Nightfall in Middle-Earth by Blind Guardian

Nightfall in Middle-Earth is the sixth full-length studio album by German power metal band Blind Guardian. It was released on April 28, 1998, through Virgin Records. It is a concept album based upon J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion, a book of tales from the First Age of Middle-earth, recounting the War of the Jewels. The album contains not only songs but also spoken parts narrating parts of the story. The cover represents Lúthien dancing in front of Morgoth. It is widely regarded as one of Blind Guardian's most well-known and well-received albums in their discography. It is also the first album with Oliver Holzwarth as guest musician, playing bass guitar instead of Hansi Kürsch. Nightfall in Middle-Earth was the first album by Blind Guardian to be released in the US. The sales encouraged Century Media to release their entire back catalog in the US in 2007, at which point it was remastered and re-released, with an added bonus track.