Editing Nightfall in Middle-Earth (section)

== Reception ==

{{Music ratings
|rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name="AllMusic"/>
| rev2 = [[Sputnikmusic]]
| rev2score = 4.5/5<ref name="Sputnik"/>
| rev3 = [[Metal Storm (webzine)|Metal Storm]]
| rev3score = 7.7/10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=4612|title=Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth review|last=Ernis|date=October 1, 2007|website=[[Metal Storm (webzine)|Metal Storm]]|access-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref>
}}

The album has drawn universally positive critical acclaim since its release. Writing for Sputnikmusic, Kyle Ward said that on this album "Blind Guardian laid down their finest instrumental performance to date. Everything goes hand in hand with each other, the guitars being nearly always furiously paced and extremely melodic, but not over-the-top and cheesy like many other power metal bands out there." He singled out [[Hansi Kürsch]]'s vocals for particular praise, writing that "In every aspect and mood, Blind Guardian delivers in the vocal department. Whether the song is amazingly fast and melodic, like "Time Stands Still (at the Iron Hill)" or whether the mood is somber and slow ("The Eldar") you are sure to be hit in the face with a simply remarkable feat in terms of vocal achievement, one of the finest vocal performances I have ever seen on a metal album."<ref name="Sputnik" />

[[AllMusic]]'s Vincent Jeffries gave a similarly glowing assessment of the album, describing the album as "complete with anthemic choruses, spoken word story lines, and plenty of bombastic [[power metal]] punctuating every dramatic turn" and "perhaps Blind Guardian's most triumphant effort."<ref name="AllMusic" />

In a volume edited by Tolkien scholar [[Bradford Lee Eden]], [[Amy H. Sturgis]] writes that "although one can assume that Tolkien was not a headbanger",<ref name="Eden 2010">{{cite book |last=Eden |first=Bradford Lee |author-link=Bradford Lee Eden |title=Middle-earth Minstrel: Essays on Music in Tolkien |publisher=McFarland |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-7864-4814-2 |page=134}}</ref> she finds that in the opinion of her students, the "driving energy" of the power metal sound is appropriate for the stories: "The music conveys rage and despair, which fits lyrics such as 'The doom of the [[Noldor]] drew near/ The words of a banished king, “I swear revenge!”'"<ref name="Eden 2010"/> Sturgis adds that this facilitates discussion of [[Christianity in Middle-earth|Tolkien's Christian view]] of the [[fall of man]].<ref name="Eden 2010"/>

''[[Metal Hammer]]'' named it in its lists "The 10 Essential Symphonic Metal Albums"<ref name="metalhammerlist"/> and in "The 10 Essential Power Metal Albums".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-10-essential-power-metal-albums|title=The 10 essential power metal albums|last=Lawson|first=Dom|date=October 19, 2016|website=[[Metal Hammer]]|access-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref> ''[[Dotdash|ThoughtCo]]'' named it one of the essential power metal albums.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/essential-power-metal-albums-1759036|title=Essential Power Metal Albums|last=Marsicano|first=Dan|website=[[ThoughtCo]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029101025/https://www.thoughtco.com/essential-power-metal-albums-1759036|archive-date=October 29, 2018|access-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref>

Grimdark Magazine's C.T. Phipps called it one of his "favorite power metal band's greatest works". He states that it is told from the point of view of the Dark Lord Morgoth, with the story told both in the songs and in "little vignettes" in between. He describes the music as "not just your traditional power metal sound but there’s quite a bit of melodious, folksy Medieval sounding tunes spread between the fast guitar work."<ref name="Phipps 2022"/>