Definitely one of the most underrated artists to ever emerge from Metal’s underground realms is German Power Metalers Blind Guardian. For more than two decades now they have been players in the game, hammering away album after album presenting their very best to fans that are wholeheartedly grateful. Since their inception they have delivered a truly unique sound that is unparalleled by any of their peers. After many years of touring the world the band finally made it across the pond to the West a couple of years back and played a very successful mini tour that will forever remain a milestone in the hearts and minds of their American fans. As it so happens though, once you get a taste of a good thing you have to come back for seconds and before the end of the year arrives, Blind Guardian will make a return visit to U.S. shores for another go ‘round. The band well be touring this time in support of their latest studio effort, A Twist In The Myth, which was released stateside on September 6th, 2006. I recently had the immense pleasure of speaking with vocalist Hansi Kürsch about the band’s musical evolution, their ability to finally tour the states as well as why they’ve chosen to focus their song writing premise so much on the legendary works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and how exactly Hansi has managed to evoke such a unique vocal ability. Check it out.

OT: So I guess I’m your last interview for the day.

Hansi: Ah! (Laughing) You’re pretty well informed!

OT: I’ll try not to take too much of your time, we’ll get through this and let you be on your way.

Hansi: Don’t worry; we have plenty of time if you need. Because you’re the lucky guy that got the last one, I’m in a better mood then!

OT: (Laughing) Right on! So you guys have a new full length album that was launched with the three song teaser, “Fly” which, of course, was also the first single.

Hansi: It gave a good overview I think. Listening to “Fly” and “Scalds And Shadows” shows you two different directions; there’s the traditional part on the album and there is a more modern part and that is represented by “Fly” pretty well. But we deliver some more surprises. I think it is a very strong album, it will hopefully find a lot of attention and most of our fans should really get along with it very well because it is mainly focused on great melodies and I think that is what Blind Guardian fans would like to hear.

OT: Right on, very cool. I definitely hear the classic Blind Guardian signature in the music but also recognize a decisively modern flavor to the writing. What sort of mind-set did you adapt with the writing of the new material?

Hansi: Well we always try to create some writing from the same point of view and that’s to deliver something new and to progress during song writing, so it was not too different from that point of view. We just decided that A Night At The Opera was a right step, but we of course considered that there were some things probably done by mistake. During the song writing process fpr the new CD we tried to avoid these same mistakes and that meant that we had to stay focused on straight melody lines, vocal lines, and we decided to go for a more straight-forward song arrangement. A little easier structure, not really easy or mainstream-like, but in comparison to what we have done on A Night At The Opera. Plus, and that’s the part, we always try to really create new songs, so there was at no point the idea of copying ourselves and doing an album which we have done in the past already.

OT: Right, right no. Now you guys have been around for so long now that you’re very seasoned in your writing and it seems like you have a pretty good grasp on what you want and what you’re going for. So when you say there may have been some mistakes or things you shouldn’t have done, I mean that’s gotta be really minor things. I think that when you guys put out something that you’re usually pretty happy with what you produce, right?

Hansi: Yeah. I mean I laugh about At The Opera but when I say about things which went wrong I’m more talking that it was not done properly in the song writing period. And with A Night At The Opera, Andre and I, we understood fairly well what we both expected from the album, but the involvement of the other members has not been strong enough, probably; so they have had a completely different view. That’s why when we did the production of Night At The Opera, which was very complicated without that already, there were some misunderstandings. So we clarified these things properly before we started the production for the new album. But, as you said, all the stuff, once we hit the studio is on a really high level already, so it’s minor stuff; it’s nothing special, it’s more kind of treatment.

OT: Absolutely. Now I realize that it is impossible to please everyone and there will always be those fans that will struggle with their favorite band being experimental in any way. With that in mind, what are your thoughts concerning those individuals who continue to criticize your writing after so many years of staying true?

Hansi: Well as you said, you cannot please everyone and we’ve experienced that over the years again and again and that’s not an issue which came up with A Night At The Opera. We have had fairly the same problems when Imaginations From The Other Side came out or Nightfall In Middle Earth, when the other five came out, no matter how little there was, there always were some people who loved what we have done before more and complained about it. But you cannot please everyone and it is a challenge to write new songs and it is a challenge to come up with something new always; but that is our philosophy when it comes to success. We are convinced that you are not able to be successful if you really react on any kind of criticism which is based on a progression side, which is based on the new stuff just because it’s new.

