Who would’ve thought that a German power metal band will end up penning and composing one of the best ballad’s dedicated to a story from J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic novel, Silmarillion. Power metal bands has always been quite adept at using fantasy-related subject matter as inspiration for songs and entire albums. The band Blind Guardian have pretty much made a career out of using J.R.R. Tolkien’s stories and tales as inspiration. They’ve even dedicated an entire full-length album to Middle-Earth: Nightfall in Middle-Earth.

One of the bonus tracks from Nightfall on Middle-Earth is our “Song of the Day.” It is a song based on Tolkien’s tragic tale of  Túrin Turambar as he mourns the loss of his sister Nienor. One would expect Harvest of Sorrow to be full of metal riffs and overdubbed vocals common in metal power ballads, but this is not the case in this Blind Guardian ballad. The band has instead gone renaissance folk-rock in their composition. I will say that their stylistic choice fits the song well. The song has been so popular that there are nine versions of the song. There are the seven recording variants in addition to two live versions. There are two English versions, two versions in Spanish, one in French and another in Italian with another a mix of all versions minus the English acoustic.

So, those who think that metal is all about sturm und drang with screaming and guttural noises will be in for a surprise to know that they can also be quite subtle in the music they make. Harvest of Sorrow is a fine example and quite easy to sing-along to. Just pull up a chair at the table, grab a stein of ale or a horn full of mead and sing-along using the lyrics provided.

Harvest of sorrow

She is gone leaves are falling down
The tear maiden will not return
The seal of oblivion is broken
And a pure love’s been turned into sin

Harvest of sorrow, your seed is grown
In a frozen world full of cries
When the ray of light shrinks
Shall cold winter nights begin