BLIND GUARDIAN To Release Re-Recorded Version Of 1992 Breakthrough Album 'Somewhere Far Beyond'

Legendary German heavy metal pioneers BLIND GUARDIAN have announced the release of an epic re-recorded version of their classic 1992 breakthrough album "Somewhere Far Beyond".

"Somewhere Far Beyond Revisited", which was recorded in 2022 and 2023, is a refreshing and powerful tribute to one of the most influential albums in German metal history. It paved the way for BLIND GUARDIAN's international career that is still going strong today and this re-recording impresses with all the class and quality these pioneers have been known and respected for since forming as LUCIFER'S HERITAGE three decades ago.

"Somewhere Far Beyond Revisited" will be released on August 2, 2024 coinciding with BLIND GUARDIAN's triumphant return to this year's edition of Wacken Open Air festival, and a wide selection of physical variants can be pre-ordered as of today.

To give you a first impression of the new sound, "The Quest For Tanelorn (Revisited)" has been released as a single today. A music video by Dirk Behlau featuring historic and new studio, backstage and live footage has also been made available. You can watch it below.

"Somewhere Far Beyond Revisited" track listing:

01. Time What Is Time (Revisited) (05:45)
02. Journey Through The Dark (Revisited) (04:49)
03. Black Chamber (Revisited) (01:00)
04. Theatre Of Pain (Revisited) (04:18)
05. The Quest For Tanelorn (Revisited) (06:06)
06. Ashes To Ashes (Revisited) (06:03)
07. The Bard's Song - In The Forest (Revisited) (03:27)
08. The Bard's Song - The Hobbit (Revisited) (04:10)
09. The Piper's Calling (Revisited) (01:02)
10. Somewhere Far Beyond (Revisited) (07:33)

The album will be released as a limited-edition three-disc digipak which contains an additional 2022 live version of the entire album on a separate CD and a Blu-ray disc with the anniversary sets at Rock Hard Festival and Hellfest 2022. "Somewhere Far Beyond Revisited" will also be available as gatefold LP with a 24-page LP booklet and as jewelcase CD as well as a digital album.

After releasing three albums on No Remorse Records, "Somewhere Far Beyond" was BLIND GUARDIAN's major label debut via Virgin Records and opened the doors to the Japanese market resulting in a wider availability and presence on the global metal scene. After finding the right balance of speed, heaviness, melodies, drama, and irresistible choruses on 1990's "Tales From The Twilight World", "Somewhere Far Beyond" honed this approach to perfection, evolving further on a conceptual level and increasing BLIND GUARDIAN's sonic range. On "Somewhere Far Beyond" the band experimented with keyboards, orchestrations, and folk elements, the latter manifesting in the group's best-known song and live staple "The Bard's Song (In The Forest)", whereas other tracks like "Ashes To Ashes", the rapid "Journey Through The Dark" or "The Quest For Tanelorn" connected well with previous mostly fast-paced albums yet offered an additional push in dynamics.

Fast forward 30 years! Prior to releasing the much-lauded opus "The God Machine" in September 2022, BLIND GUARDIAN had been performing "Somewhere Far Beyond" in its entirety at Rock Hard Festival and Hellfest in summer 2022 in front of tens of thousands of fans singing along to each track. Both shows were filmed and recorded professionally and aired via WDR and ARTE. For the limited triple-disc edition of "Somewhere Far Beyond Revisited", the Hellfest material was newly edited by the band's longtime videographer Dirk Behlau using additional multi-cam footage. The idea of re-recording the album originated from the rehearsals for these shows as Hansi Kürsch explains in the detailed liner notes.

"The original idea wasn't to do a re-recording," he writes. "When rehearsing for the anniversary gigs, corona hit and we couldn't be certain that those shows would take place. We still wanted to celebrate the anniversary of the album and if we wouldn't be able to include a live version, we initially thought we could at least record the rehearsals."

Not 100% satisfied with those rough versions, BLIND GUARDIAN decided to go all in, knowing the risk of being frowned upon by fans who consider re-recordings utter blasphemy.

"We tried to recapture what we did in 1992 but compensate youth with skillful experience, though in a hungry way," Hansi says. "We never discussed any major changes but with over 30 years of experience, and our current lineup, those ingredients already add a new flavor to it."

With the basic tracks recorded in a live setting, "Somewhere Far Beyond Revisited" is leaner and more focused on impact in terms of guitar arrangements yet retains all the harmonies and melodies essential to the original.

"We finally ended up with this cool hybrid version," guitarist André Olbrich adds. "We combined how we play the songs today, but at the same time, really tried to retain that speed metal spirit of the early '90s!"

Photo by Dirk Behlau