly" contains references to Peter Pan and was inspired by the film Finding Neverland.
• "Carry the Blessed Home" is about Roland the Gunslinger and Jake Chambers at the end of Stephen King's Dark Tower series.
• "Another Stranger Me" is about a person with dissociative identity disorder who discovers his multiple personalities and tries to find a way out of his situation. (specifically Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde) ^[5]
• "Straight through the Mirror" tells how dreams can change very quickly – it's about the importance of dreams in general too. Some claim it's about a person describing the experience and process of dying while in reality this person is just dreaming it all.
• "Lionheart" is about Ulysses and how he travels through Hades, but in this song he doesn't find the way out. Hansi took inspiration from Gustave Dore, a French artist, and his illustrations of Dante's Inferno. The main character of the epic poem, Dante the Pilgrim, meets Ulysses in the Divine Comedy.^[6]
• "Skalds and Shadows" is sung from the point of view of an Old Norse Skald with an allusion towards the Saga of the Volsungs (specifically the story of Sigurd and Brunhilde) at the end.
• "The Edge" is about St. Paul and his faith in Jesus Christ as the incarnation of God and his belief in the imminent ending of the world ("This is the Edge now/It's all we're living for...")
• "The New Order" deals with the necessity of changes.
• "All the King's Horses" is based on Welsh folklore and the Arthurian cycle and features references to Taliesin and the Holy Grail.
• "Dead Sound of Misery" is a dark version of "Fly" in a minor key with alternate lyrics and vocal melodies portraying a mythological vision of the Apocalypse.

Personnel

Band members

• Hansi Kürsch – vocals
• André Olbrich – lead guitar
• Marcus Siepen – rhythm guitar
• Frederik Ehmke – drums, percussion, flute and bagpipes

Guest Musicians

• Oliver Holzwarth – bass guitar
• The Choir Company – Olaf Senkbeil, Rolf Köhler, Thomas Hackmann
• Martin G. Meyer and Pat Benzner – keyboards

Production

• Charlie Bauerfeind – producing, mastering, mixing and engineering
• Blind Guardian – producing
• Jan Rubach – engineering
• Marc Schettler – assistant engineering
• Anthony Clarkson – artwork
• Axel Jusseit – photos
• Nikolay S. Simkin – booklet design

Chart positions

• Germany: #4
• Sweden: #10
• Austria: #19
• Japan: #21
• USA Billboard Top Independent Albums: #21
• USA Billboard Top Heatseekers: #13
• Switzerland: #27
• Finland: #30
• Norway: #38
• Spain: #15
• UK: #33 (independent chart)

References