Heavy Metallurgy Presents: Episode #76 - Blind Guardian Deep Dive and Ranking with S. Craig Zahler

Writer, film maker, musician, illustrator. S.Craig Zahler is a creature of many talents, but at his core lurks a voracious metal head. We are pleased to have him on the program, finally! Zahler will be joining Marty and Alan on Wednesday to dig deep into the years of Blind Guardian's powerful catalog. We'll even rank them for you as well.
So join us on Wednesday for a laid back conversation detailing one of Germany's mightiest metal exports!
To access S. Craig Zahler related wares, follow the links below!
S. Craig Zahler's goodreads page for occasional updates on projects...
/ 4397295.s_craig_zahler
My rateyourmusic page, where I have many lists and have rated about 3400 albums...
rateyourmusic....
New hardback sci-fi graphic novel, Organisms from an Ancient Cosmos
www.amazon.com...
Horror graphic novel, Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus
floatingworldc...
Crime (prose) novel
The Slanted Gutter
www.amazon.com...

[@matzbadlieutenant1689]

hey guys love your channel for some time now but only recently stumbled upon this amazing guardian special u did! just great!👍! so seeing them live tonight this is the perfect companion to get hyped up right now! cheers from austria

[@shevek8]

Such a great episode. I just finished watching Zahler's movies, and discovered the metal maniacs connection. Was a big fan of that magazine and kept several copies. I really enjoyed all of your detailed and enthusiastic song descriptions.

[@b-retrogamer2324]

I’m really enjoying Follow The Blind at the moment

[@JosephKissSr.]

Went back after discovering your channel and watched this and loved the detailed breakdown of the BG catalog. Just saw them live again on Saturday and they still bring it.

[@HeavyMetallurgy]

I would have loved to have caught them on this album cycle. Even more so now that my kid has gotten into them. Glad you discovered the channel! There’s countless hours of content for you to catch up on! Thanks for watching!

[@zer0ed779]

Wowowowow! Love his films!!!! What a gem of a video.

[@HeavyMetallurgy]

Amazing guy. Glad we finally got him warmed up on the idea of doing these. He has seen the light! Haha

[@CinemaATTACKS]

bummed I couldn't watch this live as I'm a big Zahler fan. I've only recently been getting into Blind Guardian so this was a perfect primer. Cheers guys!

[@s.craigzahler6797]

Thanks for the support. I'll be on the show again...

[@cirkuslizard8697]

I only have a handful of Blind Guardian albums, but this was super enjoyable. Hope to see Zahler again in the near future. Love the detailed analysis.

[@HeavyMetallurgy]

He will indeed be back. Love the guy and have ALWAYS respected his views on this stuff, even if I may disagree with him on occasion! Glad you enjoyed the show and thanks for watching!

[@s.craigzahler6797]

Thanks...I plan to return.

[@everythingizextreme666]

this is 100% the best review ranking Ive ever seen.....fantastic work

[@HeavyMetallurgy]

Hey thanks for that. Glad you enjoyed the show! Thanks for watching

[@TobiasKramer-v9p]

I love the first albums ;)

[@fruitchewx127]

I love Blind Guardian's silly covers. Barbara Ann, Mr Sandman, Dream a Little Dream, Merry Christmas Everybody. All so much fun, shows they don't take themselves too seriously. Also "Andre" on Lord of The Rings was actually Marcus lol.

[@dimitarmitev7176]

The 3 top bands of mine - BG, Helloween and Gamma Ray, besides the great Music of theirs, also make the best covers ever!b😁

[@robertmorris8371]

Great deep dive Blind Guardian have been another band like helloween that I've gotten into through heavy metallurgy shows I suppose a rage deep dive would be to epic an undertaking given the size of their discography? fantastic show as always!

[@patriceye3892]

Imagination from the other side is my favorite BG album.

[@HeavyMetallurgy]

Fully agreed. Perfection! Thanks for watching.