OT: Right, right. Yeah, I hear what you are saying. So this isn’t something that really bothers you guys today then?

Hansi: Not at all, not at all. It was difficult to come up with an album like Follow The Blind after Battallions Of Fear, just in the beginning, because we have had no experience at some writing and we were forced to do an album within twelve months. So that was pressure, but there were no kind of bad vibes from the fans at that early stage of our career. When we did A Night At The Opera, or the new one, it was like we start a new game.

OT: Right, right absolutely. Now one such individual who didn’t seem to agree with the direction the band was headed was your former drummer who’s recently released a CD under the band name Savage Circus. Have you heard the album and what do you think about it?

Hansi: No, I’ve not heard the album, I’ve heard two tracks and I think it’s well done and if that’s something he wants to do he has the right to do whatever he wants to do. So if that’s what he prefers, that’s fine with me, I don’t have any problems.

OT: it seems that it does have an early Blind Guardian vibe to it but for me, it would be kinda eerie to hear somebody that sounds so close to what you were doin’; it’s almost like a clone.

Hansi: That’s what I heard from some people, but I know a lot of people who appreciated that of course. You won’t be successful with one album you need to come up with something new so I’m anxious to hear what these guys are going to do with the next album.

OT: Right, that’s where the key does lie isn’t it? I know I agree with you on that, they might do okay first time out but the next time people are gonna start to take notice and say, ‘Well you kinda already did this, you need to…’ I mean as much as people don’t like bands to change and they want ‘em to maintain that ‘classic style’, if they continue to do that to much, they get branded as not being original in their writing any more.

Hansi: That’s absolutely true. There’s no doubt about that. There are a handful of bands that can do that and they do that on the very same level all the time. So they are doing fine, AC/DC for example. They really do great music though they do not change a lot. But that’s an exception I would say.

OT: Yeah they are definitely an exception. Listening to their most recent studio album that came out a few years ago, it’s really just one of the best rock albums that I’ve heard. I mean I really, really enjoy listening to it.

Hansi: Really? I need to listen to that man, ‘cause I’ve not listened to them for the last whatever, sixteen years or so. Back In Black is still one of my favorite albums so I won’t say I’m a fan of AC/DC but I really appreciate the band and I admire them to a certain extent. I have not heard any bad albums they have done but they are, as I said before, an exception. And you got the point. The kids think they would like you to do the same album over and over again but the spirit of time changes their tastes and they grow up so even if you do an album as good as the one before it won’t be the same because the impact can’t be the same because you have listened to it two, three, four years ago so even if the album is good it will not be as good.

OT: Probably not. Y’know I’ve always been impressed with your vocal ability; that it is at once, one of the most intense metal voices I’ve ever heard and it is wickedly reminiscent of medieval-themed song structures.

Hansi: Thank you.

OT: When you began the band was this a sound that you were striving for?

Hansi: No.

OT: So it just kinda fell in place, it just happened?

Hansi: Yeah it happened by accident. The whole development in the band was just pure luck. We just went the same direction for quite so many years and the music turned into that particular type just because we all felt that fits very well and it fit very well with Tolkien-related lyrics as well. It was just coincidence and it was good for me, as a vocalist, to be there at that place because it complimented my voice so well. But on the other hand, what most people do not recognize, is that we do key changes all the time so it’s not that any of the songs are written for my particular voice.

OT: Hmm, that’s interesting. Obviously I love to share music with people and I play Blind Guardian records for friends of mine and that’s one thing that stands out first and foremost, your unique vocal ability. It’s funny because people will listen to it and say, ‘So they’re English? And I’m like, ‘No, actually they’re German but he just comes across sounding English because it’s that middle-age time period that you’re kinda hearing.’

Hansi: Yeah I think that’s it. Some people here, they complain that I’m sounding too much German and I don’t see that. And even if I am, I’m just a guy so my English certainly has an accent and I don’t mind but some people complain about it and I just think, ‘Well, we’re a German band and that’s the way it is, I’m sorry I can’t change it.

