Blind Guardian will release their highly-anticipated tenth studio album, Beyond The Red Mirror, in Europe on January 30th, February 2nd in the UK and February 3rd in North America.

Celebrating the release, Blind Guardian will do a run of release parties and signing sessions at several locations in Germany. The release parties give the fans a chance to listen to Beyond The Red Mirror in its entirety on the release day and win some merchandise.

 

 

For those who want to meet & greet the band in person, there will be three dates to check: Vocalist Hansi Kürsch and guitarist Marcus Siepen will be around for the signing session at the Saturn stores in Düsseldorf and Cologne and guitarist André Olbrich will join in Hansi and Marcus for the third session at Saturn Hamburg.

Saturn Düsseldorf – January 30th at 6 PM, CET

Address: Königsallee 56, 40212 Düsseldorf

Saturn Köln Hansaring – February 3rd at 6 PM, CET

Address: Maybachstraße 115, 50670 Köln

Saturn Hamburg – February 4th at 6 PM, CET

Address: Mönckebergstraße 1, 20095 Hamburg

 

The band recently released the sixth album trailer for Beyond The Red Mirror. In this new episode, Blind Guardian discuss the difference between working in the rehearsal room, the studio and performing live on stage.

 

Commented guitarist Marcus Siepen: “After being in the studio we need to relearn, or rearrange everything for a live performance. We have to consider exactly which parts to play and how to share them. Is André also playing rhythm guitars or am I supposed to accompany him on lead guitars, stuff like that.”

Adds drummer Frederik Ehmke: “Live is always different from the studio. In the studio we can capture a perfect drum sound and it is all about tiny details. Live everything needs to fit together perfectly so that the overall sound of the band is good.”

If you missed the previous studio trailers, check them out below:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Four-and-a-half years in the making, the follow-up to 2010’s At The Edge Of Time was recorded at Twilight Hall Studio in Grefrath, Germany and produced by Charlie Bauerfeind (Saxon, Hammerfall, Helloween), Beyond The Red Mirror showcases Blind Guardian’s long-awaited collaborative work with three different classical choirs: one from the Czech Republic (Prague), one from Hungary (Budapest), and one from the United States (Boston). Two grand orchestras - each featuring 90 musicians – also lend their brilliant talents to the new recordings with absolutely spellbinding results.

 

 

Transporting listeners via a mysteriously powerful red mirror into an otherworldly dimension that includes tyrants, gods, and the Holy Grail, the ten songs comprising Beyond The Red Mirror’s story lines revolve around the young protagonist we first met twenty years ago in the 1995 tracks "Bright Eyes" and "And The Story Ends".

“A story between science fiction and fantasy,” explains Blind Guardian vocalist and lyricist Hansi Kürsch. “The story begins with our 1995 album, Imaginations From The Other Side. The two worlds described therein have changed dramatically for the worse since then. While there used to be several passages between the worlds, there is only one gate left now: The Red Mirror. It has to be found at any cost.”

Asked to describe the band’s guiding principles for the creation of this new release, Blind Guardian guitarist André Olbrich shares: “We want to surprise and impress with our music. Nowadays, music tends to be arbitrary and predictable. But we want to keep developing our music.”

Opening with a tidal wave of surging emotion courtesy of a spine-tingling choir Beyond The Red Mirror unleashes its first gem, "Ninth Wave", a consciousness-expanding palette of landscapes and moods bearing the message of an urgent mission still seeking resolution. Closing with an explosion of heroic harmonies and choral glories with a nine-and-a-half minute, self-contained saga "Grand Parade" (called “the best song we have ever written” by Olbrich), the grandiose, uplifting, and ingenious storytelling in Beyond The Red Mirror is guaranteed to leave you breathless.

Come 2015, you will soon experience why Blind Guardian are so influential in their genre and without equal in the pantheon of heavy metal music. Featuring artwork by long-time collaborator Felipe Machado, Beyond The Red Mirror will be available in the following formats:

 

 

- Jewel Case (artwork above, 10 songs)
- Limited Edition Digibook (11 songs)
- Double LP gatefold vinyl (11 songs)
- Earbook (artwork below, 12 songs plus illustrations, photos, and liner notes)
- NB-Mailorder-Earbook (12 songs plus illustrations, photos, liner notes + bonus 10’’)

Pre-Order at this location.

 

 

Beyond The Red Mirror tracklisting:

"Ninth Wave"
"Twilight Of The Gods"
"Prophecies"
"At The Edge Of Time"
"Ashes Of Eternity"
"Distant Memories" (bonus track on limited editions + vinyl)

"Holy Grail"
"The Throne"
"Sacred Mind"
"Miracle Machine"
"Grand Parade"

"Twilight Of The Gods" lyric video:

Teaser trailer: