Blind Guardian e a origem do nome da banda: dos primórdios satânicos ao título épico

Blind Guardian é um dos principais nomes do power metal mundial. Fundada na Alemanha, na década de 1980, a banda se destaca pela sonoridade épica e as letras inspiradas na mitologia nórdica, elementos clássicos e basilares deste subgênero. Mas, afinal, quem é o “Guardião Cego” do nome da banda?

A história da origem do nome “Blind Guardian” é menos misteriosa do que a figura sem rosto nas capas dos álbuns da banda poderia indicar. Na verdade, foi o receio de associação à cena do black metal que mudou os rumos de como seria chamado o projeto musical dos jovens alemães Hansi Kürsch, André Olbrich, Marcus Dörk e Thomen Stauch.

De acordo com o site oficial do Blind Guardian, o quarteto inicial lançou duas demos sob o nome de Lucifer’s Heritage (“herança de Lucifer”, em português), com músicas que seriam renovadas e usadas mais tarde para a discografia da banda como é conhecida atualmente. Com uma sonoridade mais voltada ao speed e thrash metal, esses lançamentos foram realizados nos anos de 1985 e 1986.

Porém, esse nome inicial não combinava tanto com os novos rumos que a banda viria a tomar. “Os Bardos [integrantes da banda], relutantes em sucumbir ao mal sedutor das vendas de discos de Black Metal, abandonaram seu nome satânico”, explica o site da banda.

A inspiração para o nome oficial de Blind Guardian veio do metal progressivo. Em 1986, o Fates Warning lançou o terceiro álbum de estúdio da carreira, chamado Awaken the Guardian, que possui uma música chamada “Guardian”.

Fates Warning – Trecho da letra de “Guardian”

Caminhando pelo corredor, homem cego
Por milhões de milhas de estrelas que sua mente viu
Pensa que ele pode viver na escuridão
Nós somos a escuridão, ele viu a luz do sonho
(…)
Eu permaneceria para testemunhar a dor
Eu estou além do silêncio sombrio
Eu voltarei como seu guardião




Agora com uma sonoridade diferente da trabalhada no Lucifer’s Heritage, finalmente adentrando no reino do power metal, o Blind Guardian estreou com o primeiro álbum, Battalions of Fear, em 1988. Logo neste primeiro álbum, a banda tem uma música bem similar ao nome escolhido: “Guardian of the Blind”.

Essa música, porém, não é sobre o tal “guardião cego” do nome da banda, mas uma obra inspirada na história de It, livro de Stephen King, narrando a jornada das sete crianças que lutam contra A Coisa. Na letra, a história é intercalada entre um narrador onisciente e a própria Coisa, que relata a estranha sensação de um guardião, um protetor dos cegos, que seriam as vítimas da criatura.

Blind Guardian – Trecho de “Guardian of the Blind”

Por um ritual nós ferimos a Coisa, mas não a matamos
Pequeno Billy, você deve encontrar o seu caminho, não
Acreditamos em você, pedimos, mas onde? Nós nunca podemos encontrar
Deve haver um sinal para o Guardião dos Cegos

Guardião, Guardião, Guardião dos Cegos
Agora ele sente a maldição do céu
Guardião, Guardião, Guardião dos Cegos
Agora ele sente a maldição




Nas capas dos álbuns do Blind Guardian, é comum aparecer uma figura encapuzada que é entendida por muitos fãs como o “guardião cego” da banda. Porém, ao contrário de Eddie, do Iron Maiden, por exemplo, não há uma história construída ao redor do personagem. Apesar de não existir uma resposta definitiva para quem é essa figura, é possível traçar os caminhos que levaram a banda até esse nome, hoje eternizado no metal mundial.

Euronymous: morte violenta marcou a história do Mayhem e do black metal

O guitarrista foi morto a facadas pelo colega de banda, Varg Vikernes


Há exatos 30 anos, em 10 de agosto de 1993, acontecia um assassinato que marcou para sempre a história do black metal. Você conhece a história da morte de Euronymous?

Euronymous era o nome artístico do guitarrista Øystein Aarseth, membro fundador da banda de black metal norueguesa Mayhem. Ele foi morto em seu apartamento pelo colega de banda, Varg Vikernes, com 23 facadas.

O Mayhem foi uma das bandas mais importantes da cena norueguesa de black metal e Euronymous era conhecido por suas opiniões polêmicas, sempre reclamando de outras bandas “falsas” que não viviam ativamente os temas sobre os quais cantavam: satanismo, ódio ao cristianismo, violência e morte.

