Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
In an interview with Brutal Planet Media, Hansi Kürsch, the lead vocalist of Blind Guardian, discussed the band’s touring endeavors in relation to their 2022 album, “The God Machine”, as per blabbermouth.net. The interviewer observed that the band had dedicated considerable time to touring during the previous summer, a statement with which Kürsch concurred.
We did far more than we were intending to do. But they forced us with money. We couldn’t say no. And at the very end, it was the full summer, without really recognizing it in the first case. And so, yeah, this is the third year in a row where we are touring. And so, yeah, we have to come to an end, and after this [fall], this is the perfect opportunity for us — we do a tiny little show in our hometown [of Krefeld, Germany on December 19] when we get back from the U.S. But this is it then.
So, what will the Bards do in 2026?
For us, yeah, it’s about songwriting and doing the business, which is behind touring and everything. And, yeah, we have neglected a few things, which we have to come up with. We’re working on additional projects for Blind Guardian, such as acoustic albums. This all needs to be somehow fixed and finished in, hopefully, 2026 — if not in ’26, then in the beginning of ’27, for sure. And then it’s about time to go back on the road. But for us, I have to say now this is the longest span of touring we’ve ever done, because usually we do, like, 12 months, 18 months. And because everything was a little upside down when we started touring [in celebration of the 30th anniversary of] ‘Somewhere Far Beyond’, this was a longer stretch than expected.
Perhaps some new projects.
We took all the time for the touring, and we did some acoustic improvements on some of the stuff. What we have in mind is doing an acoustic version of [Blind Guardian’s 1998 album] ‘Nightfall In Middle-Earth’, and that’s on a pretty good way. We have accomplished a lot of stuff, but we have to investigate and improve that in the next year.
There’s no such thing as never working for Blind Guardian.
There is always interaction between the members, and we come up with concepts and ideas for how things could go on. But the main focus is to survive a tour always. Even if you’re at home, the thinking is, ‘Okay, how can I improve my physical strength, my health, how can I be mentally in the shape of going to tour again?’ And then you have a private life, of course and family. That’s what you’re spending the rest of the time with. But that is, unfortunately, always very limited.
