Heroic and storytelling, heavy but still playful and sophisticatedly structured, that‘s how you can describe Epic Metal. This style often expresses itself in songs that crack the usual four or five minutes playing time. Its definition has changed within the last few years and is often used for groups that are more in line with Symphonic Metal, and often „female fronted“. But, dyed-in-the-wool fans from the very start disagree with this change of definition. This compilation contains the original style of epic heavy metal and shows that it is more single tracks that meet the definition of this term and that there are only very few bands that play this style exclusively. At a first glance some names might surprise you, but also acts like Griffin, Jaguar or Witchfynde had their epic moments. The seventies heroes Wishbone Ash also fit in, as they actually acted as pioneers. The fact that Manilla Road introduces and finishes this CD is simply as we are talking about a compilation dedicated to Epic Metal! Included forgotten pearls are the tracks by Viron and Economist, as well as the heroic „Dust In The Wind“ by the band Sudden Death from Berlin and the elaborately structured „Control The World“ by Tempest, the eternal insider tip of the German metal underground. „The Epic Side Of Metal“ shows that Epic Metal has nothing to do with bombast and pompous melodies, but is often „that one song“ from one band on 79 minutes. The booklet includes interesting liner notes with info and pictures of each band.
