Back to Times of Splendor

Back to Times of Splendor is the full-length debut album by the German band Disillusion. It contains a concept-based story, written by Vurtox (Andy Schmidt); with each song dividing the story into separate conjoined sections (or chapters). The album received critical acclaim upon release and is considered by many to be a modern metal classic.

Back to Times of Splendor
Studio album by Disillusion
Released	April 6, 2004
Recorded	May–November, 2003 - Salvation Recording, Leipzig
Genre	Progressive metal Melodic death metal
Length	56:47
Label	Metal Blade Records
Producer	Vurtox
Disillusion chronology
The Porter (2002) Back to Times of Splendor (2004) Gloria (2006)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Obnoxious Listeners
Deliligin Daglari

Track listing

• All Songs Written By Disillusion.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"...And the Mirror Cracked"	8:27
2.	"Fall"	4:53
3.	"Alone I Stand in Fires"	6:53
4.	"Back to Times of Splendor"	14:39
5.	"A Day by the Lake"	4:53
6.	"The Sleep of Restless Hours"	17:02
Total length:		56:47

Personnel

Disillusion

• Vurtox (Andy Schmidt) − vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, orchestral arrangements
• Rajk Barthel − guitar
• Jens Maluschka − drums

Additional musicians

• Thomas Bremer − piano on "... And the Mirror Cracked"
• Matthias Schifter − fretless bass on "And the Mirror Cracked" and "A Day by the Lake"
• Denise Schneider − female voice on "Fall" and "The Sleep of Restless Hours"
• Stefan Launicke − piano intro on "Back to Times of Splendor" strings on "The Sleep of Restless Hours"
• Alex Tscholakov − drum loops and percussion on "Alone I Stand in Fires"

Production

• Recorded May through Nov. 2003 by Vurtox and Jan Stצlzel at Salvation Recording, Leipzig
• Vocals and acoustic guitars recorded by Alexander Tscholakov
• Mixed by Alexander Tscholakov, Vurtox and Disillusion during December to January 2003 at TAM Recordings
• Mastered at Mastersound Studio (Fellbach) January 2004 by Alexander Krull and Disillusion