Hansi Kursch, the frontman of the German speed metal band Blind Guardian, has posted a video on social media. In it he says that the pre-production of the new album is set to be finished by the end of the year.

“Hello, everybody! This is a short message from Blind Guardian. We just want to give you a heads up where we are at and what we are thinking about at the moment. Right now we are just back from being completely lazy. We dived into songwriting very carefully. We’re not too far yet. Allow us another, let’s say, four or five months before I can be more precise in the terms of songwriting and in to which direction it goes. We did some songwriting during the touring period but we took that aside and yeah maybe use it later on but for now we are having fresh minds. Surprise, surprise! The aim is to have a pre-production ready to go at the end of 2026. I am pretty sure that we can keep that and then there should be a full production in the beginning of 2027. “

The band had a long tour, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the “Somewhere Far Beyond” album. Parallelly, the musicians are working on an acoustic version of the album “Nightfall in Middle-Earth”.

Interviewed by the Canadian Metal Voice, Hansi Kursch has said that Blind Guardian maybe will not have such a big production as the album “Legacy Of The Dark Lands” (2019), but there will be classic composing.

For Metal Master Kingdom Hansi Kursch has said that the band is starting from zero writing of the new songs, not from old ideas. On the question whether the new album will be a continuation of “God Machine” (2022), Hansi Kursch answered that it is difficult to say and that the band will go in a free style of songwriting, not for a conceptual album as in “Beyond The Red Mirror” (2015).

Blind Guardian’s core is:
Hansi Kursch – vocals
André Olbrich – lead guitar
Marcus Siepen – rhythm

Drummer Frederik Ehmke has been with the group since 2005. Dutch bassist Johan Van Stratum joined in 2021.