Blind Guardian: Life Beyond The Dark Lands

Over the last few decades, BLIND GUARDIAN have continually pushed the limits of power metal. Initially starting off as a speed metal infused outfit, it didn’t take long for the band’s penchant for striking melodies to come to the musical fore. As the band matured, so did their song-writing, lavishing layers of orchestration on top of increasingly complex arrangements. This growth naturally culminated in 2019’s Legacy Of The Dark Lands, a purely symphonic release which lead guitarist and songwriter André Olbrich casually describes as a “25 year side project”. After such a gargantuan project, it’s not surprising that BLIND GUARDIAN would end up taking a more direct approach on their newest album, the dark and vicious The God Machine.

“Well, in the beginning, we always leave everything open,” Olbrich states. As lead songwriter alongside vocalist Hansi Kürsch, Olbrich didn’t have any preconceived notions for the next record. “There’s no pressure, we don’t have a time schedule, so I can just collect ideas and see what’s going on. I think after we did the orchestral album and worked on so much orchestral stuff or epic songs in such an intense way, we felt, ‘okay, it’s enough for the moment. We need to stop this and we need to do something completely different!’”

Even with a cursory listen to The God Machine, it’s clear what ‘something different’ ended up being. From the opener Deliver Us From Evil until the ending notes of Destiny, this is arguably the heaviest record BLIND GUARDIAN have released since 1992’s Somewhere Far Beyond. However, this wasn’t completely deliberate. “We didn’t know exactly where to go in the beginning. We had started with way more songs than we find on the album now. But after we played Wacken Worldwide and we played Violent Shadows for the first time we got such unbelievable, great reactions. We said, ‘okay, we maybe should work out some more of these songs instead of some of the totally complex and crazy stuff’. That was end of August 2020 and we said, ‘we should give the album a red-line focus on the speed songs and the other songs are in the waiting line for now’.”

While Wacken Worldwide helped cement a direction, BLIND GUARDIAN had already begun song-writing at the start of 2020. As a result, the creative process was already being shaped by world events. “We had already the COVID situation and at that time, my social surrounding – everything – felt more harsh, harder, a little bit chaotic. And the vibe I got was like I need to express that in hard music. We always try and do something that is really reflecting our feelings. And so, I think that was the second important point why we changed to such a hard style – it was both the time and having released Legacy Of The Dark Lands.”

While certainly heavier, The God Machine isn’t an exercise in constant speed metal throughout, nor is it a band desperately trying to reclaim their roots. The record’s ebb and flow sees BLIND GUARDIAN not only play with pace and intensity, but experiment with different sounds. “It would be easier to just do what you always did and copy yourself, but we always try to conquer new territory and leave that comfort zone.” Olbrich is refreshingly pragmatic about risk taking. “You never know, maybe people say that’s totally bullshit what you’re doing,” he laughs. “But we need this new aspect, we need to feel that we are in 2022 and reflect the time. That’s our attitude – it always was and we don’t want to change this.”

One of the album’s most unique tracks is the hauntingly dramatic and electronically-tinged Life Beyond The Spheres, a song that Olbrich is particularly proud of. “It’s a kind of style that we’ve never played before. I was playing Cyberpunk [2077, CD Projekt Red’s dystopian action RPG], and I was really into that cyberpunk setting and I loved it. And I thought, ‘how would the soundtrack sound if I wrote it?’ So I started to play around with these ‘cyber’ sounds and I really liked this.”

Those harsher synths and electronics are typically not part of BLIND GUARDIAN’s repertoire, so how did the band respond? “I played it to Hansi and he said, ‘yeah, that’s a great style!’ And he totally got it and went the same style with the vocals. So again, we found a spot in the BLIND GUARDIAN family that we’ve never done before. And that’s always a big achievement for a musician who has been doing albums for more than 30 years.”

Olbrich and frontman Kürsch have proved a formidable song-writing team throughout BLIND GUARDIAN’s tenure and their partnership remains strong as ever. Olbrich explains that the two of them start work on ideas separately (“I can only work when I’m really in silent mode. Nobody talking to me – that is the best scenario”, he chuckles), exchanging notes virtually before eventually coming together. However, with COVID-19 putting a pause on touring plans, it allowed the pair more time to refine ideas. “There was not a fixed date we had to finish the production, so we said let’s take the time to do demo tapes for each song. The work was more time intensive – it took I think three more months to do demo tapes for all the songs. But in the end, I think that’s why the album is easier to get in to. You really get in way easier than Beyond The Red Mirror.”

2015’s Beyond The Red Mirror, the band’s previous ‘electric’ release is a different beast altogether. It continues a through-line of BLIND GUARDIAN’s symphonic evolution, with the band incorporating multiple orchestras and choirs within its elaborate arrangements. Olbrich is forthcoming about how its scale changed his approach on The God Machine. “I worked a lot on the guitar sound because I was not really happy about how some things worked out in Beyond The Red Mirror. I came to the conclusion that the guitar sound was too rich, too full, too much – closing the whole scene. So the vocalist could not really breathe!” Olbrich jokes. “I tried to orientate myself more on the 70s guitar players again – my favourite albums are by VAN HALEN, LED ZEPPELIN, DEEP PURPLE. They still have that original classic rock guitar sound. I wanted to take this as a basis again because I think somehow these albums are more open and the guitar sound is a major point why that’s the case.” That reorientation led to Olbrich completely redefining his setup. “We worked out a completely new guitar sound for me, which is based on 70s amplifiers and stuff. My guitar sound is more basic now and it really helps. It’s a completely different atmosphere – it feels more ‘rock-ish’, it feels more ‘band!’”

That ‘band’ feeling certainly informs the performances on The God Machine and the material lends itself to live setting – just as well, as the band gears up for its supporting tour. Of course, many listeners getting their hands on the The God Machine will be wondering if this new sound and direction for the band is here to stay. Olbrich is amusingly non-committal. “I would say we see what happens, but I really like the general sound concept. But song-writing wise, we are unpredictable and everything can happen. We could come up with a jazz song! Who knows?”

The God Machine is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.

Like BLIND GUARDIAN on Facebook.