BLIND GUARDIAN

All posts tagged BLIND GUARDIAN

BLIND GUARDIAN Announce ‘The God Machine’ Tour for 2023

Posted by tarjavirmakari on November 25, 2022
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: . Leave a comment
Credits: Dirk Behlau

After their triumphant return to stage with their Somewhere Far Beyond Tour this year, the breathtaking story of BLIND GUARDIAN’s latest masterpiece The God Machine goes on. Today, the German metal legends have announced a string of tour dates for 2023, so they can present these new songs to their hungry audience, showing fans the likes of ‘Deliver Us From Evil’, leading them to the ‘Violent Shadows’ and introducing them to the ’Secrets of the American Gods’.

Starting their journey on September 22nd in Saarbrücken, Germany, BLIND GUARDIAN will kick off for a run of spectacular shows in autumn and winter 2023.   

Singer Hansi Kürsch states:
“We are so excited to announce these first shows for next year‘s „The God Machine Tour“. There is certainly more to come. Don’t miss pure magic when the Guardian comes to town.  Or in the words of the one and only David Bowie: The God Machine is coming down and we’re gonna have a party! Who am I to deny it? It is about time.”

Tickets for Germany are now on sale, find first tour dates below:

22.09. DE Saarbrücken, Garage 
23.09. DE Frankfurt, Batschkapp 
28.09. DE Berlin, Huxleys 
29.09. DE Stuttgart, Liederhalle Beethoven
30.09. DE Lichtenfels, Stadthalle 
02.10. DE Cologne, E-Werk 
03.10. IT Milan, Alcatraz 
04.10. IT Rom, Atlantico 
13.10. DE Hamburg, Große Freiheit 
14.10. DE Dresden, Alter Schlachthof 
15.10. DE Oberhausen, Turbinenhalle 
16.10. DE Munich, Backstage 
18.10. AT Vienna, Gasometer 
20.10. DE Coesfeld, Fabrik 
21.10. DE Osnabrück, Hyde Park 

The God Machine marks another pinnacle in BLIND GUARDIAN’s impressive discography by not attempting to pretend it is still the nineties yet instead successfully relying on the muscle memory of this period. It is a gripping, addictive and brilliantly arranged album in the tradition of records with which BLIND GUARDIAN reached for the stars in the 90’s; yet, by no means, is it a throwback. The God Machine represents the heart and soul of BLIND GUARDIAN’s timeless metal in the here and now, unifying the bards’ past, present and future secrets in one consistent, well thought out masterpiece. 

Order the album here: http://nblast.de/BG-TheGodMachine

BLIND GUARDIAN Release New Video for ‘Architects Of Doom’, New Album Out Now

Posted by tarjavirmakari on September 2, 2022
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: . Leave a comment
Credits: Dirk Behlau

Today is the day that the ‘Secrets Of The American Gods’ are finally revealed, the call of the ‘Blood Of The Elves’ will be answered and a mysterious creature finally takes its first steps: BLIND GUARDIAN‘s latest epos The God Machine comes to life.

With nine stunning tracks under its wing, the twelfth BLIND GUARDIAN album has already received a lot of praise from media and fans prior to its release – including features, cover stories and top reviews in prominent magazines such as METAL HAMMER, ROCK HARD, etc.  

To celebrate this new milestone in the band’s already impressive career, BLIND GUARDIAN present a video for their track ‘Architects Of Doom’. The latest chapter of The God Machine is a truly hypnotizing experience that can be watched here:

Singer Hansi Kürsch states:
“Happy Release Day!
Finally, finally, the day has come. Good things come to those who wait… I can not imagine ever longing that intensely for a release date. You are hopefully already holding that masterpiece in your hands, assuring yourself that we didn’t exaggerate with all our praise beforehand. No fillers, just killers! The God Machine is a wholesome BLIND GUARDIAN album that will sweeten your coming months, even years. It’s served, bon appétit!
 The God Machine features classic speed metal anthems, epic bangers and ‘Architects Of Doom’! This song is an epic wrecking ball at its finest. In my opinion, this is the best and most outstanding track of the whole record. Reinvention or a return to ancient virtues, that’s the question.”