O guitarrista se declarava um “satanista teísta”, ou seja, alguém que acreditava na existência de Satã. Ele dizia acreditar que “dor e miséria” eram coisas que deveriam ser espalhadas e era misantrópico, ou seja, odiava a raça humana. Seu comportamento acabava causando atrito com os outros integrantes do Mayhem, inclusive com o vocalista Per “Dead” Olin, que cometeu suicídio em 1991.

Depois da morte de Dead, Euronymous criou seu próprio selo musical, a Deathlike Sentence Productions, e um dos artistas assinados era Varg Vikernes, que eventualmente se tornou também baixista do Mayhem.

De acordo com reportagem do Coffeehouse Crime, Euronymous e Varg não se davam bem porque ambos queriam os holofotes e atenção do público, e ficavam disputando para ver quem conseguia chocar e sensacionalizar mais. Em junho de 1992, Varg elevou a competição a outro nível ao queimar uma igreja e usar uma foto dos destroços na capa de seu EP, Aske (1993). Isso levou a uma onda de queima de igrejas ao redor da Noruega associadas ao black metal e suas ideologias satânicas.
A noite da morte de Euronymous

Em meados de agosto de 1993, os álbuns solo de Varg Vikernes estavam vendendo relativamente bem, e Euronymous, dono do selo ao qual Varg pertencia, supostamente não estava pagando as royalties do artista. Para além disso, Varg teria ouvido de um amigo em comum que Euronymous estaria planejando sequestrá-lo, levá-lo até a floresta e torturá-lo até a morte para fazer o primeiro filme “snuff” do black metal.

Então, na noite de 10 de agosto de 1993, Varg foi até o apartamento de Euronymous a pedido do guitarrista, supostamente para entregar alguns contratos sem assinatura que estariam atrasando o pagamento das royalties. No apartamento, os dois colegas já se encontravam tensos e imaginando que o outro estivesse preparado para fazer algo. Um suposto movimento do braço de Varg teria alarmado Euronymous, que correu a buscar uma faca para se defender.

Os dois teriam então brigado e Euronymous teria eventualmente perdido a arma para Varg, sendo esfaqueado 2 vezes na cabeça, 5 no pescoço e 16 nas costas. Varg Vikernes foi condenado a 21 anos de prisão (pena máxima na Noruega) e ao sair demonstrou comportamentos neonazistas e antissemitas, tendo seu canal do YouTube deletado devido ao conteúdo que ele produzia. Hoje ele segue em liberdade depois de ter cumprido sua pena.
Ex-baixista também planejava a morte de Euronymous

Em 2019, o ex-baixista do Mayhem, Jørn Stubberud (também conhecido como Necrobutcher), revelou que ele mesmo planejava matar Euronymous.

Segundo Necrobutcher, o motivo da revolta com o guitarrista foi o fato dele ter tirado fotos do cadáver de Dead para usar em uma capa de álbum do Mayhem. Stubberud se encontrava muito “triste” e “magoado” com o suicídio do vocalista e o comportamento de Euronymous não ajudou.

“Isso não ajudou muito no luto”, contou para a Consequence of Sound. “Senti que precisava ir lá e matar o traidor Øystein ‘Euronymous’. Mas é engraçado, porque ele agiu pelas minhas costas, chamou o Vikernes e o colocou para tocar baixo no álbum [De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas]…e disso deu no que deu, acho que todos sabemos o que lhe aconteceu”.

RAVEN – HELL AIN’T A BAD PLACE TO BE

As the frontman for metal legends Raven, bassist / vocalist John Gallagher is one of metal's elder statesmen. He, along with his guitarist brother / co-founder Mark Gallagher, has seen and done it all since the band's 1974 inception, and they have no intention of slowing down any time soon. On the contrary, Raven's new album, All Hell's Breaking Loose, continues to narrow the gap between releases since their 2009 return following a construction accident that could have ended Mark Gallagher's, and the band's, career. It offers up everything one expects of the NWOBHM veterans and the era in general - it's fast, brazen and dirty - and although Raven is an acquired taste for some, John Gallagher is more than a little proud to be crushing skulls this late in the game, and happy people are still on board their rollercoaster.

"We know when we've got a good record, but it's nice to get validation," says Gallagher. "Absolutely. Probably over the past 10 or 15 years, we've been getting a lot of that 'I listened to you guys when I was a kid...' or 'You guys were a huge influence on our band.' That's really nice because we've been on that side of the fence, as it were, when we were talking to Jon Lord or Ian Paice (Deep Purple). Not that I'm putting myself up with those guys (laughs). Those guys were huge influences, so being able to tell them that was a very cool thing. Definitely."



Raven has been around for close to 50 years and are often cited as an influence by some major names in metal. As mentioned, Gallagher is proud of and grateful for the accolades, but says "we're very happy to (a) just be around, and (b) to be doing it better than we've ever done it.











