Blind Guardian is a German heavy metal band formed in the mid-1980s in Krefeld, West Germany. The band is often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres, Blind Guardian was a part of the German heavy metal scene that emerged in the mid-1980's.

The band's lyrics, written by vocalist Hansi Krsch, are inspired by the fiction of fantasy authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, Stephen King, and Michael Moor , as well as traditional legends and epics. Over the years, a running theme has developed associating the band members with traveling bards.

Blind Guardian formed in 1984 as a German Celtic Metal band in Krefeld, Germany, by Hansi Krsch (vocals, bass) and Andre Olbrich under the name Lucifer's Heritage. The band first released two demos in 1985 and 1986, despite undergoing chaotic lineup changes: Markus Drk and Thomen Stauch (drums) were replaced by Christof Theien and Hans-Peter Frey, respectively. Finally, in 1987, Marcus Siepen joined and Thomen came back to form the lineup which would stay consistent for the next 18 years.

After Lucifer's Heritage signed a contract with No Remorse Records, the band changed their name to Blind Guardian to avoid any speculations about Satanism (in a bio it was stated that they also wanted to distance themselves from the black metal movement, as their demos were placed in with black metal albums at local record shops). They released their debut alb*m Battalions of Fear in 1988, which was essentially a speed metal alb*m heavily influenced by Helloween. These two German bands had close ties, and Helloween founder Kai Hansen made a guest appearance on Blind Guardian's second LP, Follow the Blind (1989), where the band revealed some thrash metal influence. Their third LP, Tales from the Twilight World (1990), had a much more melodic and epic feeling, with usage of choir and classical music influence.

Blind Guardian signed with Virgin Records in 1991, and released their fourth studio alb*m Somewhere Far Beyond in 1992 the live alb*m Tokyo Tales in 1993. Flemming Rasmussen, former Metallica producer, began working with the band in 1994, producing their fifth studio alb*m Imaginations from the Other Side, released in 1995, and The Forgotten Tales, an alb*m that contained half covers and half original work, released in 1996.

In 1998, Blind Guardian released their epic alb*m Nightfall in Middle-Earth. Complete with anthemic choruses, spoken word story lines, and plenty of bombastic power metal punctuating every dramatic turn, says Allmusic's Vincent Jeffries, Nightfall in Middle-Earth is perhaps Blind Guardian's most triumphant. A concept alb*m based on J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion, Blind Guardian's music demonstrated some folk rock influence, but also featured heavy use of Queen-style layered backing vocals. Since Nightfall, bas* guitar has been played by sessional member Oliver Holzwarth, and Hansi has been able to devote all his attention to singing. Nightfall was also the last Blind Guardian alb*m produced by Rasmussen.

A Night at the Opera, named after the Queen album, was released four years later. On this album, the band's sound lacked almost all influence of their original speed metal. Power and progressive metal abound, with over the top orchestral backing and a consistent vocal and guitar layering throughout. Though not a true concept album, many of the lyrics dealt with the common themes of religion and relations between human and divine powers. It was followed by a live alb*m in 2003 and a DVD, Imaginations Through the Looking Glas* (2004), which was the last recorded Blind Guardian material to feature Thomen Stauch on drums. He left the band due to musical differences and was replaced by Frederik Ehmke. The first alb*m with Ehmke was A Twist in the Myth, which came out in 2006.

Blind Guardian recently parti ted in the soundtrack for the In the Name of the King: a Dungeon Siege Tale fantasy movie,(Uwe Boll) which came out in 2008. The band also recorded a theme song for Sacred 2 Fallen Angel RPG video game, the prequel to Sacred. According to recent interviews, the song, titled Sacred, will not be released until their next alb*m as a bonus track. Songwriting for their next alb*m has started and at the same time the band is working with the Orchestral Project. It will be decided at a later date whether they will release a new alb*m or the Orchestral Project first. Regardless, there won't be a new alb*m released before 2010. The orchestral project may be postponed however; in a recent interview at Bloodstock 2009, the band revealed that their new material is of a similar style to Nightfall in Middle Earth.

On October 10th, 2009 Hansi updated the Blind Guardian website about the upcoming album. It will contain a song called Wheel Of Time, named and inspired from the fantasy book series. The alb*m will contain 11 new songs. In this post, Hansi has stated that they will have finished mixing the alb*m somewhere in April 2010 and that they are targeting a late summer, early fall release. Also in the post, Hansi has announced that he intends to constantly provide fans with information about the album's progress, and to expect a sample from the alb*m before Christmas 2009.