Edguy - Tinnitus Sanctus

March 3, 2009

Reviewer: Peter

I can’t believe that it’s been five years since Edguy released one of the better metal albums in recent history in Hellfire Club.  Since that time, the band has released another album, Rocket Ride, and vocalist Tobias Sammet released an album with his side project Avantasia titled The Scarecrow.  Neither album really matched the popularity that Hellfire Club achieved, as the former was pretty much an album with many directions and little to harness the energy into an area of focus.  The latter could best be compared to a dry roast, in that it was difficult to digest.

Fast forward to now, and Edguy is back with a new album in Tinnitus Sanctus.  While it will never match the overall greatness that was Hellfire Club, at least it has a sense of direction as opposed to Rocket Ride and some songs that are bound to get stuck in your head, unlike Avantasia’s The Scarecrow.

The first thing that the listener will notice about Tinnitus Sanctus is that it takes on a decidedly rock n’ roll approach to their sound.  While you could say the same thing about Rocket Ride, it also tried a little too hard to hang on to what made Hellfire Club successful.  This time around, the band is fully committed to the approach, meaning fewer opportunities to skip around on the album.  There are surefire bets for anthems in “Sex Fire Religion” and “9-2-9.”  The music is catchy, a good thing to be when the sound is more rock than metal.  That is not to say that the band has sold out, far from it, as they maintain their sense of humor on songs such as “Speedhoven” and their southern rock parody “Aren’t You a Little Pervert Too?!”  That humor isn’t quite as obvious as on their previous albums, but it is still there nonetheless.  There is even a ballad in “Thorn Without a Rose,” a song that isn’t over the top, yet remains a possible candidate for the repeat button.  For all of what makes Tinnitus Sanctus a good album, there are also some flaws on the album.  Overall, the album is solid, but won’t necessarily blow the listener away with anything special.  The track “Speedhoven” features a stop-then-restart around the 5:50 mark, which can throw listeners off into thinking that the song is over.  That quirk also stretches the songs needlessly, as it wears a little thin after that point.

It is hard to say whether or not Edguy is truly back.  However, Tinnitus Sanctus is at least deserving of your time if you got lost while listening to Rocket Ride.  Having a sense of humor has long been a strength of Edguy, and there is enough on the album to satisfy longtime fans of the band.  There is even enough to perhaps attract new fans, as well as get back some of the fans that got away for a little while.  Tinnitus Sanctus is probably the album that should have followed Hellfire Club, but then again, it wouldn’t be the same experience if that was the case.

Release Date: November 14, 2008
Label: Nuclear Blast Records

TRACK LISTING

1. Ministry Of Saints
2. Sex Fire Religion
3. The Pride Of Creation
4. Nine Lives
5. Wake Up Dreaming Black
6. Dragonfly
7. Thorn Without A Rose
8. 9-2-9
9. Speedhoven
10. Dead Or Rock
11. Aren't You A Little
      Pervert Too?!

Total playing time: 54:43

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