Release date – May 9, 2000

Nuclear Blast

Lineup:

Chris Boltendahl – vocals

Uwe Lulis – guitars

Jens Becker – bass

Stefan Arnold – drums

Peter Katzenburg – keyboards

Eric Fish – bagpipes, barockoboe, schalmei, whistles

Bodenski – drehleier

Wow, this is a tough album to really explain. I’ll admit, I can enjoy it a bit, but it isn’t for the reasons that most are able to enjoy it. I just sit there and laugh at it. While the musicianship on this album is very good, the whole concept behind it and actual melodies are very cheesy. The song lyrics are beyond cheesy. The album is basically the story about King Arthur. I don’t think I need to say too much more as it is a very well known story. The actual musicianship and sound of the band really isn’t horribly though. The band is basically power metal with a twist. The guitars shred slightly more, the bass grinds down slightly more, and the vocals resemble a thrash vocalist rather than a power metal vocalist. Still though, the lyrics are amazingly cheesy and really, the overall sound on this album, while musically sound, is something that it’s hard to not laugh at.

The sound quality on this album is extremely polished. A little overboard if you ask me. With the more metal sound of this album, you’d expect it to be left fairly raw, but instead it’s almost as clean as a pop album with rough vocals.

This is an album better to laugh at than to listen to for the actual musicianship that exists in it. the song subjects are extremely cheesy. Out of 100, I give it a 59.

Track listing

1. The Secrets of Merlin

2. Pendragon

3. Excalibur

4. The Round Table (Forever)

5. Morgane Le Fay

6. The Spell

7. Tristan’s Fate

8. Lancelot

9. Modred’s Song

10. The Final War

11. Emerald Eyes

12. Avalon