The Official Blind Guardian Thread v. Yup, Still a Necrothread

[cramx3]

I bought the album but only listened a bit, but liked what I heard.  Being a holiday weekend in the US, I just haven't had that time to sit back and listen fully.  Reading what everyone has said here is really good news though.

[Skeever]

I really can't think of when Blind Guardian have ever really disappointed me. Not that I am some kind of Hardcore fan but I've been listening to them for at least 20 years now, I still remember all the negativity around A Twist in the Myth and I couldn't understand why because I thought it was a pretty good album, with Fly being one of their funnest singles ever.

The only thing I have not listened to is the orchestral album, and I don't care to. I love classical music, but it doesn't matter who is at the helm, classical albums composed and orchestrated by rock musicians always strike me as incredibly bland and blocky.

[Zook]

Listened at work. Didn't get the whole experience because I only had one earphone in, but nothing really caught my ear. I haven't been impressed with Blind Guardian's work since At the Edge of Time. I think they lost me. Hansi still sounds amazing though.

[ErHaO]

I wonder what happened to the release schedule, as the album was finished and mastered well over a year ago as per the earbook credits. I hope they keep this approach. Charlie Bauerfeind did play a large role and was the main producer, but Joost mixed it and someone else mastered it.

I prefer the heavy vocals version of Let it be No More (bonus track). Differences are subtle and don't expect an actually heavy version, but the added grit to me works better for this song and make the verses connect more to the chorus.

On a sidenote, I think the Nuclear Blast boxset I just received looks great. It has the original commissioned album cover and I personally prefer it as the cover. The band ultimately preferred another work by the artist and went for that design as the cover. Overall I am glad they are working with different artists these days (the Imaginations earbook from a while ago was nicely done).

I really can't think of when Blind Guardian have ever really disappointed me. Not that I am some kind of Hardcore fan but I've been listening to them for at least 20 years now, I still remember all the negativity around A Twist in the Myth and I couldn't understand why because I thought it was a pretty good album, with Fly being one of their funnest singles ever.

The only thing I have not listened to is the orchestral album. I love classical music, but it doesn't matter who is at the helm, classical albums composed and orchestrated by rock musicians always strike me as incredibly bland and blocky.

I enjoy the orchestral album. Not peak BG by any means, but there are a couple of gems on it that are mainstays in my playlists. Harvester of Souls is a top tier BG track and I prefer it to the At The Edge of Time (same song at it's core).

I don't consider it classical music. Choirs and orchestras don't necessarily mean something is classical music. That to me is like saying all music with an electric guitar is rock n roll, or something like that. It feels more like a film/game soundtrack with Hansi singing, sometimes venturing slightly into musical/Disney territory. As with their metal, it is hard to find somethine quite like it. The only thing I can think of that really kind of feels the same are the orchestral versions of some songs on Sonata Arctica's The Days of Gray. Since I have listened a lot to the orchestral version of Deathaura and As if The World Wasn't Ending on that album, I think I am of the specific crowd that enjoys this approach.

My biggest gripe with the album overall is the sound, they kinda produced it like a power metal album without the guitars. A sound with more natural sounding choirs and harmonies would've served the album better. 

Picked the Earbook up in person today from Utopia Records in Sydney.
First thing I noticed compared to the 20 odd EB I have, have cheap and flimsy it felt when flicking through the pages.
Now the important part, the music, love the huge sound and the mix sounds pretty good for modern metal.
So glad Charlie Bauerfeind kept his fat sticky fingers away from this mix, he's butchered the last few BG and recent Helloween albums, to the point of 

I got my earbook. Thankfully i don't think it feels too cheap or flimsy, but I get what you mean. My Ayreon earbooks have a higher quality feel to them and are less glossy. Interestingly the God Machine vinyl booklet is sizable with the same content (on first glance at least) and of higher quality paper, it does make the earbook feel a bit redundant for me. But I am glad the vinyl version is well done.

