caption current_members associated_acts years_active alias label image_size article_title landscape past_members background genre image origin name
blind , 2015 . l-r : schüren , olbrich , ehmke guardian , kürsch , siepen , courbois in athens , greece , may 10 hansi kürsch andré olbrich marcus siepen frederik ehmke demons iced earth , iron savior , savage circus , schattentantz and , power quest , sinbreed wizards , gamma ray , helloween , 1984 -- present lucifer 's heritage -lrb- 1984 -- 1987 -rrb- no blast remorse , virgin , century media , nuclear 250 blind guardian
 yes thomas `` thomen '' stauch kelleners markus dörk christof theißen hans-peter frey thomas group_or_band power speed metal , thrash metal -lrb- early -rrb- metal , progressive metal , symphonic metal , blindguardian2015j.jpg krefeld , germany blind guardian
blind guardian

blind guardian is a german power metal band formed in the mid-1980s in krefeld , west germany .
they are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres .
ten musicians have been a part of the band 's line-up in its history , which has consisted of singer hansi kürsch , guitarists andré olbrich and marcus siepen , and drummer frederik ehmke since 2005 .
blind guardian is a part of the german heavy metal scene that emerged in the mid-1980s .
they formed in 1984 as lucifer 's heritage by kürsch -lrb- then also bass guitarist -rrb- , olbrich , other guitarist markus dörk and drummer thomas stauch .
dörk and stauch both left the following year , and were replaced by christof theißen and hans-peter frey respectively , who left as well before the end of the year .
in 1987 , siepen joined and stauch returned ; under this line-up , which lasted 18 years -lrb- the longest in the band 's history -rrb- , the band changed their name to blind guardian and released their first album , `` battalions of fear '' , in 1988 .
over the releases , blind guardian established themselves as a notable successful band and as pioneers of the power metal movement .
in 1996 , kürsch stopped acting as the band 's bass guitarist to focus on vocals .
various session members replaced him , mainly oliver holzwarth .
however , in 2005 , stauch left the band , disapproving of blind guardian 's transition into a more complex progressive sound with a heavy use of backing vocals , and was replaced by ehmke .
most of blind guardian 's albums were well received by fans and critics alike : `` somewhere far beyond '' -lrb- 1992 -rrb- , `` imaginations from the other side '' -lrb- 1995 -rrb- , and `` nightfall in middle-earth '' -lrb- 1998 -rrb- , are especially seen as influential works .
the music is mostly composed by kürsch and olbrich together , and the lyrics , written by kürsch , are mostly inspired by the fiction of fantasy authors such as j. r. r. tolkien , michael moorcock , robert jordan , stephen king and george r. r. martin as well as traditional legends and epics .
over the years a theme has developed which personifies the band members as travelling storytellers , leading fans to refer to the band affectionately as `` the bards '' .
