The album features the concepts and themes familiar to Blind Guardian fans, such as historical battles and religious references. • "Precious Jerusalem" is based on the final days of
Jesus of Nazareth and his
temptation in the desert. • "Battlefield" is based on
Song of Hildebrandt, an old German tale of a father and son who find themselves in a duel to the death. • "Under the Ice" has connections to the
Iliad, focuses on
Cassandra and what happened to her after the
Trojan War, particularly from
The Oresteia. • "Sadly Sings Destiny" is based on the religious aspect of the Messiah in the Old Testament, and tells of the
crucifixion of Jesus from the point of view of a character who reluctantly helps fulfil the prophecy, by doing such things as building the
True Cross and weaving the
Crown of Thorns. • "The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight" is based on an episode from the story of
Tristan und Isolde. • "Wait for an Answer" allegorically concerns the
Nazi propaganda machine. • "Age of False Innocence" is about
Galileo Galilei. • "Punishment Divine" is about
Friedrich Nietzsche's decline into insanity where he imagines himself being judged by a court of saints. • "
And Then There Was Silence" is about
Cassandra's visions of the coming
Trojan War. It was inspired by Homer's
Iliad and
Odyssey and Virgil's
Aeneid. • "Harvest of Sorrow" is based on
Tolkien's tragic story of
Túrin Turambar, which appears in the
Silmarillion. == Track listing ==