[WardySI]

Know enough of their work to comment and wouldn't consider myself a BG fan by any means but was so taken by the last Demons & Wizards album was keen to hear this one and as was on a major Megadeth run since release day only gave The God Machine a background listen.  Have just today finally gave it the attention it needed playing it a few times through and, well...

Holy shit!

This is fucking epic!

[MirrorMask]

The album is slowly growing on me.

I still think that Secrets of the American Gods is the best song. Deliver us from Evil and Violent Shadows are the best of the fast ones, I'm also warming up to Life Beyond the Spheres.

[nick_z]

The album is slowly growing on me.

I still think that Secrets of the American Gods is the best song. Deliver us from Evil and Violent Shadows are the best of the fast ones, I'm also warming up to Life Beyond the Spheres.

Agreed. As I mentioned in the ...listening thread, another favorite of mine is Damnation. It's an excellent "second track", with great riffs and a memorable chorus.

[cramx3]

The album is slowly growing on me.

I still think that Secrets of the American Gods is the best song. Deliver us from Evil and Violent Shadows are the best of the fast ones, I'm also warming up to Life Beyond the Spheres.

Same. I listened a bunch since I last posted here.  It's a good album, but really nothing has stuck out too much to be "top BG".  But the album as a whole really is starting to grow on me.  I also think Secrets of the American Gods may be my favorite on the album.

[Willthescout7]

Gave At the Edge of Time a spin the other dday. Man, I love this album to pieces. It's so good.

[Zook]

Gave At the Edge of Time a spin the other dday. Man, I love this album to pieces. It's so good.

Their last good album.

[MirrorMask]

Gave At the Edge of Time a spin the other dday. Man, I love this album to pieces. It's so good.

I think it's the perfect balance between the symphonic influences, and the heavy metal roots. Beyond the Red Mirror was waaaay too tilted toward the complexity (even the storyline was a mess to understand) and the orchestrations. The God Machine is quite ok but not on At the Edge of Time levels.

[cramx3]

Gave At the Edge of Time a spin the other dday. Man, I love this album to pieces. It's so good.

I think it's the perfect balance between the symphonic influences, and the heavy metal roots. Beyond the Red Mirror was waaaay too tilted toward the complexity (even the storyline was a mess to understand) and the orchestrations. The God Machine is quite ok but not on At the Edge of Time levels.

Yeah, I agree with you on this.  The God Machine is pretty good so I can't say it's the last good BG album, but At the Edge of Time may be the last BEST BG album  It's probably my second favorite album of theirs.

[ErHaO]

At The Edge of Time is amazing, a great balance between all the elements that make them great and probably their most well paced/flowing album.

The God Machine is still a frequent spin for me, it was a welcome change at this point in their career. Intense, riff/guitar driven, not many vocal layers/symphonic bombast for a modern BG album. I think the fast/intense tracks are some of the best in their careers (Deliver Us From Evil, Blood of the Elves, Violent Shadows). Interestingly Secrets of the American Gods is my least favourite track, which seems to be a fan favourite online.

[wolfking]

I'd have to respin At the Edge of Time.  Never did anything for me from memory.

[Shalev Amir]

At the Edge of Time is great, but The God Machine is almost just as good. Both have great balance between classic kickass aggressive BG, which are just as good as any 90's track, and epic songs, midpaced songs, and ballads. I dare say Let It Be No More is their best ballad since Lord of the Rings.

ATEOT >TGM > ANATO = ATITM > BTRM as far as post 2000's albums go.

[MirrorMask]

Interestingly Secrets of the American Gods is my least favourite track, which seems to be a fan favourite online.

