Promising to be one of the most ambitious projects in metal history, BLIND GUARDIAN’s forthcoming release will be well worth the wait. The idea of recording an orchestral album originally formed in the minds of the two leading lights of the BLIND GUARDIAN universe – guitarist André Olbrich and singer Hansi Kürsch – during the 1990’s when BLIND GUARDIAN started to use orchestral elements to enhance their opulent sound. The monumental project started to take shape over recent years, and mirroring its epic sound cascades, the lyrical concept was developed. To create the concept, Andrè andHansi worked alongside German bestselling author Markus Heitz, whose latest novel Die dunklen Lande was released on March 1st, 2019. The book is set in 1629 and contains the prequel to BLIND GUARDIAN TWILIGHT ORCHESTRA’s opus Legacy Of The Dark Lands, which will be out on November 8th, 2019.
Today, the band release the third album trailer, in which Hansi details recording the vocals for their epic project. Watch below!
Hansi states, “Witness this five minutes plus composition of vocal recording mayhem. These takes were filmed during the last weeks and months of the production of “Legacy of the Dark Lands“. After more or less 20 years of composing, arranging and pre-producing, we finally started singing somewhere in the end of 2017. I knew, it would take some time, but it was a „little“ more time than expected when I finished the recordings in December 2018. Enjoy some almost brillant and some not so brillant performances of this seemingly never-ending adventure. What can I say? Now, looking back after all the toil, I can confirm it was a lot of fun. Of course.”
Pre-order The Legacy Of The Dark Lands: nblast.de/
2 CD Digipack
2 LP Gatefold (different colours)
3 CD Earbook (album, instrumental, no interludes version)
4 CD Earbook (album, instrumental, no interludes version, audio book) *SOLD OUT*
5 LP BOX (Album 2 LP, Instrumental 2 LP, Audio book LP)
Watch and listen to the first single ‘Point Of No Return’:
The Legacy Of The Dark Lands tracklist:
01. 1618 Ouverture
02. The Gathering
03. War Feeds War
04. Comets And Prophecies
05. Dark Cloud’s Rising
06. The Ritual
07. In The Underworld
08. A Secret Society
09. The Great Ordeal
10. Bez
11. In The Red Dwarf’s Tower
12. Into The Battle
13. Treason
14. Between The Realms
15. Point Of No Return
16. The White Horseman
17. Nephilim
18. Trial And Coronation
19. Harvester Of Souls
20. Conquest Is Over
21. This Storm
22. The Great Assault
23. Beyond The Wall
24. A New Beginning
Order the single ‘This Storm’ on clear, gold and red & black splatter here: nblast.de/BG-ThisStorm
Watch the accompanying lyric video for ‘This Storm’ here:
“It’s incredible, that after 20 years we can actually finish this really exciting project. I am so happy and more than satisfied with it. Every single track unveils spectacular worlds and tells its very own story. With this album our biggest creative dream finally becomes reality. ” says front man/singer Hansi Kürschwhose favourite author was equally excited about the collaboration: „It’s really crazy: As Pen&Paper role players we used to listen to BLIND GUARDIAN whilst playing. And years later I get to work together with the band, which was incredible. It’s amazing, the things that can happen sometimes“, Markus Heitzremembers. „Of course I immediately agreed to join! This creative collaboration is very special for me.“
The two protagonists have actively cultivated their creative exchange over the last five years. “Markus is a great story teller; with “Die Dunklen Lande” he created the perfect setting and with the mysterious Nicolas, the perfect character for our complex works. His inventiveness seems to be almost infinite. Absolutely impressive and very inspiring” praises Hansi Kürsch regarding the fruitful cooperation with the highly renowned fantasy author.
Both sides tell in their own way the story of the mercenary Nicolas and his involvement in the Thirty Years’ War. Author Markus Heitz starts the story off in his book and BLIND GUARDIAN follow suit with “Legacy Of The Dark Lands”. What is the secret surrounding Nicolas? Will he be able to cast off the chains of war and how will his loved ones fare? On “Legacy Of The Dark Lands” via BLIND GUARDIAN‘s Twilight Orchestra, André Olbrich and Hansi Kürsch fulfill their long-time wish of emphasizing imposing choral singing and classical orchestral arrangements. It promises to be an opus unlike any other that the German quartet has ever released, or rather: an opus, as has never been heard ever before.
More on Legacy Of The Dark Lands:
Official teaser:
Trailer #1:
Trailer #2:
More info:
blind-guardian.com
facebook.com/blindguardian
nuclearblast.de/blindguardian
