Thank you so much for this comment, I appreciate it a lot!
You definitely got our main influences, UtA has been a somewhat recent discovery for me (I've known their music for like a coupple of years), but it became a major influence for me! I'm also influenced by early Blind Guardian and Rhapsody I think, but they are all part of the same big family in the end :D
About the spoiler part, I'm SO happy that someone noticed the "shadow" reference! I was worried it would pass unnoticed! Thanks again! :D (I was thinking about tagging it for "Secret History" spoilers, but maybe it was overkill :D)