The God Machine marks another pinnacle in BLIND GUARDIAN’s impressive discography by not attempting to pretend it is still the nineties yet instead successfully relying on the muscle memory of this period. It is a gripping, addictive and brilliantly arranged album in the tradition of records with which BLIND GUARDIAN reached for the stars in the 90’s; yet, by no means, is it a throwback. The God Machine represents the heart and soul of BLIND GUARDIAN’s timeless metal in the here and now, unifying the bards’ past, present and future secrets in one consistent, well thought out masterpiece.

Order the album here: http://nblast.de/BG-TheGodMachine

BLIND GUARDIAN live:

02.09. DE Saarbrücken – Garage
03.09. DE Memmingen – Kaminwerk
04.09. CH Pratteln – Z7
05.09. DE Frankfurt am Main – Batschkapp
06.09. DE Stuttgart – KA
08.09. DE München – Backstage
09.09. DE Dresden – Alter Schlachthof
10.09. DE Neuruppin – Kulturhaus
11.09. DE Berlin – Huxleys Neue Welt
13.09. DE Oberhausen – Turbinenhalle
14.09. DE Köln – E-Werk
16.09. DE Osnabrück – Hyde Park
17.09. DE Osnabrück – Hyde Park
10.-17.10. ES Barca Trencada – Full Metal Holiday @ Iberostar Club Cala Barca
12.10. NL Sittard – Poppodium Volt
13.10. DE Hamburg – edel-optics.de-Arena

BLIND GUARDIAN Singer Hansi Kürsch Says Their New Album is Angry, Intense & Aggressive

Posted by tarjavirmakari on August 1, 2022
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon from The Metal Voice recently spoke to lead singer of Blind Guardian Hansi Kürsch about the bands upcoming studio album ‘The God Machine’ , which will be released on Sept 2, 2022 via Nuclear Blast.

Tell us about the cover art on the new album by Peter Mohrbacher
“We were just simply blown away when we saw the artwork. It was very suitable for the music. We needed something connected to mythology, philosophy, religion and also computer games and it is all planted into that artwork, the artist is a genius and we feel it would be the next step. We didn’t feel it was so far away from what we usually do, maybe a little more intense and other than that we were so convinced it would fit the purpose. This angel is organic but still it also has an artificial approach and this is what we are also dealing with in the lyrics. There are a lot of deities and future stuff.”

Tell us about a few of the lyrical themes on the album
“The song ‘Architects of Doom’ is about the cycle of violence. The lyrics were related to the new series (latest Battlestar Galactica series) because of the intensity that the series had. The song ‘Destiny’ is related to Hans Christian Andersen (writer) and the Ice Maiden (novel). It is an obsessive song, a fragile song but still threatening somehow. The Ice Maiden is about obsession. I wanted to have a sort of love story and Hans Christian Andersen is the best storyteller. He just is so great at inventing stories and there is always that deeper sense that goes along with it. It’s about the cold obsession of love. The results are just fatal at least for one party. The song ‘Let it be no more’ was a long process in creating this one we worked on it at the end of 2018 to 2019. It was when my mother passed away and that had an impact on the vocals and on the melody lines, especially in the verses. It’s about loss in general and what loss means to those who are left behind and those who depart and that was also related to the TV series, ‘The Leftovers’ which gave it an additional depth.”