"Everyone is surprised, of course, when you start looking at the figures. There was some chart on the internet that was sent to me by a friend, and it listed the longevity of bands; we were in the Top 6 or 7. It was like Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones and... us (laughs). That's quite humbling and sobering. We're also enjoying it more than we ever have, and that's obviously very good. But to your point, after Mark's accident in 2001 we had a good three years of absolutely nothing. When we finally got Walk Through Fire (2009), that was kind of like planting the flag in the sand and going 'Okay, this is where we start from.' We've reached the bar every time since. Being able to do that and just increase everything; made better records, increased our profile, done more shows. The big thing for us was getting Mike Heller (drums / Fear Factory) six years ago. That really kicked things up to a different level."

Gallagher feels Raven has a constant duty to live up to their five-decade legacy when they write new music.

"There's a standard we have to live up to, and a standard we have to beat. I can pick up and guitar, play anything, and say 'Okay, we're gonna build a song around that...' but no, come on, put a bit more thought into it. I could come up with something literally every time I pick up a guitar, but it's a case of taking the bits and pieces that I do come up with, sorting through them and figuring out which parts work together. Then I have to bash it off the guys and they add to it. That's our process. We've got to elevate it and be better than we were yesterday."

"One of the great things is seeing Iron Maiden increase in popularity over the past 15 to 20 years, to the point that they're bigger than ever. Do you know why? Because it's the rising tide that lifts all gods. It's good for music and it's good for metal. More power to them because that's what you want. You don't want the bands that are putting out half-assed watered-down albums because the whole scene gets tainted."

Even with that in mind, Gallagher says he didn't feel any real pressure going in to write All Hell's Breaking Loose. It was more a case of business as usual and knowing Raven is good at their job.

"A lot of that is kind of peripheral, in the back of my head," he says. "I have to be in a situation where I'm surrounded by guitars and I'm playing around with ideas. A little later on come the more craft end of it where I'm being vicious and saying 'This isn't good enough. We need something else.' We wrote a lot of songs for Metal City (2020), we wrote a lot of songs for this album, and some of them weren't good enough. There were others that could have been great, so we elevated them to the point that they became great. And there were others that there was no way they weren't going on the record because they kicked ass from the get-go."

"We had 10 songs, no longer than 40 minutes total, and we made sure they just beat you over the head. Nobody wants to hear an 80-minute metal album unless you want to come up with a concept that needs a narrative. This is why, back in the day, albums like Van Halen I or Montrose's first record, you played it, it kicked your ass, and you put it back on again. That was all part of the form because you couldn't be too long on a vinyl LP, but as soon as CDs came out with 83 minutes, the attitude was 'Let's fill it...' But if you don't have the material, don't do it. This new record, you can get your head around it and it makes sense because it's short and sweet."

"You also have to remember that back in the day, a 75-minute record was a huge artistic statement," Gallagher adds. "That was Tales From Topographic Oceans (Yes) and The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Genesis). You could handle that because there was a method to that madness. But just song after song, endlessly... nah."

As mainstays of the metal scene, Raven has lived through the various changes in how fans consume music. With streaming effectively screwing any artist not at KISS or Metallica level with regards to having a solid income, Raven are one of those bands pushing to turn a profit from touring to supplement whatever they do make from physical albums sales. Financial wrangling is nothing new for Gallagher, and he doesn't bat an eye.

"You've got to factor in that when we were with Atlantic the budgets were, by decimal points, far higher," he offers. "But the amount that we got, by decimal points, was far lower. We were going out on tour with Judas Priest, but we were getting a per diem of $20 a day. There was no thought of the band getting paid because we were out promoting a record, meanwhile Joe Schmoe tuning my guitars was getting $500 a week. At some point we looked at each other and said, 'I don't think so...' (laughs). That coincided with all the other factors, like Raven not being thrash or glam metal, and then grunge slipping in there which killed everyone else. We made hay where we could, so we went to Europe and Japan, and by the mid-2000s things started to get better in the States. We've been around the block long enough to have seen this happen before; the music business is cyclical, so when it gets tough you've just got to hang in."

BLACK SABBATH – LIVE EVIL (SUPER DELUXE EDITION)

It’s hard to believe that despite Black Sabbath being one of the top metal concert attractions throughout the ‘70s, the band never issued a live at any point during the initial Ozzy era. And while the unofficial Live At Last was issued in 1980 (from performances in early ’73), it was not until 1983’s Live Evil that metalheads received the Sab’s first fully sanctioned concert release – the last gasp of the initial Dio era – which has now been issued as an expanded edition.

