Angel Dust - Border Of Reality (1998) (Japan VICP-60469)

Though Bleed makes more of an initial bang and is an outstanding album in its own right, Angel Dust’s best effort is actually the lesser known Border of Reality from 1998. A comeback album after a ten year hiatus, Border of Reality marked a change for the band as they abandoned the thrash and turned towards power metal. To this date, no other band sounds quite like Angel Dust, which holds true for Border of Reality especially. It’s unique even for Angel Dust – primarily known for being a full on power metal band - because the band borrows freely from the power-progressive realm and have never sounded as epic and ambitious, before or after. Later albums showed the band abandoning some of the ideas present here, to focus more on a straightforward brand of power metal.

The production is as excellent as on their other (newer) albums. All the instruments are clearly audible and properly mixed. The guitars have a smooth and warm yet heavy sound to them; not raw in any way, yet powerful like hell. What sets apart Border of Reality from the rest is the quality of the songwriting. Although the band has an uncanny ability to produce world-class songs such as ‘Bleed’ for instance, consistency has always been a problem, but not here as my score indicates. There are no weak songs to be found, and it’s exceptionally well-written as demonstrated some of the more grandiose compositions such as ‘When I Die’, ‘Behind the Mirror’ and ‘Coming Home’ - three carefully constructed songs, written with a great sense of melody and pace. Faster cuts such as ‘Border of Reality’ and ‘Spotlight Kid’ mix things up but for the most part it’s a mid-paced affair, which is a good idea considering the epic feel the band is going for. The rhythm guitar is as strong as usual and you can find some of the strongest leads here on an Angel Dust album. They don’t make much noise in the beginning and are quite short and few, but starting with ‘Nightmare’ Bernd Aufermann unleashes his creative powers. Noteworthy are the solos in, ‘When I Die’, ‘Where the Wind Blows’, ‘Spotlight Kid’ and especially ‘Behind the Mirror’ and ‘Coming Home’ – all of these totally ripping in a melodious way. Keyboards play a larger role here than on any other Angel Dust album even though they’re fairly anonymous. Their presence is clear on tracks like ‘Nightmare’ and ‘Where the Wind Blows’, but when I took the time to analyze the album, I was surprised at how much keyboard there actually is. The keyboard is mostly used to augment melodies already started by another instrument and it’s done in such a subtle and effective way that it’s easy to miss if you’re not paying attention.

Flowing, melodic and insanely catchy, the vocal melodies are the biggest highlight of the album and largely contribute to its excellence. Dirk Thurisch possesses one of the finest voices in metal in my opinion and is in many ways integral to the band’s sound. He does his best work here, providing some of the most heartfelt and engaging vocals I’ve heard to date. It may be exaggerating things a bit, but the question now that he’s left the band is if they’ll ever be able to reach the same heights. Great albums have a tendency to inspire and touch on a host of feelings in the listener. Border of Reality succeeds in that regard. When people talk about great comebacks, this expertly written album in the power-progressive mold, should be high up on people’s lists. Truly monumental and a must have.

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