HANSI KÜRSCH: BLIND GUARDIAN Will Start With 'Real Songwriting' For Next Studio Album In 2025

In a new interview with Dave Griffiths of Australia's Subculture Entertainment, BLIND GUARDIAN vocalist Hansi Kürsch was asked if he and his bandmates have commenced work on the follow-up to 2022's "The God Machine" album. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We belong to the bands which cannot really dig into new creation when it's on the road. So, we're working on all the concerts we have to play first. And that keeps us busy until pretty much the end of the year. We're still touring North America, we're touring U.K. and Scandinavia. We're playing a lot of the big European festivals, and so on and so on. So, I would say this will be a year dedicated to live performances. We work a bit on acoustic stuff, but that's old stuff which we try to present in a different way. But other than that, I would say we start with the real songwriting in 2025."

BLIND GUARDIAN's "The God Machine" North American 2024 tour will commence on April 18 at The Fillmore in Silver Springs, Maryland and will make its way to Dallas, Seattle, and Toronto before the final performance at Milwaukee Metalfest on May 17. Joining the band as support is NIGHT DEMON.

"The God Machine" was released in September 2022 via Nuclear Blast. The cover artwork for the CD was designed by Peter Mohrbacher.

Prior to "The God Machine"'s arrival, BLIND GUARDIAN's latest release was the all-orchestral album "Twilight Orchestra: Legacy Of The Dark Lands", which came out in November 2019 via Nuclear Blast. To create the concept, lead guitarist André Olbrich and Kürsch worked alongside German bestselling author Markus Heitz, whose novel "Die Dunklen Lande" was released in March 2019. The book is set in 1629 and contains the prequel to "Legacy Of The Dark Lands".

BLIND GUARDIAN's previous "regular" studio album, "Beyond The Red Mirror", was issued in 2015. It was the band's first LP since 2010's "At The Edge Of Time", marking the longest gap between two studio albums in BLIND GUARDIAN's career. It was also the group's first album without bassist Oliver Holzwarth since 1995's "Imaginations From The Other Side".

BLIND GUARDIAN's core trio consists of Kürsch, lead guitarist André Olbrich and rhythm guitarist Marcus Siepen. Drummer Frederik Ehmke has been with the group since 2005.

Drummer Thomen Stauch played on BLIND GUARDIAN's first seven albums before being replaced by Ehmke. Frederik made his recording debut with BLIND GUARDIAN on 2006's "A Twist In The Myth".

Photo credit: Dirk Behlau