Customer Reviews

Border of Reality

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wish I would have bought this before I bought "Bleed", and "Enlighten the Darkness". My first purchace from Angel Dust was "Bleed", and I became addicted instantly. They are the best Heavy Metal band I've heard since Iron Maiden in 1982.

This is the most powerful release they have in my opinion....I was blown away after hearing this. It's simply untouchable. "Bleed" and "Enlighten" are very close, but this is better in my opinion....Why?, probably because it's got an overwhelming amount of power. The whole Cd is feriously paced, and the lone ballad "When I Die" is nine minutes of beauty beyond words.

Nothing can stop these guys from going straight to the top. I think Angel Dust is the best Heavy Metal band in the world today. Trust me, these guys play Metal the way it's meant to be played.....With passion, and power!!

I've been a Maiden fanatic since 82', and I'm looking right into the future towards Angel Dust to be the band that continues to carry the tradition of making excellent Heavy Metal.

If any of you don't have this yet, but have been fortunate enough to listen to "Bleed", and liked it as much as I did, you will like "Border Of Reality" even more!!!.....I do.

I love all of their Cd's, but for some strange reason, I think "Border..." is without a doubt the most powerful. The songs are very well written, and the production is flawless. These guys are outstanding musicians, who take pride in being a Heavy Metal band.

Angel Dust is by far the best listen you'll find in the world of Heavy Metal today, and "Border.." proves that. "Bleed" has now become my 2nd favorite Angel Dust Cd, and after hearing this, you'll most likely agree......ANGEL DUST RULES ALL!!!

Also check out another very promising young German Heavy Metal outfit called Edguy. Their "Theater Of Salvation" is incredible.

Angel Dust is quite an amazing and different band. Not often does a band try to combine progressive keyboards with power metal. Angel Dust does, and they do it very well... you'll realize how well once you can appreciate what they do. The only other band I'm aware of that can do this is Ivory Tower. Adagio does it a bit, but they sound more like copies of Symphony X with better keyboards. So what I'm saying is if you like those bands that have a contract wtih limb music products (Valley's Eve, Galloglass, Kenziner), then you'll love this.

To put it simply, Border of Reality is a combo of Threshold (prog metal) and Valley's Eve (mentioned above). The vocalist is like that of Valley's Eve a bit and the keyboards are again progish.

More about the tracks, you ask? The opener goes right into the power-prog style. At first, I wasn't sure of this either, but after 3 or so listens, I'm used to it and they're on my good side. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tracks are normal-style songs for Angel Dust, as far as I'm concerned. Then theres "When I Die", which seems to be a little more popular than it is good. I've read from another reviewer that it is a ballad. There is a rather fast part for a ballad. It clocks in above the 9:40 mark, so I'd almost go as far to call it an epic, with all the speed changes. The next good one for me is track 7, "Spotlight Kid". This is just an enjoyable, keyboard filled, fast paced song. The 2 bonus tracks are the other highlights, which is rather unusual, don't you think? Track 10 (the first one) is a lot like Spotlight Kid, only even better. Then there's the cover of a 30 year old song, "Easy Livin'", which sounds magnificant. If only there was a band that did nothing but cover all of the hits from every time period... Atrocity does an 80's sound, but not totally. Star One has some covers on the new DVD, Stratovarius redid Judas Priest's Bloodstone, and Dark Moor made a 13:24 version of Helloween's "Halloween". I can't think of the other ones off the top of my head. If you like covers like these (one of Atrocity's is "Send Me An Angel"), you should get this just to hear Easy Livin'.

I hope my review straightened you out a bit. Do 2 things for me: check out my other reviews and say if they help you or not please. 'Till next time.

This was the second Angel Dust album I picked up, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that this album was almost everything _Bleed_ was. Again the band displays a remarkable sense of melody in their heavy metal onslaught, complete with beautifully melodic (and blazingly fast) solos, very respectable vocals, and a healthy dose of keyboards. I don't know if there's even one "skippable" track on the album. It's scored a couple of notches below _Bleed_ for not being quite as solid throughout, and for lacking the truly killer songs like "Bleed", and the ballads "Liquid Angel" and "Follow Me pt I" (though I'd argue that this album's "Where the Wind Blows" is of the same caliber as those three). _Bleed_'s bonus tracks also help give it the edge. Still, this is an album not to be missed. It also features Angel Dust doing some longer (more progressive?) songs than on their other albums. If you have either of their other albums and are hesitating at all to pick up this earlier effort, wait no longer and get this album.

A full decade after their previous album (1988's To Dust You Will Decay) was released, German thrash metal band Angel Dust returned to the metal scene with their third album Border of Reality. Taking advantage of the surge in popularity of the power metal sound at the time, Angel Dust shifted their sound from thrash metal to a more melodic, European-style power metal.

It's amazing what some keyboards and a new vocalist will do for a band. Angel Dust's sound was still based on speedy, thrashing guitar riffs, but the keyboards, increased focus on melody, and Dirk Thurisch's powerful vocals put Border of Reality firmly in power metal territory. It's not upbeat, sing-along Helloween-style power metal either. This is heavy stuff that's more towards the Iced Earth/Demons & Wizards end of the spectrum. The songs are all fairly long, and have some intricate instrumentals that should appeal to prog metal fans as well. Soaring songs like "When I Die", "Where the Wind Blows" and the pounding title track are my favorite songs on Border of Reality. I have to give the band credit for covering the great Rainbow, but I wish it was a better song than "Spotlight Kid". Something from the Dio years would have been a much better fit for Angel Dust's style.

Angel Dust's power metal revival proved to be short-lived, but they did manage to deliver some high quality albums. I still prefer Bleed, but Border of Reality is a close second. If you're a fan of the European power metal sound, particularly the heavier bands like Tad Morose and Brainstorm, you'll definitely want to give Angel Dust a try, and Border of Reality is the logical starting point.

NOTE: The US version of Border of Reality features a pair of bonus tracks. The first is a studio song called "Same Eyes". The second is another cover song, a hard-hitting version of the Uriah Heep classic "Easy Livin'". I think DC Cooper did a better job with that song on his solo album, but it's always good to see a band pay tribute to Uriah Heep. Fortunately the US version is the most readily available edition of Border of Reality.

If you are a fan of Angel Dust, then this album will perfect for you. It's really good heavy metal. I bought it on a whim after looking at other reviews of their other albums Bleed and Enlighten the Darkness. I bought the other two based on the feedback and I'm glad I did. I've been missing the really hard rock metal from the 80's. This album is good like that, but not dated. These albums were made in 1998, 1999 and 2000. It's as if metal never went away. (Stupid Rap and Grunge be cursed.) Trust me this stuff kicks serious a$$.

If you like power metal, this band from Belgium is worth a listen. The singer sounds a touch like Ronnie James Dio and does a good dependable job dispensing lyrics. Besides their more obvious power metal sound, some of their songs also have a speed metal influence. All in all a solid album.

For me this is their best album.The musicianship and songs are first class.It's a pity that the same can't be said for the vocalist,who I think was their only barrier to greatness.The lead vocalist can make or break a band.You only have to look at the harm that Blaze Bayley did to Iron Maiden's fortunes,as compared to the boost given to Kamelot's fortunes by the awesome voice of Khan.If you can overlook the sub par vocals,this is still an album worth buying.