Tell us about the musical direction of this album compared to the last ones
” The intensity is extremely high, more of the let your hair down then the bombastic side even though there are some bombastic moments. It would say it is the back to the roots album because there are a lot of new elements in there but it has the intensity in what we did in the 90’s. If we speak about aggression maybe it’s our most aggressive one (album) and the only other albums that come close to it are ‘Imaginations from the other side’ and ‘Follow the blind’. I think the two years (lockdown) that we all had, had an impact on the album. We started the production when the pandemic really started and that had an impact on the lyrics, performance and the music. We were all frustrated and we wanted to let the anger just go, let loose. It’s an angry album. This album is complete, for us once the album is complete it is the best album, there is no doubt about it and sometimes he have been proven wrong because the fans did not feel the same way. With this one it is so complete, it’s so defined that I would think that most of the Blind Guardian fans will fall in love with it. We also had a good amount of songs which we did not finally put on the album and we did not even work on during the production because we found our way with the songs which are on the album and we never left that path.”

When asked if the band went far enough with Orchestrations and now it’s time to go back to basics?
“Everyone in the band has a slightly different perspective. For me there was a necessity to just let go, After we finished ‘the Legacy of the Dark lands’ album’ I did not feel the urge to back back there again. It was time for a new starting point, for a new era. For me it felt like going home (new Album) or getting home, with distorted guitars and having a band accompany me. I also felt like if there was something bad about the ‘Legacy of the Dark Lands’ or ‘Beyond the Red mirror’ , it was that the band does not shine enough, there is so much going on, there is so much information and this takes away attention from the band members. For me from the beginning I wanted to make an album that just features the band. When we discussed it everyone in the band was on the same page even though I believe that André Olbrich would like to do another orchestrated album, for me that is not what I want to do within the next 5 years.”

The cover artwork for the CD was designed by Peter Mohrbacher and can be seen below.

Tracklist:
1. Deliver Us from Evil 5:21
2. Damnation 5:20
3. Secrets of the American Gods 7:28
4. Violent Shadows 4:17
5. Life Beyond the Spheres 6:02
6. Architects of Doom 6:20
7. Let It Be No More 4:48
8. Blood of the Elves 4:37
9. Destiny 6:46

BLIND GUARDIAN Release New Single ‘Violent Shadows’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on July 29, 2022
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: . Leave a comment
Credits: Dirk Behlau

With today’s single release, German metal giants BLIND GUARDIAN throw ‘Violent Shadows’ on these hot summer days. In this pulsing track, the band delivers another epic track foreshadowing the release of their new album The God Machine – out on September 2nd via Nuclear Blast Records.  ‘Violent Shadows’ is an onslaught of thrashy riffs and relentless drumming, presenting itself as one of the most straight forward bangers of the album.

The song is supported by a performance video impressively capturing the band’s live charisma. Serving as a perfect appetizer for BLIND GUARDIAN‘s live shows this summer and autumn, check out the video here:

Singer Hansi Kürsch states:
“Since our WWW Virtual Wacken Performance, Violent Shadows threw a massive, already overpowering shade on the expectations of ‘The God Machine’. We were pretty aware of the effects that the number would develop. The message is quite clear in my opinion: We’re able to go straight forward! With the single release you get a very concise impression of the album’s precision and intensity. Just one more thing: Everybody who thinks that the wait for the remaining five songs isn’t worth it, is completely wrong! Every single song is a firework and shines even brighter in context. Remember my words, enjoy ‘Violent Shadows’ and pre-order The God Machine. Today, September 2nd’s already yesterday.” 

The God Machine marks another pinnacle in BLIND GUARDIAN’s impressive discography by not attempting to pretend it is still the nineties yet instead successfully relying on the muscle memory of this period. It is a gripping, addictive and brilliantly arranged album in the tradition of records with which BLIND GUARDIAN reached for the stars in the 90’s; yet, by no means, is it a throwback. The God Machine represents the heart and soul of BLIND GUARDIAN’s timeless metal in the here and now, unifying the bards’ past, present and future secrets in one consistent, well thought out masterpiece.

