The Guardian a 01

The 1980s were a special decade for metal, where the genre was specially more open-minded and inventive. Acts such as Queensrÿche and Crimson Glory took metal to realms it was completely new to, and their sound was very influential for many modern musicians. As a logical consequence of that evolution, other bands seized the roots of that metal-esque songwriting and delved further into what their forefathers did, adding some uniqueness and searching deeper for a less accessible sound. That was the dawn of the sub-genre we all know now as progressive-metal…

Blind Guardian emerged from western Germany in the mid-'80s with a style that fused gothic- and fantasy-tinged European power metal with the velocity and technical precision of speed metal. Since debuting in 1988 with the thrashy and raw Battalions of Fear, the band has become an institution in power, progressive, and neo-classical metal circles, delivering genre classics Nightfall in Middle-Earth (1998), A Night at the Opera (2002), and A Twist in the Myth (2006), plus orchestral works such as Legacy of the Dark Lands (2019) that skillfully pair fantastical narratives with ace musicianship.