OT: So um, so you haven’t done anything to train and condition your voice? I mean once you realized that this was the sound that Blind Guardian was gonna have, did you do anything to try and enhance it and push it further?

Hansi: Well I started taking exercises in the beginning of the 90’s after Somewhere Far Beyond because I felt it was for the sake of the voice for the ability to keep the condition for as long as possible. After that you get a few classical tricks that help you to improve your singing in general, to get more variety and to get probably a higher key, but it was not something that helped me in terms of song writing.

OT: Well it sounds great man, whatever you’re doin’ just keep it up because it’s just awesome; I love it.

Hansi: That’s great to hear.

OT: I have wondered if… some of the lighter songs that you’ve done that lean more toward that traditional sound, that Tolkien-ish Medieval type sound, apart from the metal? Have you personally maybe ever thought about doing an album, or even a mini-album, with just those type of songs? Because it seems to me it almost would appeal to an entirely different audience, one that’s not a metal audience.

Hansi: Well by accident we did acoustic songs in South America back in the end of the 90’s and we figured the same; that it might make sense to do a whole album in that particular style. We did some of the Guardian stuff, the harder Guardian stuff, in that type of acoustic version as well and, yeah you’re right, it is a completely different approach and it might draw the attention of other people but we have not started working on something like that. We have an orchestra project that’s been running since ’97 or so and whenever we find the time we work on that, which shows the band from a completely different side again. And that contains some of the elements but even more classical and more musical-oriented, and that will be a blast how people will react on it and it will be interesting to see if there’s any chance to draw the attention of other people because of the music.

OT: Yeah right on. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the band Opeth from Sweden?

Hansi: Yes, I like them.

OT: They did an album called Damnation that is very different from their normal style and they’ve kind of run into that situation where there are a lot of people that like the album but that album only because they’re not metal fans. Yeah I was just wondering if that might be something that you guys had given thought to, and obviously you have so that’s cool, that’s very cool.

Hansi: It’s certainly a good idea. We did some stuff like that on The Forgotten Tales album, I’m not sure if you ever heard that album; it’s half cover versions and half the more Medieval stuff, but it was not a complete concept so it did not have the same impact. There is an acoustic version of “Mordred’s Song”, an acoustic version of “Bright Eyes” and we did a new version of “Black Chamber” so it’s very interesting if you know the original ones. This attracted people outside of heavy metal, but as I said, there are also a bunch of cover versions on that so the impact is not the same.

OT: I can see that. I do have that CD and you are right. I actually have about five or six albums from you guys here in my collection and I’m sure you’ve heard this a lot from people in America: but because you guys broke so much later here, it’s taken me a long time to try and gather up the different CD’s and I have worked toward doing that but I haven’t gotten everything just yet; close though.

Hansi: That’s good for us (laughing) and for you, too, probably because there’s still something to count on. I mean the U.S. was not an issue for Virgin Records up ‘til the 90’s, and we had, like, five or six albums out at that point. Even when it started becoming obvious that there is a metal underground in the U.S. they were not courageous enough to release an album in the U.S. and so, thanks to Century Media, we got the opportunity beginning in 1998 or 1999, I don’t know when they finally released the first album. But they are happy because they get all the albums from my end and make good money from them.

OT: Y’know it’s funny, I just happened to come along at the right time to be able to walk into a store and get that. But who actually introduced Blind Guardian to me was Ronnie James Dio. I was having a conversation with him, doing an interview, and we were talking about his interest in Tolkien and whether he would ever do anything based on his writings and he said, “Well I don’t have to because there’s this band called Blind Guardian that already has.

Hansi: That’s interesting, I didn’t know that. We are big Dio fans and we did “Don’t Talk To Strangers”, I don’t know if you ever heard that.

OT: Right, oh yeah, yeah.

Hansi: But I’ve never talked to Ronnie James Dio. I met him once very briefly and so I’m very surprised, I didn’t know he was aware of Blind Guardian.

OT: Yeah. No he said, “Go check out Blind Guardian they’ve already done the Tolkien thing.” So he’s very well aware of who you are.

