EDGUY – Age Of The Joker

The German Power Metal leaders, Edguy, are back with their ninth studio album Age Of The Joker. Led by the great Tobias Sammet (also famous for his other project Avanstasia), these guys bring forth an enormous amount of excitement and energy. Ever since the 2004 breakthrough release Hellfire Club, Edguy has enjoyed tremendous international success. Age Of The Joker certainly is an easy fit to continue that success as they have not missed a beat with this album, and continue to only get better.

It’s no secret Sammet has been producing relatively traditional mainstream style Rock/Metal with the previous two releases, Rocket Ride and Tinnitus Sanctus. Some fans might even go so far as to say Edguy will never achieve the high level of material from Hellfire Club. However, those notions should be put to rest with Age Of The Joker. The opening track “Robin Hood” is almost a throwback to the classic Power Metal style songs. There is an evident Deep Purple-esque Hammond organ throughout the track and additionally there is an extended break in the middle of the song, which is reminiscent of Maiden’s “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son”. This compelling opening track sets up the listener for an amazing journey through the rest of the album.

One of the great things about this album is a very diverse mixture of song styles. Each track has something different, new, and exciting to offer. Sammet still gives a couple of those mainstream Rock tracks included in this mix like “Nobody’s Hero” and “Every Night Without You”. However, he does keep the album interesting by throwing out some nearly Progressive style Metal with “Rock Of Cashel” and “The Arcane Guild”. Like the opening track, there is a heavy usage of the Hammond organ on each, which actually meshes very well with the fiery lead guitar tandem solos of Jens Ludwig and Dirk Sauer.

Arguably, the best track on the album is “Faces In The Darkness”. For the fans that loved Hellfire Club this song is straight out of that album’s era. It is a darker, mid-tempo song featuring some of the best vocals from Sammet, stretching his ability to another level. Another great track along those same lines is “Behind The Gates To Midnight World”. Coming in at nearly nine minutes in length, it’s another darker, mid-tempo song that again has Sammet expanding his vocal range, although a little more to the dramatic side with this song.

Clearly, this is the best album we have seen from Edguy in several years. Whereas it was beginning to look like Sammet was saving his more thrilling material for Avanstasia, he obviously put a significant amount of dedication to bringing Edguy back to the forefront. Sammet and the band have come very close to outdoing themselves, and should be commended for a top-notch effort.