Speed metal
Andre Olbrich
Marcus Siepen
Century Media, Nuclear Blast
Follow the Blind
Tales from the Twilight World
Somewhere Far Beyond
Imaginations from the Other Side
Nightfall in Mid-Earth
A Night at the Opera
A Twist in the Myth
Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in the 1980s. They are a great influence to the power metal and speed metal genres. The bands lyrics are written by Hansi Kürsch who prefers to base the lyrics on fantasy and epics like The Lord of the Rings and The Dark Tower.
Band Name and Origins[]
When the band first formed in 1984 they chose the name Lucifer's Heritage; however, when they were signed by No Remorse Records, they changed their name to Blind Guardian so that they wouldn't be labelled as Satanic or part of the "Black Metal" movement.
The band's first album was heavily influenced by Helloween and Metallica. The album was dubbed "speed metal" and, athough the material is speed metal, Blind Guardian wanted to progress more into power metal like Savatage.
Their most recent work is At the Edge of Time and Hansi's work in his project with Iced Earth, Demons & Wizards.
The Dark Tower[]
In Blind Guardian Hansi wrote a great deal of songs about The Dark Tower, and although the other members didn't share his passion for the series, agreed to produce some of the songs. "Carry The Blessed Home" (from A Twist in the Myth) is about Jake's Eulogy. "Somewhere Far Beyond" (from Somewhere Far Beyond) is an overview of the series.
It should also be noted that Blind Guardian has done other tributes to work by Stephen King such as "Tommyknockers" and "Guardian of the Blind" (based on It).
Hansi would go into his secondary project, Demons & Wizards, still determined to have more Dark Tower songs, four of which were produced.
Future Plans[]
The tenth Blind Guardian album, titled Beyond the Red Mirror, was released on January 30, 2015, and its first single "Twilight of the Gods" was released on December 5, 2014.