It's my favourite track of the album 

[Tomislav95]

Can't say I'm a fan of BG, only heard Imaginations From the Other Side before, and some odd songs (most popular ones), but this latest album is great. Can't really pick my favorite, I like all of them

[MirrorMask]

So, in the spirit of the necrothread-icity of this topic, I bring it back from its slumber, for yesterday I have seen Blind Guardian live 

The good: being in third row and seeing them close, overall good performance (not Hansi's best but still more than acceptable), hearing again some old classics that were missing (it was 7 years since their last show in my hometown, and the previous italian show was dedicated to play Somewhere Far Beyond in full so not much room for much else), and more generally knowing that you can count on a band you follow since so many years to let you have a good time.

The bad: the sounds. GEEZ IT WAS LOUD, I can't imagine how people without earplugs must feel, ringing in their ears for 48 hours I believe! Blind Guardian is a band I follow since the last millennium, I know the classics inside out and in my sleep, and there were times when I lost track of what was going on in the songs because of the absurd wall of exagerate sound. I mean, I know the songs like you all know Pull Me Under, imagine losing track of what's going on in Pull Me Under because the volume is too loud.

All in all I'm glad I saw them again, as I said BG are one of my die hard, longest-following bands, and knowing that from time to time you can have a great evening and sing The Bard's Song all together is amazing  they still have a lot to offer and even though Marcus' hair is grey and Hansi sometimes struggled (Who was even able to scrutiny his performance anyway, with that exagerated volume), they're far from giving me the feeling of "eh, they're getting old as well". Long live one of the best and most consistent german bands! 

[cramx3]

Interesting setlist they are doing.

I just want them to come back to the US.  It's been too long. 

[ProfessorPeart]

US/CAN Tour

04/18/2024  US    Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore
04/19/2024  US    Norfolk, VA – The NorVa
04/20/2024  US    Charlotte, NC – The Underground
04/21/2024  US    Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
04/23/2024  US    Dallas, TX – The Factory
04/24/2024  US    Austin, TX – Emo’s
04/26/2024  US    Phoenix, AZ – Cresent Ballroom
04/27/2024  US    Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco
04/28/2024  US    San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom
04/30/2024  US    Portland, OR – The Roseland Theater
05/01/2024  US    Seattle, WA – The Showbox Market
05/03/2024  US    Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
05/04/2024  US    Denver, CO – The Summit Music Hall
05/06/2024  US    Minneapolis, MN – The Varsity Theater
05/07/2024  US    Des Moines, IA – Wooly’s
05/09/2024  CAN  Toronto, ON – Rebel
05/10/2024  CAN  Montreal, QC – L’Olympia
05/11/2024  US    Worcester, MA – The Palladium
05/12/2024  US    New York, NY – The Palladium
05/14/2024  US    Harrisburg, PA – HMAC
05/16/2024  US    Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater
05/17/2024  US    Milwaukee, WI – Milwaukee Metal Fest*

[ErHaO]

Why no Dutch concerts this year (and next year?) 

We got that little cheap show that was supposed to be a try out last year, and that was it. And while they were great, the venue fucking sucked (basically a refitted barn with the shittiest sound I had in years).

So, in the spirit of the necrothread-icity of this topic, I bring it back from its slumber, for yesterday I have seen Blind Guardian live 

The good: being in third row and seeing them close, overall good performance (not Hansi's best but still more than acceptable), hearing again some old classics that were missing (it was 7 years since their last show in my hometown, and the previous italian show was dedicated to play Somewhere Far Beyond in full so not much room for much else), and more generally knowing that you can count on a band you follow since so many years to let you have a good time.

The bad: the sounds. GEEZ IT WAS LOUD, I can't imagine how people without earplugs must feel, ringing in their ears for 48 hours I believe! Blind Guardian is a band I follow since the last millennium, I know the classics inside out and in my sleep, and there were times when I lost track of what was going on in the songs because of the absurd wall of exagerate sound. I mean, I know the songs like you all know Pull Me Under, imagine losing track of what's going on in Pull Me Under because the volume is too loud.

