Blind Guardian

Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian in Malmö, Sweden, September 21, 2006. L-R: Olbrich, Ehmke, Kürsch, Siepen, Schüren, Holzwarth
Background information
Origin	Krefeld, Germany
Genres	Power metal, progressive metal, speed metal
Years active	1984–present
Labels	No Remorse, Virgin, Century Media, Nuclear Blast
Associated acts	Demons & Wizards, Gamma Ray, Helloween, Iced Earth, Iron Savior, Savage Circus, Schattentantz, Power Quest
Website	Official website
Members
Hansi Kürsch André Olbrich Marcus Siepen Frederik Ehmke
Past members
Thomas "Thomen" Stauch Markus Dörk Christof Theißen Hans-Peter Frey

Blind Guardian are a German heavy metal band formed in the mid-1980s in Krefeld, West Germany.^[1] They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres,^{[2] [3]} Blind Guardian is a part of the German heavy metal scene that emerged in the mid-1980's.

The band's lyrics, written by vocalist Hansi Kürsch, are inspired by the fiction of fantasy authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, Stephen King, and Michael Moorcock, as well as traditional legends and epics^[4]. Over the years, a running theme has developed associating the band members with travelling bards.

Biography

Blind Guardian formed in 1984 in Krefeld, Germany, by Hansi Kürsch (vocals, bass) and Andre Olbrich (guitar) under the name Lucifer's Heritage. The band first released two demos in 1985 and 1986, despite undergoing chaotic lineup changes: Markus Dörk (guitar) and Thomen Stauch (drums) were replaced by Christof Theißen and Hans-Peter Frey, respectively. Finally, in 1987, Marcus Siepen joined and Thomen came back to form the lineup which would stay consistent for the next 18 years.

After Lucifer's Heritage signed a contract with No Remorse Records, the band changed their name to Blind Guardian to avoid any speculations about Satanism (in a bio it was stated that they also wanted to distance themselves from the black metal movement, as their demos were placed in with black metal albums at local record shops). They released their debut album Battalions of Fear in 1988, which was essentially a speed metal album heavily influenced by Helloween.^[5] These two German bands had close ties, and Helloween founder Kai Hansen made a guest appearance on Blind Guardian's second LP, Follow the Blind (1989), where the band revealed some thrash metal influence.^[6][7] Their third LP, Tales from the Twilight World (1990), had a much more melodic and "epic" feeling, with usage of choir and classical music influence.

Blind Guardian signed with Virgin Records in 1991, and released their fourth studio album Somewhere Far Beyond in 1992 the live album Tokyo Tales in 1993. Flemming Rasmussen, former Metallica producer, began working with the band in 1994, producing their fifth studio album Imaginations from the Other Side, released in 1995, and The Forgotten Tales, an album that contained half covers and half original work, released in 1996.

In 1998, Blind Guardian released their epic album Nightfall in Middle-Earth. "Complete with anthemic choruses, spoken word story lines, and plenty of bombastic power metal punctuating every dramatic turn", says Allmusic's Vincent Jeffries, "Nightfall in Middle-Earth is perhaps Blind Guardian's most triumphant".^[8] A concept album based on J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion^[4], Blind Guardian's music demonstrated some folk rock influence, but also featured heavy use of Queen-style layered backing vocals. Since Nightfall, bass guitar has been played by sessional member Oliver Holzwarth, and Hansi has been able to devote all his attention to singing. Nightfall was also the last Blind Guardian album produced by Rasmussen.

A Night at the Opera, named after the Queen album, was released four years later. On this album, the band's sound lacked almost all influence of their original speed metal. Power and progressive metal abound, with over the top orchestral backing and a consistent vocal and guitar layering throughout.^[9] Though not a true concept album, many of the lyrics dealt with the common themes of religion and relations between human and divine powers. It was followed by a live album in 2003 and a DVD, Imaginations Through the Looking Glass (2004), which was the last recorded Blind Guardian material to feature Thomen Stauch on drums. He left the band due to musical differences and was replaced by Frederik Ehmke. The first album with Ehmke was A Twist in the Myth, which came out in 2006.

Blind Guardian recently participated in the soundtrack for the In the Name of the King: a Dungeon Siege Tale fantasy movie (Uwe Boll), which came out in 2008.^[10] The band also recorded a theme song for Sacred 2 Fallen Angel RPG video game, the prequel to Sacred.^[11]

A Voice in the Dark was the next single from Blind Guardian that was released 25 June 2010. On July 30th, 2010 the album followed, called At the Edge of Time. The band started a tour that would be in 2010/2011 a later they were announced that they would play at Wacken Open Air i 2011.

