German power metallers BLIND GUARDIAN will release a new single, "Deliver Us From Evil", on December 3 via Nuclear Blast. The song is a taste of the band's new album, set to arrive in September 2022.
"Deliver Us From Evil" will be available digitally as well as on a seven-inch single (along with the previously released "Merry Xmas Everybody" as the B-side) and digipak CD (with the previously released "Violent Shadows" Wacken World Wide 2020 live performance as extra track).
BLIND GUARDIAN frontman Hansi Kürsch stated about the new single: "What can I say? We're very happy to be able to offer you a brand new song of our forthcoming album, out in September 2022. The physical single also contains the 2020 Christmas banger 'Merry Xmas Everybody' as well as the Wacken version of 'Violent Shadows' as extra on the CD, to shorten the waiting time until the new album.
"Whether vinyl or CD, I can assure you that this is the perfect accessory for your Christmas tree. The strictly limited vinyl can be played on all working vinyl players and has a perfect sound — in mono and stereo. Be brave and fast and get your copy as soon as possible. Vinyl is a rare resource these days...
"We know that the gap between now and the album release in late 2022 is painfully long. Neither we nor our label could defy the current worldwide economic crisis. A long story short: There is no one to blame for this situation. With 'Deliver Us From Evil', you will get another sweet appetizer of a very intense and vivid album that will hopefully raise your joyful anticipation until our next strike. At least, it would do it for me, but luckily I already know the whole album.
"Talking about anticipation, even though 'Violent Shadows' and 'Deliver Us From Evil' are indisputably fantastic tracks, rest assured: We won't let you wait another ten months with only two songs. I promise you that you will always be blown away. Cheers to the digital era and its endless possibilities. Oh, and the album title. There is one but I won't tell you yet. This would be giving away far too much right now."
This past July, Kürsch told Rock Hard Greece about the musical direction of BLIND GUARDIAN's new material: "It is by far the most intense album we did in a very, very long time. It is, in every measure, a roller-coaster ride. There is a lot of let-your-hair-down stuff — more than I expected. There are some typical surprising BLIND GUARDIAN elements.
"I'm just curious to see, really, or to hear what people will think about it. I think it's a very, very strong album. It will surprise a lot of people.
"It is straight-forward in the sense of BLIND GUARDIAN, so don't expect a straight-forward album if you compare it to anything else," he explained. "It's not a straight-forward album at all, but it's very straight-forward for BLIND GUARDIAN. It's very aggressive, it's very dark.
"The composing mostly has been accomplished before corona started to happen, but you can feel that there is a lot of anger in the album. It really delivers also very catchy and positive vibes, but there is a very raw energy you will feel."
BLIND GUARDIAN's latest release was the all-orchestral album "Twilight Orchestra: Legacy Of The Dark Lands", which came out in November 2019 via Nuclear Blast. To create the concept, lead guitarist André Olbrich and Kürsch worked alongside German bestselling author Markus Heitz, whose latest novel, "Die Dunklen Lande", was released in March 2019. The book is set in 1629 and contains the prequel to "Legacy Of The Dark Lands".
BLIND GUARDIAN's last "regular" studio album, "Beyond The Red Mirror", was issued in 2015. It was the band's first LP since 2010's "At The Edge Of Time", marking the longest gap between two studio albums in BLIND GUARDIAN's career. It was also the group's first album without bassist Oliver Holzwarth since 1995's "Imaginations From The Other Side". Holzwarth has since been replaced by Barend Courbois.