All in all I'm glad I saw them again, as I said BG are one of my die hard, longest-following bands, and knowing that from time to time you can have a great evening and sing The Bard's Song all together is amazing  they still have a lot to offer and even though Marcus' hair is grey and Hansi sometimes struggled (Who was even able to scrutiny his performance anyway, with that exagerated volume), they're far from giving me the feeling of "eh, they're getting old as well". Long live one of the best and most consistent german bands! 

From the clips I saw of recent concerts I think they sounded good. That period post covid after years of vocal rest is probably not something Hansi will top again (that Rock Hard stream of Somewhere Far Beyond concert was something else, and Hellfest was great too).

[cramx3]

Saw the NYC show last night, really awesome!

Hansi was awesome, although had some struggles, but generally really enjoyed him.  He came out saying they were tired after the first song which kind of sucked to hear honestly, but I guess they are old, it's the 4th night in a row for them at the end of the tour, but he sounded tired too.  Regardless, I think they gave it their all.  They sounded really tight.

I thought it was odd to not have a live keyboardist though.  What happened to him?  And the bassist is now the guy from The Gentle Storm and Aryeon?  I must have missed a notice on the band changes.  Also, Marcus got old!  I think I was a bit shocked to see this is the current live version of the band, but they were really good.  The backing tracks for the keys were interesting, because sometimes they just weren't there.  Like I don't think they existed in Secrets of the American Gods.  But some songs you can hear the backing tracks.  However, the live guitars sounded great.  Really thought it was crisp live sound.

Seems we got Into The Storm as our rotated song from the setlist which is fine by me.  Kind of would liked a more random/less played song, but I can't complain with the choice.

They didn't really have any stage show.  Just lights.  Kind of odd that the opening band had more of a stage show. They didn't need it.  The crowd, which was maybe 2/3 filling the venue so not packed, was pretty wild for them.  Mosh pits and crowd surfers all ngiht.  Hansi said multiple times how good of a crowd it was and even apologized for his comments earlier about being tired.  I guess we woke him up! 

I noticed at the merch booth earlier in the show, they were just selling tshirts (not tour specific ones though, which was unfortunate), but later in the night they put out three different drum heads signed.... when I left, during Valhalla since I needed to catch a train, I noticed one drum head left and I had the $60 cash in my wallet, so I left with a signed drum head that I'll have to put on my office wall:



Also, does Germany celebrate Mother's Day?  I think it's just an American thing right?  I ask because I thought for sure Hansi would say Happy Mother's Day or similar, but no mention.  I think it's possible it affected some ticket sales for the night.

Blind Guardian - Nightfall LIVE @ Palladium Times Square New York City NY 5/12/2024

Blind Guardian - The Script for My Requiem LIVE @ Palladium Times Square New York City NY 5/12/2024

[Grappler]

Killer videos!

Metal Archives says that they still have a live keyboard player, so maybe they were off-stage?  Or the keyboard player couldn't do the US tour, so they just piped in the keys?

Hansi's never been a very energetic frontman, and the band isn't really wild and crazy on stage.  For me, they're all about how they can perfectly replicate their songs live - all of the big, bombastic layered music and vocals, so if you close your eyes, you don't notice a difference between the album and the live version.  And that's what makes Hansi so good. 

[cramx3]

Yeah, the backing vocals work well live.  Hansi is fine as a front man though because of how good and strong his vocals are.

Maybe the keyboardist just couldn't tour.  I realized last night that I don't actually follow them on social media so changed that. I guess that could be why I was a bit off in my knowledge of current BG things.

[MirrorMask]

Mother's day is a very strong tradition in Italy as well.

Envious that you got Secrets of the American Gods, it's my favorite song off the latest album and I didn't get it!

Yeah Marcus is old but he looks very fine and fit. Always better than dying your hair ultra black.

[cramx3]

Mother's day is a very strong tradition in Italy as well.

Envious that you got Secrets of the American Gods, it's my favorite song off the latest album and I didn't get it!

Yeah Marcus is old but he looks very fine and fit. Always better than dying your hair ultra black.

