Philip A. Wickstrand is a contributing freelance writer for Metal Psalter Webzine. He spoke with vocalist Hansi Kursch of Blind Guardian on August 15, 2010, about their new album, tour plans and influences.

Since the '80s, Germany's BLIND GUARDIAN has been on a musical journey from their beginnings as purveyors of Power Thrash to Symphonic Metal kings. With the release of their tenth studio album, At the Edge of Time, they have brought their past and present together in such a way that even the most jaded of fans have been remembering why they loved BLIND GUARDIAN in the first place.

Phil: First of all, tell us a bit about the new album, At the Edge of Time.

Hansi: Well, it's a very diverse album containing ten individual songs delivering a little bit of everything, so there is a good amount of qualities which we have featured in the nineties. You might be reminded of albums like Imaginations or Nightfall in Middle Earth, as well as there is a strong approach of classical instruments like in "Sacred Worlds" or "Wheel of Time" where we, for the first time, worked with a real orchestra and I think we have done it in a very fluid and very organic way. It almost sounds like soundtrack music during these pieces. Then we have a stronger Celtic influence than we have had in the past, like "Curse My Name", for example, where we, for the first time, worked with tap dancers to get that very strong Irish folk-ish "Riverdance" feeling and well, basically, that's it - a strong album with fantasy related lyrics and I would suppose that most of the BLIND GUARDIAN fans will love the album, but I also think that regular metalheads will find it interesting, this album, because it's pure metal with very intense melodies and very intense performances.

Phil: Why did you decide to work with a real orchestra for the first time on this album?

Hansi: Well, it was necessary because of "Wheel of Time". The interaction between orchestra and band was so strong and the song really demanded the organic sound of a real performing orchestra. At the same time, we were lucky in finding the right people. Of course, we played with the idea when we did "And Then There Was Silence", but the big band… we did not have the right people to provide us with a proper score which would reflect what people are finally able to listening on the song "And Then There Was Silence", so we always skipped the idea, but now we've found a guy who easily can transfer exactly what we have composed on the computer. At the same time, we did have some… the tabs with several different orchestras, which were supposed to play in a non-orchestral way and luckily, we found the FILMharmonic Orchestra in Prague which were able to deliver that particular Oriental, sort of distorted Classical orchestra approach which we needed for the song.

Phil: Tell us about the overall song writing process for the album.

Hansi: In general, it's André and me who come up with the ideas and therefore, we both work very closely to eachother and exchange ideas over the years and over the months. This time, we were forced to start song writing right after we had finished A Twist in the Myth because we had the chance to get a spot in a computer game, for music and the soundtrack and therefore we quickly started the song writing and luckily came up with a core version of "Sacred Worlds", which has been used in the computer game which was released in 2008. After that, we just kept on song writing - we didn't have a lot of discussions in which direction to go, so it was a very natural output. The only thing we figured out before we started was that we decided to bring back in more classic, acoustic guitars in comparison to the more frequently used chorus guitars in A Twist in the Myth or A Night at the Opera. Other than that, it was just, you know, the freestyle songwriting and we put things backwards and forwards until we had a good set of songs and then André and I went to Marcus and Fredrik who came up with their particular ideas to improve the songs even and all of a sudden we did have ten potentially good songs ready for recording. Then once we start recording, it's always the same procedure and we do have a long discussion with our producer, Charlie Bauerfeind, and he tries to come up with ideas, how to make songs better or things better and he instructed us to go back and define several things a little more, like for instance, in "Wheel of Time" he instructed us to work out the orchestral approach of the song a little stronger of the Irish Folk approach in "Curse My Name". And after that was done, we just recorded the stuff.

Phil: Tell us a bit about the production process.

Hansi: That was pretty much as usual. We worked at our own studio, the Twilight Hall, which is based in Grefath, that is not too far away from where we live, it's in the west of Germany, close to the Dutch border, so there's not a lot going on, so we have all the privacy we need to accomplish an album like that. And since we were picky and very complex in terms of production, it takes awhile until we finish such a project like that At the Edge of Time album. There are many different tracks, of course. We started with the drum recordings and then tried to improve with what Fredrik came up with for the songs. After that, we constantly built up the regular setup of instruments, like, you know, rhythm guitars and bass guitars first, then we started with the first vocals, then had a great backing vocal session - it was a very enjoyable, fluent procedure, of course, with a lot of discussions. Not too much stress, I would say - everyone was pretty much aware of what he was supposed to do and everyone was confident about the songs, so it was an enjoyable time, but as usual, very productive and we worked as hard as we could. And a lot of additional elements had been involved with the songs, but in general we kept everything as it was composed in the beginning.

Phil: What would you say are your favorite tracks off the album?

Hansi: My favorite track definitely would be "Wheel of Time" because of the Oriental approach and the perfect synergy in between band and orchestra. I would also point out "Control the Divine" because it has a very strong lyrical topic inspired by Milton's "Paradise Lost". I deal with a simple question why… questioning in general is something religion does not like… the divisions in charge of do not like.

Phil: Going back to "Wheel of Time", who would be your favorite character in the series of books by Robert Jordan?

