824. Edguy / Mandrake. 2001. 4/5

Mandrake was the first Edguy album that I heard and subsequently the first Edguy album that I bought. Thus it could be argued that I have a soft spot for it in the scheme of musical things, which I do. It has also become the point of comparison with every other Edguy album as to how much I will enjoy them, so it does have a major role to play in that respect. If nothing else, if this album was awful, then it would probably have stopped me from pursuing the band any further, so it was probably a good starting point for me.  The fact that it is probably one of the band's best helps in this respect.

The album starts off with "Tears of a Mandrake", and it is this song that made me believe that Edguy could be a part of my musical future. It is a superb beginning to the album, an opening act in itself, orchestral in nature both musically and vocally, combining those layered vocals throughout in operatic fashion. "Golden Dawn" sets off with that European power metal paced guitar and drums, but pleasingly it is those instruments that remains the centre of focus, with the keys remaining in the background. This is where Edguy appealed to me from the beginning. Unlike contemporaries such as Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica, where the keyboards are prominent to the point of being the main focus of the music, here they only complement the much more guitar focused music. Tobi Sammet's soaring vocals don't harm it at all either! "Jerusalem" continues the good song output, though with less impact than the opening two tracks. This is then followed by "All the Clowns" which explodes straight into melodic guitars and rocks along accordingly. "Nailed to the Wheel" is reminiscent of a Judas Priest song, or certainly perhaps the Fight song "Nailed to the Gun". After its mellow beginning it morphs into a fast heavy monster, propelling itself at speed, while being supported by Tobi's best Halford impression, especially during the chorus. Ripping tune. So to is "The Pharaoh", a more mid-temp song but heavy on the harder edged beat and guitars.
It can't all be bells and whistles I guess, and the power ballad "Wash Away the Poison" brings the album to a screaming halt in regards to its momentum. Perhaps it's not a bad song, but it does nothing for me, and indeed finds itself being a victim of the skip button on a regular occurrence. "Painting on the Wall" is very similar in this regard, which is disappointing given everything that occurs on the first half of the album. "Save Us Now" returns a bit of speed to the album, and indeed also reminds me of another song with a similar title, Helloween's "Save Us". Coincidence just like the comparison of "Nailed to the Wheel"? perhaps. Or perhaps not. "The Devil and the Savant" finishes off the album.

This is power metal the layman can get into, because the band's roots came from their early inspiration of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and KISS, so while the keyboards are in the mix of the songs the dominant force is the guitars, drums and vocals. This is what set them apart from their contemporaries, at least to this point of their existence. It's funny to think that as the Avantasia movement grew, the quality of Edguy's output seems to have diminished. However, with this album they put themselves firmly on the front foot and brought themselves to the front of the queue in regards to the European power metal scene.

Rating:  The moment the evil appeared, the chance to decide.  4/5