There has been much said about the mixing of the album (which eventually led to Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice exiting the group after failing to see eye to eye with Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler), it does show that the band was still an extremely potent live act while touring in support of their classic Mob Rules LP. And unlike their former singer (who would only perform three Sab-era tunes in his set…tucked away at the very end), the Dio era of Sab split their set evenly between material from both singers throughou

SKID ROW GUITARIST DAVE "SNAKE" SABO TALKS PARAMOUNT+ DOCUSERIES "I WANNA ROCK: THE '80S METAL DREAM" - "ONE MINUTE WE WERE TOURING WITH BON JOVI, AND THE NEXT IT WAS WITH PANTERA AND SOUNDGARDEN

 

Paramount+ recently released the new three-part docuseries, I Wanna Rock: The '80s Metal Dream. Skid Row guitarist / co-founder Dave "Snake" Sabo appears in the documentary, and Metal Edge recently caught up with him to discuss his / the band's participation in the series. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

Metal Edge: What do you feel made Skid Row of particular interest (for the documentary)?



Sabo: "I think that even though Skid Row had been under the radar for a bit, we were still touring and managed to survive. And while we were touring, I got involved in the management side of things, and I think they found that intriguing, too. I wanted to speak about that aspect of things and that I've dealt with mental illness since I was a young kid, so that was another part of it. My personal story was something I felt ready to speak on, but I haven't seen the final cut, so I'm not sure how in-depth they went with it all.

JEFF YOUNG SAYS KINGS OF THRASH HAVE FIVE NEW ORIGINAL SONGS IN THE CAN FOR DEBUT ALBUM

 

Kings Of Thrash, featuring Megadeth alumni bassist David Ellefson and guitarist Jeff Young, recently returned from their Thrashin' Down Under Australian Tour and Young gave BraveWords an update on the original material the band is working on.

"It’s not frightening at all,” he says about creating new music that measures up to the band classic repertoire. “We have five tracks in the can. David lives in Arizona and we have this amazing underground recording studio. And in Arizona with that heat, it’s great if you’re underground because it’s like an oven there. That first song that David and I started which was spawned by the Menza movie. That song has come to life, and it’s called “Bridges Burned” (which has its origins from a riff Jeff brought in back in 1988, intended for what became Rust In Peace). We were doing it on the road with Kings Of Thrash. We’ve kind of taken a turn to where we are going to proceed. And David has talked about it a little bit, so I guess I can be the next one to leak out the next bit of news. Kings Of Thrash are going to continue to do exactly what we do. Doing the best of the classic Megadeth that we were a part of. It’s part of our heritage. We’re doing extra stuff in the encore like Riot’s ‘Swords And Tequila’. We even got Rick Ventura, the original guitar player, joining us when we were in New York. And I think we inspired them because Riot Act are out on the road performing Fire Down Under and it’s entirety. We are expanding and doing Metallica songs and Def Leppard’s ‘Wasted’ which is on David’s covers album. So Kings Of Thrash is going to continue on this path and play as many shows that people want to see us. For the original material, we are going to use a different singer. We are working with somebody who is frighteningly good. He’s already finished the vocals on 'Bridges Burned'. It’s really brand new, so I can’t really say too much more about it. The originals, they have thrash elements, but there’s everything because David and I have lived 10 different lives since Megadeth. We’ve grown as musicians, so we’re gonna bring all that stuff and the energy we had in our 20s and combine that with everything that we’ve learned in our 30s 40s and 50s is in that music. There is a thrash element, and it’s got the speedy, shreddy stuff, but we had much more. It’s like a jambalaya. I just love the songs. Each of the songs are quite different, but they all sound like the same band.”



Jeff Young will be on BraveWords' Streaming For Vengeance in the the coming days.

Crypta lança o aguardado álbum ‘Shades of Sorrow’

O quarteto brasileiro Crypta lança nesta sexta-feira, 04, o segundo álbum de estúdio, Shades of Sorrow

Apos polemica envolvendo  a vocalista que insiste em pedir pix na internet ,fica a duvida será que ela pediu pix para pagar esse álbum no famili mob  ou alguns de seus amigos da panela do metal ajudaram a pagar esse álbum...

Sucessor do aclamado Echoes Of The Soul (2021), o novo álbum é o primeiro a contar com a guitarrista Jéssica Di Falchi como integrante oficial da banda, substituta da holandesa Sonia Anubis, ao lado de Fernanda Lira (vocal e baixo), Luana Dametto (bateria) e Tainá Bergamaschi (guitarra).

O disco foi gravado no estúdio Family Mob, em São Paulo, a produção e engenharia de som é assinada por Rafael Augusto Lopes. A mixagem do disco foi feita em Estocolmo, Suécia, por Daniel Bergstrand, bem como a masterização, realizada no Fascination Street Studio pelo renomado Jens Bogren.