Review By Dustin Griffin

Busting out of the confining walls of their high school halls in 1992 when the members were all just the tender age of fourteen, Edguy is a power metal band from Germany. Edguy may not be a household name in North America, but in Europe and Asia, they have sold millions (yes, millions) of records over the past seventeen years and amassed an army of followers who feed hungrily off of the band’s throwback metal that will take anyone who knows right back to the long haired, tight clothed 80’s. Like watching Top Gun.

‘Space Police: Defenders of the Crown’ is the band’s tenth studio album (if you don’t include their self released record and demo tape EP’s) and is promised by songwriter/vocalist Tobias Sammet to be the band’s heaviest record to date.

Looking like the cover of a graphic novel or an 80’s Atari video game, the image that graces the cover of ‘Space Police’ is both amazingly poignant and hilariously unfitting a release from a band that sounds like the love child of Judas Priest and Van Halen at the top of their games. It is completely fitting of this particular band however. A look back at their discography unveils some of the greatest cover art ever imagined in the genre: ‘Age of the Joker’, ‘Rocket To Ride’, ‘Savage Poetry’ and ‘Theater of Salvation’ are all incredibly detailed and imaginative album covers that probably have less to do with the content of the record’s than with the band’s sense of humour and penchant for extravagance. But what else could you expect of such a band? Particularly one who have called themselves, on more than one occasion, the ‘saviours of heavy metal.’

The cover art was done by Dan Frazier, a very talented man whose art is surely familiar to basement dwelling nerds the world over. Frazier is a former university professor who has created art for role playing games like Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons. He also designed Edguy’s ‘Age of the Joker’ album cover.

When I look at ‘Space Police’ I don’t see an album I want to listen to, I see a movie I want to watch. A cheesy, Roger Corman-esque 70’s exploitation movie. The kind that you’d find playing on 42nd Street in New York City back in the day and that cost less than your iPhone to make.

And that is what would encourage me to give the record a spin, no matter my personal taste in music. Because a band that would put that cool of an image on their album cover, is a band I want to check out. Whether they’re singing about giant insects, space invaders and big breasted vixens or not. (Of course, it would be a bonus if they were).  www.edguy.net

An older Video from Edguy that is pretty awesome.