Hansi: (Laughing) That’s very cool. That’s very cool. I’m sure when I tell Andre he will be very happy.

OT: (Laughing) Right on. You know, personally, I have always felt that a huge injustice has been dealt the band by you guys not being able to have anything musically included in any of the Lord of the Rings movies that were filmed. Did you guys attempt in anyway to get any of your songs in there?

Hansi: Yeah we tried to get in when they did the Fellowship of the Ring, we applied and Andre went and he spoke to the secretary of Peter Jackson and they almost had made their decision at that point so they weren’t into it, but they did give us the opportunity to send them stuff so they could check into it. But due to my obligations with Demons & Wizards I wasn’t able to do any vocals for any of the stuff we had prepared for them, so it never worked out. But it’s very difficult for a German band to get into such a big event because that’s the movie industry and they have their own interests.

OT: Right, right yeah. But everybody I talk to says, ‘Why didn’t they get Blind Guardian to do something here because it fits perfectly?” I do hear that the word is they’re shooting for The Hobbit now.

Hansi: Are they? I know that Peter Jackson has the right but I didn’t know he would do anything in the near future.

OT: Yeah that’s what I’ve heard, that’s the word that’s goin’ around.

Hansi: We might get a better chance then to become part of it. And we still have all that orchestral stuff left so in case we do get a chance to introduce our stuff there will be plenty of material.

OT: Right on, very cool man. Now also included on the “Fly” single was an acoustic version of the song “Skulls And Shadows”, which is not unlike “The Bard’s Song”, and also a cover of Iron Butterfly’s “Inagaddadavida”. What led to choosing that particular song?

Hansi: Well we discussed the cover issue for quite a few weeks during the first part of the production and we couldn’t come to a conclusion, so Andre just started working on several cover versions and he supplied them to me and his ground work for “Inagaddadavida” appeared best to me so I just said, “Well let’s go for that one and I do kind of a Marilyn Manson type of vocal thing for it and we’ll see how the response will be.” So it was the best one we had in hand at that point so it was obvious to take it.

OT: That’s cool. Well it comes across great; it’s very dark and kind of has a morbid style to it.

Hansi: That’s what I thought. I mean lyric-wise he repeats the lyrics twice or three times like I do so it was like, “Ok, the song is great, the music’s great.” So we just said let’s change it completely in terms of impact.

OT: Well I think it came across very well.

Hansi: Thanks.

OT: I was really privileged to be at the L.A. appearance of your first State-side tour a few years back.

Hansi: That was a great one!

OT: It was awesome! It took a lot of years for you to get over here but I was so just totally blessed to be there.

Hansi: It really blessed us as well. That was the last show on the U.S. tour so we said it was something special. It was… I would say with New York and with Chicago, it was in the top three of the U.S. shows we played.

OT: Right on, that’s very cool. Are there plans for you to tour more extensively in the U.S. this time around?

Hansi: Sure, we definitely will come over the end of this year; beginning around mid-November up to Christmas. And if everything works well we’ll most probably come back in March/April for a second leg.

OT: That’s really cool. So when you guys did come over did you run into this; I’ve talked to a number of different bands that have run into this situation, you play much larger venues when you’re over in Europe and then when you come over here you’re playing these smaller clubs. It’s gotta be somewhat humbling to come back to that.

Hansi: It definitely is but it’s like an adventure too, so you enjoy it a lot unless anything technical goes wrong.

OT: Well y’know, at least you’re playing and the fans, I’m sure, are just absolutely loving it.

Hansi: Yeah that was my impression of that first American tour and I’m sure it will be the same with the tour coming up. I mean it’s really great to see how the American market develops, how it grows. It’s probably one of the most vivid undergrounds in the world at the moment because there’s been ups and downs and the U.S. underground seemed to be completely gone for quite a few years. But ever since the mid 90’s it’s growing, growing, growing, growing and you see how open-minded the people are and that’s great too.

OT: Definitely. Well Hansi, I thank you very much for your time, it’s been a pleasure talking to you and I look forward to seeing you guys again.

Hansi: Thank you, David.

OT: Have a good one.

Hansi: Have a good one, too. B’bye.

OT: ‘Bye.