Chad Bowar: Your first few years as a band you churned albums out about once a year. The past several albums have had longer spans in between, including four years for this one. Is it because the band is touring a lot more now?
Hansi Kursch: It's a part of it. Touring became very time consuming. It's also based on the simple fact that the structure of the songs has become more complicated. We're spending a lot more time on the production. It makes it necessary for us to have nearly four years between albums. I can happily live with it, because our vision in making music is to deliver something new to the people, and something individual.
Was your songwriting and recording process pretty typical for At The Edge Of Time?
Production-wise it was more conceptual than we've ever done before. Our producer Charlie Bauerfeind, after listening to the songs, really came up with ideas on which direction to go with each song. He also helped us go back and improve arrangements more precisely. In “Wheel Of Time” we have a strong Oriental approach, which we didn't recognize that much. But he figured it out and said there was a clash between Oriental and Occidental parts. We worked it out more properly. That was different than what we've done in the past.
We were also eager to use more organic, authentic instruments in comparison to how we worked in the past. We worked with a real orchestra for the first time. We had some additional violinists and flutists. In the past we would have used keyboards, but on this album we wanted to keep as much organic flow as possible, and I have to say we have been very successful.
As far as the composing period, it was pretty much the same. 99 percent of the songs were arranged by me and Andre (Olbrich, guitarist). We worked the same way we have done on albums like A Twist In The Myth or Nightfall In Middle Earth. It was ping-pong sort of songwriting, where we exchanged ideas and tried to improve on what the other one came up with.
While live orchestras sound great, I've heard from other artists that the arranging and recording process can be difficult. How was your experience?
It's just a question of how much time you are able to spend with the orchestra and how much time you spend beforehand making proper scores. One of the reasons we've never used an orchestra before is because it is so time consuming. But we had the song “Wheel Of Time” which made it necessary to do so.
The good thing about our songwriting in general is the interaction between the orchestra and band has been done properly. And we worked with the right orchestra. The orchestra is playing along with a metal band. There was a lot of observation and investigation prior to the production to make that issue not a problem later on. When we're on tour later this year, we may face that problem again. Once we perform live and use the original orchestral sample, it might be a little too soft, and we may have to go back and add some keyboard ingredients to it.
Your song “Sacred World” was originally used in a video game. Did you write it specifically for the game?
It was written for the game. After we finished the touring for A Twist In The Myth they provided us with all the information about the game and the storyboard. That's when we started the songwriting for At The Edge Of Time as well. The first song was “Sacred World.” It contained a nice chorus, and since we knew it would be used in the game Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, we used the word “sacred” in there as well. The song was influenced by the story, but later on we improved the song. The version on the game does not have the real orchestra, and we have put in a few additional elements for the album version.
It's a good way to expose your music to those who might not be familiar with Blind Guardian.
I think so. The game has been very successful, and we got exposure all over the planet. It's just one step, you know. You use it as one promotional item. It has given us strong momentum. We always felt that synergy between Blind Guardian songs and fantasy related video games would be beneficial for both.
What has the response been so far to At The Edge Of Time?
The response is very strong and very impressive so far. I would say 90 percent of all people consider it to be one of our best albums, if not the best album. The reviews have been very enthusiastic and positive so far. Of course you cannot please everyone. I think it will have a longevity factor.
How was the video shoot for “A Voice In The Dark?”
I like the story of the video, and I like doing shooting for videos. Of course it's part of the business. It's not like playing live. It's very strange being in an empty room and performing and pretending to be in a pyramid. The guys from Serbia did a great job and are really supportive. It's not something I'd want to do every day.
You went to Wacken this year. How was it?
It was great. We didn't play there. It was Maiden, Edguy, Slayer, Motley Crue, Alice Cooper. I had a little appearance when Grave Digger played. It was really a trip. I enjoyed being there having fun almost more than playing. You breathe in more of the atmosphere. It's crazy. You cannot believe it. You meet so many great people. It's a blast.
You're doing a European tour this fall. Any plans of coming to North America?
As it looks right now, we should be in the states by the end of the year. We hope to be back in November and December.
Is there anyplace you haven't played live that you'd still like to get to?
Indonesia would be the first thing that comes to mind. Colombia would be second, then China. We have played all of the continents and a lot of the countries.
These days you play arenas and festivals and larger venues. Have you ever played in an unusual venue?
We played campgrounds, we played in a garden for some ultra left-wing people back in 1989. That was quite an experience. We didn't pay that much attention to live shows in the early period of our career. We were more focused on writing songs and doing demos back then.
How has Blind Guardian managed to stay together for 25 years?
It's a mixture of skill, luck, perseverance and faith. It seems that everyone in the band from the beginning shared the same vision and worked on the same level. I believe that talent is very important, but there are many bands with great talent who lack the other things.
Have the side projects and guest appearances you've done over the years helped keep things fresh when you go back to Blind Guardian?
No. I've never considered that to be something different in comparison to what we do in Blind Guardian. I of course enjoyed working with Jon Schaffer (on Demons and Wizards) because he's such a great friend of mine. We liked hanging out with each other and doing music. But I've never felt tired of performing or playing or composing for Blind Guardian.
Since Schaffer is now focusing on his Sons Of Liberty project in addition to Iced Earth, I imagine that will push back any future Demons and Wizards albums.
Yes. It's a shame. But we both have so many activities in between that we hardly find the time to exchange ideas and come up with new songs. But I definitely would like to do a third album of Demons and Wizards. I want it to be the best thing ever, and we have to spend a lot of time with each other to accomplish that. I don't see it happening prior to 2012 or 2013.
Anything else you'd like to mention?
It would be great to see as many people as possible on our next tour. People should give a listen to At The Edge Of Time. I'm pretty sure they will find something that will attract them.
