Blind+guardian

Complete with anthemic choruses, spoken word story lines, and plenty of bombastic power metal punctuating every dramatic turn, Nightfall in Middle-Earth is perhaps Blind Guardian's most triumphant effort. After spending ten years and numerous releases building a large following in Europe and Japan, Blind Guardian took on the task of creating this progressive concept record based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Silmarillion. The story recounts events from the first age of Middle-Earth, Tolkien's parallel world that serves as the mythological backdrop for his classic Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Blind Guardian interpretation features bassist/vocalist Hansi Kürsch's first-person character portrayals and narrations of the medieval quest for truth and glory…

Over the years, metal has demonstrated that it can be quite flexible, incorporating everything from punk (thrash metal, death metal, black metal) to hip-hop (rap-metal) to goth-rock (gothic metal) to traditional European folk (folk-metal). And on At the Edge of Time, Blind Guardian's influences range from Euro-folk to classical to progressive rock; the end result is a fairly diverse album, which is not to say that the disc is groundbreaking by 21st century standards. These German power metal/progressive metal veterans have been around since the mid-'80s, and whether they are being influenced by Euro-classical or Euro-folk, At the Edge of Time maintains a stubbornly pre-'90s outlook - both musically and lyrically. The lyrics are strictly fantasy-based, as were so many pre-‘90s metal lyrics - and when they incorporate Euro-folk on occasion, they don't do it in the black metal-ish or death metal-ish way that, say, Finntroll do…

Somewhere Far Beyond has all the elements of classic Blind Guardian: fantasy and horror-story tracks inspired by the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien and Stephen King; speedy double-bass riffing; and searing melodic vocals punctuated by anthemic group choruses. Bassist/vocalist Hansi Kürsch seems to possess several different voices, which serve his band's dynamic purposes well. From regal tales of dragon warfare ("The Bard's Song: The Hobbit,") to minstrel ballads ("The Bard's Song: In the Forest,") to Blind Guardian's trademark early-'90s speed metal matrix of hyper riffs and melodic multi-voiced choruses ("Journey Through the Dark," "Ashes to Ashes," and "Somewhere Far Beyond,") every pompous, excessive base is covered…

Follow the Blind is the second full-length album from the German metal band Blind Guardian. It was released in 1989 and is more in the vein of speed metal, compared to the style that would later define the band's unique sound. According to guitarist Marcus Siepen, "When we were doing Follow the Blind we were listening to a lot of thrash metal bands like Testament or Forbidden, and that's why Follow the Blind was a bit heavier".[6] The album was remastered, remixed and re-released on 15 June 2007, with the whole second demo tape, Battalions of Fear, of the band (at the time called Lucifer's Heritage) as part of the bonus tracks.

Tales from the Twilight World is the third studio album by Blind Guardian, released in 1990 by Blind Guardian. The cover artwork was created by Andreas Marschall, who has drawn the artwork for some of Blind Guardian's other releases (Somewhere Far Beyond, Nightfall in Middle-Earth, etc.). It was remastered and re-released on 15 June 2007, with bonus tracks.