Alan Dixon from Canada's The Metal Voice spoke to Demons & Wizards Jon Schaffer (Iced Earth) and Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardien) at the Corona Theater in Montreal, Quebec Canada on September 1 2019 Watch here
When asked about why the two Demons and Wizards albums and the band have become more popular over time with fans "It's a blessing for us I think it's just an honest chemistry between Hansi and I. It goes back to a brotherhood and that happened way before we wrote songs together and that translates into the music. It somehow became this timeless thing and somehow resonated with all the fans over the years. We heard about all the love but once got the offer to headline at Wacken 2019 we were looking at each other on face time going holy shit this has got real. Then it escalated into the crazy schedule we had last year. " Jon When asked if they will be including Iced Earth and Blind Guardian songs in the set list "There will be a little bit but that is more of a tribute to the two bands, just to lift up the set list a little. Though Demons and Wizards songs run through very well." Hansi When asked about the new upcoming Demons and Wizards album and what makes it different from an Iced Earth album "The biggest thing is I have pretty much removed myself from the crafting of the vocal parts. The music is not going to be radically different from Iced Earth. The difference would be the way I would hear the vocal part versus the way Hansi would hear it and the way he gets inspired by the vocal melodies and lyrics from the music. Those things coming together create a unique sounding monster." Jon
When asked how the new upcoming album sounds different from the first two albums "First of all Jon is on fire in regards to the songwriting. This time Jon had 3 songs prepared in the last 2-3 years. The majority of songs were done in quite a short amount of time. Jon sent these songs to me and I caught his fire. There is a very organic natural output that we are going to release in February 2020." Hansi When asked about upcoming Blind Guardian projects "It's non stop we always take our time, in this case for the orchestral project, it was more than 20 years and it luckily comes to an end now. It will be released on November 8 2019. It features a completely different part of us even though the music is similar to what we did on Nightfall in Middle Earth. No heavy guitars, no drums just the orchestra and me singing." Hansi When asked about the re-recording of the old Iced Earth Albums "That has been discussed but there are so many Iced Earth anniversaries coming up so I am quite busy. The main focus right now is to make the new Demons and Wizards album F*** groove. The re-records thing there are some plans that we are going to see in the coming weeks." Jon Tour Dates Sep. 04 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium Sep. 05 - New York, NY - The Playstation Theater Sep. 07 - Atlanta, GA – ProgPower USA The DEMONS & WIZARDS touring lineup is as follows: * Hansi Kürsch (BLIND GUARDIAN) - Lead Vocals * Jon Schaffer (ICED EARTH) - Guitar * Jake Dreyer (WITHERFALL, ICED EARTH) - Lead Guitar * Marcus Siepen (BLIND GUARDIAN) - Bass * Fredrik Ehmke (BLIND GUARDIAN, SINBREED) - Drums * Joost Van Den Broek (AFTER FOREVER, AYREON) - Keyboards DEMONS & WIZARDS recently released remastered versions of its first two albums on all digital platforms. , "Demons & Wizards" (2000) and "Touched By The Crimson King" (2005) were also released as expanded deluxe editions on June 7.
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