Also my favorite from the new album.  Glad we got it, it seems they mostly play it but sometimes rotate it out.  Yeah, Marcus looks fine, just didn't realize he went full grey so between that, no keyboardist, and different bassist, I initially wasn't sure if it was him 

[twosuitsluke]

Tim, I'm listening through your Hammerfall playlist this morning

[TAC]

Tim, I'm listening through your Hammerfall playlist this morning

Not sure why I even looked in the Blind Guardian thread, but this is the last thing I expected to see in it. 

[twosuitsluke]

You could say you were Heeding the Call

[TAC]

[ErHaO]

Saw the NYC show last night, really awesome!

Hansi was awesome, although had some struggles, but generally really enjoyed him.  He came out saying they were tired after the first song which kind of sucked to hear honestly, but I guess they are old, it's the 4th night in a row for them at the end of the tour, but he sounded tired too.  Regardless, I think they gave it their all.  They sounded really tight.

I thought it was odd to not have a live keyboardist though.  What happened to him?  And the bassist is now the guy from The Gentle Storm and Aryeon?  I must have missed a notice on the band changes.  Also, Marcus got old!  I think I was a bit shocked to see this is the current live version of the band, but they were really good.  The backing tracks for the keys were interesting, because sometimes they just weren't there.  Like I don't think they existed in Secrets of the American Gods.  But some songs you can hear the backing tracks.  However, the live guitars sounded great.  Really thought it was crisp live sound.

Seems we got Into The Storm as our rotated song from the setlist which is fine by me.  Kind of would liked a more random/less played song, but I can't complain with the choice.

They didn't really have any stage show.  Just lights.  Kind of odd that the opening band had more of a stage show. They didn't need it.  The crowd, which was maybe 2/3 filling the venue so not packed, was pretty wild for them.  Mosh pits and crowd surfers all ngiht.  Hansi said multiple times how good of a crowd it was and even apologized for his comments earlier about being tired.  I guess we woke him up! 

I noticed at the merch booth earlier in the show, they were just selling tshirts (not tour specific ones though, which was unfortunate), but later in the night they put out three different drum heads signed.... when I left, during Valhalla since I needed to catch a train, I noticed one drum head left and I had the $60 cash in my wallet, so I left with a signed drum head that I'll have to put on my office wall:



Also, does Germany celebrate Mother's Day?  I think it's just an American thing right?  I ask because I thought for sure Hansi would say Happy Mother's Day or similar, but no mention.  I think it's possible it affected some ticket sales for the night.

Blind Guardian - Nightfall LIVE @ Palladium Times Square New York City NY 5/12/2024

Blind Guardian - The Script for My Requiem LIVE @ Palladium Times Square New York City NY 5/12/2024

Nice!

Last time I saw them I bought God Machine signed for 30 euro's at their merch booth, basically the vinyl signed at lower cost than in our record stores. Honestly, I would not complain if they had raised their price on that one.

I just looked at some yt vids, they had a keyboard player in April, so I think it might be a smaller US tour/venue cost cut? Anyways, good to hear you had a great time and nice vids!

I don't think Hansi will ever sound as good as post-covid and touring break start of the Somewhere Far Beyond tour, but he was also really pushing it there I feel. Based on clips, I'd say current Hansi sounds like Imaginations from the Other side tour back in the late 10's. He maybe struggles here and there, but also doesn't really hold back much with plenty of powerful lines and screams.

[cramx3]

Yeah, even with some struggles, he's still pretty good and clearly, to me, was pushing his abilities with some of those screams.

I'd have totally bought a signed album if they offered it, the drum head is a bit big so a bit awkward to deal with hanging (and certainly was weird to carry all through times square and NYC and the train ride home), but I'm going to try and work on that this weekend because I have another couple items I'd like to hang as well (another drum head signed by last in line and a skeet disc signed by Tremonti).

Also, here's my full video (full as in, all my clips, not the full show) of the show (including Night Demon) and the end is a collection of clips documenting the drum head's journey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TvPEhO6oXY