Musical style

Blind Guardian with the band's definitive scenery in background

Blind Guardian's first two albums, Battalions of Fear and Follow the Blind, were more in the style of speed metal than their following works. Beginning with their third album Tales from the Twilight World, Blind Guardian gradually began to write more complicated compositions focusing less on speed. As of their sixth album, Nightfall in Middle Earth, Hansi stopped playing bass to focus on singing. At this point the band began to incorporate large amounts of orchestral arrangements, and utilized the technique of overdubbing, heavily influenced by the English rock band Queen.^[12]

Blind Guardian's music features the staccato guitars and double bass drumming characteristic of power metal, as well as the use of overdubs and numerous backing vocals to create a dense sound. This technique, especially notable in the guitar and vocal tracks, creates the impression of a vast army of musicians playing in unison and singing in harmony. This proved significant on all albums after the first two but most particularly on A Night at the Opera.

Another definitive feature of Blind Guardian music is frequent use of folk tunes and instruments, especially in power ballads such as A Past and Future Secret, Skalds and Shadows, Curse My Name the minstrel , among others.

Side projects

Along with Jon Schaffer, the leader and founder of Iced Earth, Kürsch is a member of Demons & Wizards, where he is the lead singer.

Blind Guardian have been working on and off for eight years on an orchestral project writing music about The Lord of the Rings (negotiations failed to be included on the famous The Lord of the Rings film trilogy as the soundtrack, because the band wanted to concentrate on their next album). Although it will not be a power metal album, it will be published under the name of Blind Guardian because it matches the theme of the band's lyrics, according to Hansi^[13] and André.^[14]

Line-up

Current members

• Hansi Kürsch – Lead vocals (1984–), Bass guitar (1984–1996)
• André Olbrich – Lead guitar (1984–)
• Marcus Siepen – Rhythm guitar (1987–)
• Frederik Ehmke – Drums, Percussion, Flute and Bagpipes (2005–)

With:

• Oliver Holzwarth – Bass guitar (Sessional Member) (1997–)
• Michael Schüren – keyboards, Grand piano (Sessional Member) (1997–)

• Pat Bender – Keyboards, Sound effects (Sessional Member) (2002–)
• Thomas Hackmann – Backing vocals (1990–)
• Olaf Senkbeil - Backing vocals (1998–)

Former members

• Thomas "Thomen" Stauch – Drums (1984–1985, 1987–2005)
• Mathias Wiesner – keyboards, effects (studio) (1989–2002)
• Markus Dörk – Guitars (Lucifer's Heritage) (1984–1985)
• Christof Theißen – Rhythm guitar (Lucifer's Heritage) (1986)
• Hans-Peter Frey – Drums (Lucifer's Heritage) (1986)

Guest musicians

• Rolf Köhler – backing vocals, lead vocals (1990–2007—his death)
• Martin G. Meyer – Keyboards (2006–2008)
• Alex Holzwarth – drums (live) (2002–2003)
• Billy King – backing vocals (1992–2002)
• Boris Schmidt, Sascha Pierro – Keyboards and sound effects (2002)
• Max Zelzner – flute & alto-flute (1998)
• Norman Eshley, Douglas Fielding – narration (1998)
• Piet Sielck – guitar, backing vocals, effects (1990–1996)
• Kalle Trapp – backing vocals, lead vocals, lead guitar (1990–1996)
• Otto Sidenius – organ (1996)
• Stefan Will – piano (1992–1996)
• Jacob Moth – acoustic guitar on (1996)
• Ronnie Atkins, Aman Malek – backing vocals (1996)
• Kai Hansen – lead vocals, guitar solos, backing vocals (1989–1992)
• Peter Rübsam – Scottish and Irish bagpipes (1992)
• Niko Trznadl – bass (live) (1988)
• Thomas Kelleners – vocals (Lucifer's Heritage) (1984)

Discography

• Battalions of Fear (1988)
• Follow the Blind (1989)
• Tales from the Twilight World (1990)
• Somewhere Far Beyond (1992)
• Imaginations from the Other Side (1995)
• Nightfall in Middle-Earth (1998)
• A Night at the Opera (2002)
• A Twist in the Myth (2006)
• At the Edge of Time (2010)

References

External links

• Official website
• Blind Guardian at MySpace
• Blind Guardian discography at MusicBrainz