Review by Adam M on July 14, 2025.

This is a fun album that has the proper kick in the song-writing department to elevate it over the more straightforward nature of Imaginations From the Other Side.  It is a more fantastical effort and one that requires a bit more attention to digest.  It is more deep and longer than that work.

The musicianship is quite strong with tuneful guitars and a very epic vibe overall.  This leads to a huge sound and a huge improvement over the previous releases.  It is still not the most interesting power metal album, but quite humongous and compelling.

In terms of flaws, there is not as much innovation seen as other album from the genre like Helloween – Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1.  This leads to a more fantastically concentrated album and one that is more concept based.  This is still a particularly interesting work with plenty of bite.

All in all, I found this to be a very enjoyable album that was complete and an overall fun romp into the realms of power metal.  It is not the most innovative the genre has ever seen, but a great addition to power metal fans collections.  It is a solid and well=performed work.

Rating: 7.6/10

Review by Luka on June 4, 2001.

Armor clad armies swarm over the plains in a bloody battle and the resonance of Blind Guardian dominates the land. The thousands of eager metalheads gloriously emerge victorious as Blind Guardian bestows upon them one of the finest symphonic power metal albums on the planet.

Yes it’s that good. If there’s ever a power metal album that’s got it all, powerful heavy metal, symphonic elements, medieval chants and sounds, fantasy storylines... this sure as hell is it! There is a definite lack of speed, however, that is usually a power metal trademark, but this is made up for with complicated, progressive a symphonic melody and flashy lead guitars. Instead of intimidating you with speed and shredding, "Nightfall"... enchants you with melody and atmosphere. Each song passionately conveys a feeling of anything from great sorrow and irony to clear and immediate danger.
Now of course not all 22 tracks are actual, complete songs, half of them are short interludes often containing short speeches and sounds essential for holding the storyline together. The real songs are long and the lyrics elaborate. Hansi’s multi-vocal thing definitely takes time to get used to. At first I thought it was the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, the weird vocals that sound like a lame, screwed up choir. I’ve gotten used to them but, truth to tell, the singing still annoys me to a great degree. I know Hansi’s gotta great voice and he could pull it off without another 15 of his voices backing him up. They get most unbearable in "Mirror Mirror".

The one hour of music on this album is one hour spent in Middle Earth, living through J.R.R. Tolkien’s story of "The Silmarillion", such is the atmosphere created here. Many medieval instruments are used which really add to the feeling. The best tracks are "Into the Storm", "The Curse of Fëanor", and "Time Stands Still..."

Bottom Line: Complex, excellent music that creates a thoroughly medieval atmosphere. The vocals are something to get used to however, and I just can’t seem to be able to...

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Krys on November 17, 2001.

I guess these guys have too much free time. Wurdulak and Gorelord... not too often you get two CDs with the exact same members under different band name, but, thank God, with different music. Featuring Frediablo Prytz, performing all guitars and vocals, Jehmod on drums and guest vocalists Killjoy and Maniac, this Norwegian outfit can definitely make your head bang but without over-exaggerated enjoyment. Let me put it this way, instead of recording two more or less middle-of-the-road records they could’ve made one great disc by combining ideas from both products.

As the name of the band might suggest, what we have here is a gore-necro-death metal twisted around groovy searing riffs with ill vocals mixed with horror samples between the tracks. Doesn’t sound too original, does it? No, but a quite impressive number of great riffs, variety of rhythms and perfect production will keep fans of the gore-metal genre very content.

Spawned by gore and horror movies, the lyrics are just a pile of corpses, guts and everything you can imagine and I’m surprised the booklet just doesn’t drip blood.
I always look forward to the unhealthy and diseased imaginations of writers but I have to admit, Frediablo is one sick individual, and since most of us are you might find a tasty release in “Force Fed On Human Flesh”.

Main reason for taking off 2.5 points is lack of originality. Countless numbers of bands have already done it; horror themes, gore lyrics, scary pictures, warning labels… we’ve seen it before. Either, I’m getting used to it or “Force Fed On Human Flesh” didn’t have a huge terrifying effect on me, it didn’t even wet my hands... so that’s quite a long road to wetting my pants. Although, the dialog after ‘Dismembered Virgin Limbs’ with ‘...No, not the children, nooooo’ can cause a chill.

Bottom Line: The music is definitely the wheel that keeps this release rolling and if you’re still gore-hungry and the nearest cemetery is running short on corpses, Gorelord might satisfy your cravings.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10