Review Summary: Edguy continues to grow, leaving pure power metal in the past.
If Rocket Ride was the beginning of a shift in style for Edguy, Tinnitus Sanctus is the statement that power metal is the past. In these ten songs, you'll find almost none of the traditional speedy double bass power metal from which the band grew. Instead, as was the case with Avantasia's The Scarecrow, we find the band moving forward by looking into the past. The base of the music is old-school hard rock. Instead of calling back to Helloween and Iron Maiden, we find Tobi and the boys calling back to Deep Purple, Dio, and the rest of the traditional rock of the glory days.
From the beginning of Ministry Of Saints, the band sets the tone that this is a new Edguy, a band that doesn't care about their past, only their future. The song is darker and more subdued than almost anything they have done yet, and it serves as a warning for what is to come. The rest of the ten tracks all dabble in the same territory, trading the hyper-speed and happy choruses of songs like Babylon for a slightly less bombastic, though much more confident approach. The only hint of that early style comes on the seven minute Speedhoven, a darker, more fierce, and more mature companion piece to Judas At The Opera. Sex Fire Religion, Dragonfly, and Dead Or Rock all pound along on a swagger and confidence the band has yet to show, while the ballad Thorn Without A Rose lulls you into a sense of false security before turning into another rocker in the classic vein.
The only complaints regarding the album would be the inane and utterly worthless bonus track, Aren't You A Little Pervert Too?, and the mix. The bonus track, while attempting to be lighthearted and fun, only comes off as being another reason why many find the band hard to swallow. The mix offers it's own problems, with the backing vocals so high that they, at times, swallow the music. For an album trying to live on the muscle of classic rock, this isn't a good thing.
Is Tinnitus Sanctus the best Edguy album yet, as the band are saying? It's too early to tell, but if can be safely said that those who were turned off by Rocket Ride have little to fear. The band wisely tones down their comedic side, offering up a rock solid album that serves warning to the metal community: Edguy can do anything they want.