Pre-order the album here: http://nblast.de/BG-TheGodMachine

BLIND GUARDIAN live:

31.07. UK Durham – Dominion Festival
05.08. ES Villena (Alicante) – Leyendas del Rock XV
07.08. RO Râșnov – Rockstadt Extreme Fest
19.08. DE Giessen – Giessener Kultursommer
20.08. DE Dinkelsbühl – Summer Breeze Festival
02.09. DE Saarbrücken – Garage
03.09. DE Memmingen – Kaminwerk
04.09. CH Pratteln – Z7
05.09. DE Frankfurt am Main – Batschkapp
06.09. DE Stuttgart – KA
08.09. DE München – Backstage
09.09. DE Dresden – Alter Schlachthof
10.09. DE Neuruppin – Kulturhaus
11.09. DE Berlin – Huxleys Neue Welt
13.09. DE Oberhausen – Turbinenhalle
14.09. DE Köln – E-Werk
16.09. DE Osnabrück – Hyde Park
17.09. DE Osnabrück – Hyde Park
10.-17.10. ES Barca Trencada – Full Metal Holiday @ Iberostar Club Cala Barca
12.10. NL Sittard – Poppodium Volt
13.10. DE Hamburg – edel-optics.de-Arena

BLIND GUARDIAN Release New Single ‘Blood Of The Elves’, New Album “The God Machine” Out September 2nd

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 27, 2022
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: . Leave a comment
Credits: Dirk Behlau

A distant mechanical sound is getting louder from afar and heralds the arrival of exciting happenings – throwing their shadows on this fateful day of September 2nd. It’s the day that the metal legend BLIND GUARDIAN will release their eleventh studio album The God Machine via Nuclear Blastand errects a new monument of their outstanding career.

Hansi Kürsch about it: “We didn’t want to rehash our qualities from 1995, but didn’t want to continue down this complex path forever either. ‘The God Machine’ is a new beginning for us. We’ve set a new course and gone back to certain things that we’ve neglected a bit on the last few albums.”

The God Machine marks another pinnacle in BLIND GUARDIAN’s impressive discography by not attempting to pretend it is still the nineties yet instead successfully relying on the muscle memory of this period. It is a gripping, addictive and brilliantly arranged album in the tradition of records with which BLIND GUARDIAN reached for the stars in the 90’s; yet, by no means, is it a throwback. The God Machine represents the heart and soul of BLIND GUARDIAN’s timeless metal in the here and now, unifying the bards’ past, present and future secrets in one consistent, well thought out masterpiece.

Pre-order the album here: http://nblast.de/BG-TheGodMachine

Together with the announcement, the band shares a video for their new raging single ‘Blood Of The Elves’, a galloping anthem that is destined to become a live staple.

Singer Hansi Kürsch comments:
“‘Blood Of The Elves’ features a pretty heavy side what the avid fan of BLIND GUARDIAN hopefully enjoys well. More than well, I’d guess. Instrumentally, the tracks has some kind of an early Nineties appeal that blends well into the vocal parts of the opera/twist era and catapults both epochs into a new era for the band. A perfect hybrid. The chorus has some very strong sing along vibes, despite its complexity. What else do you need? Inspired by the ‘The Witcher’ computer game series, the lyrics even reinforce the power of this banger and the clip by Dirk Behlau fits perfectly to the whole setting. Let me tell you: ‘The God Machine’ has even more to offer. And that’s no promise – that’s the ultimate truth. Stay tuned.”

BLIND GUARDIAN live:

04.06. DE Gelsenkirchen – Rockhard Festival
11.06. ES Zamora – Z! Live Rock Fest 2022
23.06. CZ Spálené Poříčí – Basinfire Festival
24.06. IT Verona – Rock the Castle
25.06. FR Clisson – Hellfest
01.07. ES Barcelona – Rock Fest Barcelona
14.07. AT Leoben – AREA 53 Open Air 2022
15.07. DE Neukirchen-Vluyn – Dong Open Air
16.07. LX Esch-sur-Alzette – Rockhal
21.07. GR Athens – Release Athens 2022
31.07. UK Durham – Dominion Festival
05.08. ES Villena (Alicante) – Leyendas del Rock XV
07.08. RO Râșnov – Rockstadt Extreme Fest
19.08. DE Giessen – Giessener Kultursommer
20.08. DE Dinkelsbühl – Summer Breeze Festival
02.09. DE Saarbrücken – Garage
03.09. DE Memmingen – Kaminwerk
04.09. CH Pratteln – Z7
05.09. DE Frankfurt am Main – Batschkapp
06.09. DE Stuttgart – KA
08.09. DE München – Backstage
09.09. DE Dresden – Alter Schlachthof
10.09. DE Neuruppin – Kulturhaus
11.09. DE Berlin – Huxleys Neue Welt
13.09. DE Oberhausen – Turbinenhalle
14.09. DE Köln – E-Werk
16.09. DE Osnabrück – Hyde Park
17.09. DE Osnabrück – Hyde Park
10.-17.10. ES Barca Trencada – Full Metal Holiday @ Iberostar Club Cala Barca
12.10. NL Sittard – Poppodium Volt
13.10. DE Hamburg – edel-optics.de-Arena

BLIND GUARDIAN Release New Single + Video ‘Secrets Of The American Gods’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on March 18, 2022
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: . Leave a comment
Credits: Dirk Behlau

Mysteries darken the sky these days and only the bravest dare to lift the veil between the mere mortals and ominous forces lurking in the night: BLIND GUARDIAN trackened down the “Secrets Of The American Gods” and reveal their eponymous new single today! 

The powerful, majestic new track comes with a performance video that was filmed during the recordings for the band’s new album in the Twilight Hall Studios between March 2020 and 2021. Once again, the masterfully arranged artwork for the single was created by Andrea Christen.

Singer Hansi Kürsch comments:
“The time has come to unveal another secret: With ‘Secrets Of The American Gods’, we proudly present you the epic side of our new album that’s going to be released in September. This single edit focuses on the essence of this magnificent composition and gives you an insight into our creative work in these eventful times. The vivid construction of this song circles around its core, the monumental chorus – hopefully the “American Gods” worthy. A thoroughly felicitious ear candy, in my opinion. I promise you, it’s not easy to get rid of the refrain. The tracks gets completed with the fantastic making-of-clip that Dirk Behlau created. Enjoy the moment and keep the secret: Be assured that we still haven’t played all our cards and still have some aces up our sleeves. Maybe no additional secrets but celestial surprises. Stay tuned!”

Stream the new track: https://blindguardian.bfan.link/secrets-of-the-american-gods

BLIND GUARDIAN live:
07.05 DK Copenhagen – Nordic Noise Festival
09.06. ES Salamanca – Z! Live Rock Fest 2022
23.-26.06. CZ Spalene Porici – Basinfire Festival
24.06. IT Verona – Rock the Castle
25.06. FR Clisson – Hellfest
26.06. NL Sittard – Poppodium Volt
01.07. ES Barcelona – Rock Fest
14.07. AT Leoben – Area 53 Open Air
14.-16.07 LUX Esch-sur-Alzette – Rockhal
21.07. GR Athens – Release Athens
05.08. ES Villena – Leyendas del Rock XV
07.08. RU Rasnov – Rockstadt Extreme Fest
19.08. DE Gliessen – Giessener Kultursommer
20.08. DE Dinkelsbühl – Summer Breeze Festival
02.09. DE Saarbrücken – Garage
03.09. DE Memmingen – Kaminwerk (Ausverkauft)
04.09. CH Pratteln – Z7
05.09. DE Frankfurt – Batschkapp (Ausverkauft)
06.09. DE Stuttgart – LKA (Ausverkauft)
08.09. DE München – Backstage (Ausverkauft)
09.09. DE Dresden – Schlachthof
10.09. DE Neuruppin – Kulturhaus
11.09. DE Berlin – Huxleys
13.09. DE Oberhausen – Turbinenhalle
14.09. DE Köln – E-Werk (Ausverkauft)
16.09. DE Osnabrück – Hyde Park (Ausverkauft)
17.09. DE Osnabrück – Hyde Park
13.10. DE Hamburg – Edel-Optics-Arena