Hansi: I think it would be Rand because he's twisted. You know, he's condemned - it's not that he can do a lot about it, but it's simply a very strong protagonist and… well, he's condemned to be whatever he is and I like that.

Phil: Tell us a bit about the filming for the video for "A Voice in the Dark".

Hansi: Well, that has taken place in Belgrade, Serbia and it was our second experience with these guys; they did the video for "Another Stranger Me". When we came up with the idea for doing a video for "A Voice in the Dark", I mentioned the storyboard behind the lyrics, which were based on an inspiration I have had after reading George RR Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" and I explained the situation where the protagonist of the story of the song, you know, he's experiencing this sort of eternal downfall which only he can end up in facing the consequences or keeping on in falling by having visions. So that was the sort of storyboard I gave to the guys in Serbia and they came up with their own concept in switching that to a more Mayan oriented storyboard of having that pyramid, which is closely related to the album cover and the high priest who's going to sacrifice the young boy who's falling down and experiencing infinity during his downfall.

Phil: When can we expect another North American tour?

Hansi: Most probably I would say we will be in the USA and Canada at the end of the year, so from mid-November on to Christmas, I'd say it's fairly possible to see us somewhere on the road in North America.

Phil: Are planning on doing a little more extensive touring in the States than you have in the past or just about the same amount of dates?

Hansi: We start with the same amount of dates and then we have to take it from there because we do have a schedule set up of touring until the end of 2011 already and it's always a question where to fit in something. If we get an offer for a good support tour, like for instance, IRON MAIDEN, you know, we would definitely do it in the U.S. But coming by for a second headlining tour without a new album, I doubt this is going to make sense, but you never know.

Phil: Are you planning on having more than one support act on this tour? 'Cause I know in the past two North American tours, it's just been one support act.

Hansi: I think we changed that a little bit. We have changed that for Europe, as well and there will be more than just one support act, but as far as I can say now, it will be including BLIND GUARDIAN, three bands each evening, no more.

Phil: Nice! What would be your favorite moments in the twenty plus that you've been doing BLIND GUARDIAN?

Hansi: I would say that that would be the BLIND GUARDIAN festival which took place in 2003, when we played in front of six thousand dedicated BLIND GUARDIAN fans and did have the chance to film that two nights in a row, because the chemistry between the band and the audience has been so strong and we had had the best technical environment to present shows in a way we always want to present the band, but in many cases, it's not possible to… you know, [laughs] the financial issues this would cause. And then another very important one and probably as beloved would be our first tour in Japan, when we played our first show in Osaka, because then we had been so young and Japan was considered to be the El Dorado for any Metal band. It was such a strong impression, which we have gathered during that show that I consider that to be in the top two of my experiences.

Phil: Alright, next one is a bit of a loaded question - recommend a book for our readers that you have not based a song on yet.

Hansi: [pause] Give me a little bit of time.

Phil: Okay.

Hansi: [pause] Well, I almost had one, but [laughs] at the very last moment, I figured that I at least did a song on Follow the Blind on the first part of the story, so that probably does not really count. [pause] Give me one second.

Phil: No problem.

Hansi: Because that's a difficult one. [long pause] Okay… there was an author and I did some stuff about the Arthurian Epic and he wrote some stuff about the Arthurian Epic. Nonetheless, he's more known for historical writings about British history and this one is about Henry V.

Phil: How many books do you think you read in on average in a year?

Hansi: In a year? Not more than twelve, I would say.

Phil: Oh wow.

Hansi: But some of them are fairly big and I have to music, as well. Sometimes it's more, it really depends, but I would say in between twelve and seventeen at the highest.

Phil: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Hansi: I'm sorry I'm a little exhausted - you, unfortunately, got the last spot today. [laughs] I've spoken for the last twelve hours, so I'm a little confused right now. I'm done for the day I'm sorry to say. [laughs] Well, that's a rhyme at least at the very end.

Blind Guardian's Hansi Kursch

Interviewer: Philip A. Wickstrand

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*Comments:

Formed 1986
Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia Germany
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Genre: Power Metal

CURRENT LINE-UP:

Hansi Kürsch:  Vocals
André Olbrich:  Lead Guitar
Marcus Siepen:  Rhythm Guitar
Frederik Ehmke:  Drums

DISCOGRAPHY:

Battalions of Fear (1988)
Follow the Blind (1989)
Tales from the Twilight World EP
                                                         (1990)
Tales from the Twilight World (1990)
Somewhere Far Beyond (1992)
Tokyo Tales: Live (1993)
Imaginations from the Other Side
                                                       (1995)
The Forgotten Tales: Best of/Comp.
                                                       (1996)
Guardians of the Rings EP, (1998)
Nightfall in Middle-Earth (1998)
A Night at the Opera (2002)
Live (2003)
Imaginations Through the Looking
                                   Glass DVD, (2004)
A Twist in the Myth (2006)
Another Stranger Me EP (2007)
The Sacred Worlds and Songs
                                     Divine Tour (2010)
At the Edge of Time (2010)

August 25, 2010