BLIND GUARDIAN - Somewhere Far Beyond (Revisited) - LP - Black Vinyl [AUG 2]

LP - Black Vinyl with 24-page booklet. 

Right on time with their show at 2024’s edition of Wacken Open Air, BLIND GUARDIAN proudly present “Somewhere Far Beyond Revisited” on August 2nd which includes a complete re-recording of this classic as well as a live celebration of 1992’s “Somewhere Far Beyond”, a landmark record for Germany’s heavy metal titans.

After three albums on No Remorse Records, it was the band’s major label debut coming out via Virgin Records and opened 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 increasingly daring take on BLIND GUARDIAN’s sonic range. “Somewhere Far Beyond” experimented with keyboards, orchestrations, and folk elements, the latter manifesting in the group’s best-known song and live staple, ‘The Bard 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 “The God Machine” opus 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 ten thousands of fans singing along each track word by word, 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 long-time videographer Dirk Behlau using additional multi-cam footage.

The idea of re-recording the album originated from the rehearsals for such shows as Hansi Kürsch explains in the detailed liner notes: “The original idea wasn’t to do a re-recording. 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 skilful experience, though in a hungry way. We never discussed any major changes but with over 30 years of experience, and our current line-up, those ingredients already add a new flavour 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”, André adds. “We combine how we play the songs today, but at the same time, really tried to seize that speed metal spirit of the early 90s!” 

Ultimately, “Somewhere Far Beyond Revisited” is a refreshing and powerful tribute to one of the most influential albums in German metal history, which 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 are known and respected for since forming as Lucifer’s Heritage three decades ago.  

Tracklist:

Side A
1.    Time What is Time (Revisited)
2.    Journey Through the Dark (Revisited)
3.    Black Chamber (Revisited)
4.    Theatre of Pain (Revisited)
5.    The Quest for Tanelorn (Revisited)

Side B
1.    Ashes to Ashes (Revisited)
2.    The Bard's Song - In the Forest (Revisited)
3.    The Bard's Song - The Hobbit (Revisited)
4.    The Piper's Calling (Revisited)
5.    Somewhere Far Beyond (Revisited)