[@Protometal66]

It would have been the review of Nightfall in Middle Earth in Metal Maniacs that prompted me to buy it. I remember it being a Japanese import that I bought from Metal Disc ( remember them?) as well as several other releases. I had a 5 CD changer at the time and loaded it up . Was reading either Terrorizer or Metal Maniacs when Blind Guardian came up. Was blown away. Definitely worth every dollar I paid for it which was quite a bit at the time. While I'm thoroughly enjoying God Machine , NIME is probably still my favorite.

[@holspa]

Super interesting you guys opinions about each album. I watch it little by little, very entertaining.

[@dimitarmitev7176]

Mee Too 😅🥃

[@theglobalinstituteofmetal]

Great show as always and good to finally put a face to Mr Zahler. Given Alan’s repeated reference to Sentinel Steel zine and your own involvement in zines can we have a deep dive into metal zines?

[@HeavyMetallurgy]

Not a bad idea. We shall see. There are limitless possibilities for topics and we're just getting warmed up! Thanks for watching!

[@everythingizextreme666]

yess awesome my fav band been a fan since 1998! top 5 for me: 1. IFTOS 2. tales 3. somewhere 4. nightfall 5. a night at the opera/at the edge of time ...also Tokyo Tales is one of the best live albums to date. I really enjoyd their newest albums as well! tommyknockers is one of the best BG songs for me :p also the last candle..what a amazing album... and yes I agree about everything u said about bright Eyes....IFTOS is flawless....

[@HeavyMetallurgy]

I agree… Tokyo Tapes rips. The band was on fire and the recording is perfect. I also enjoy “Live” (Bard’s Tavern). Such an amazing band.

[@everythingizextreme666]

yeah that one was great as well...really liked under the ice, punishment, lord of the rings on that newer one... amazing band like you say!@@HeavyMetallurgy

[@dimitarmitev7176]

😁 The 1st 2 (may be all 3) albums of BG (together w/ the Lucifer's Heritage demos) are The Most-Weirdest albums in Heavy Metal History, so... it's no surprise some of you are confused where to put them, in any aspect.

[@carlomercorio1250]

Used to buy Metal Maniacs back in the 1990s in Johannesburg, South Africa. Best metal mag ever!

[@HeavyMetallurgy]

Yeah man. I agree. I was a fan before I wrote for it. Sadly missed.

[@hectorescobar9450]

Been a metal fan for as long as I can remember and truly mean no disrespect when I say this. I’m a huge Metallica fan, however About your comment on the song ‘Sacred Mind” from the ‘Red Mirror’ album. I think that is the highlight of the album and I truly believe that it shits all over ‘Battery’ in terms of musicianship and narrative.

[@dimitarmitev7176]

🤣🥃

[@hectorescobar9450]

@@dimitarmitev7176 sorry bud, Battery is too repetitive

[@dimitarmitev7176]

@@hectorescobar9450, I meant almost the same, BG outmatch any Metallica, even though I don't like anything BG have done after 2003 :)

[@hectorescobar9450]

@@dimitarmitev7176 strange to me, considering that most of recent releases have the same formula of ‘ Night at the Opera” but with some better tracks

[@dimitarmitev7176]

@@hectorescobar9450, to me the Opera was better as it inherited much from the Nightfall. Everything after that has more and more simpler pop-ish melodies and musical ideas and I can't see that talent thay they were known of. Plus the drum-machine-like drumming of the new guy. That's why I don't like these albums from the Twist onwards, it's not the complexity of compositions and production, nor the simphonic experiments.

[@DamnableReverend]

Goodness, that's a long one. Great talk though. Craig mighta good point about the value of "space" in music. I too like that very much and so sometimes when metal bands have drums and vocals in particular just going at full tilt all the time it gets a little on my nerves. As for thsi band...well, yeah, the big bombastic stuff is too much for me. I'm not a "metal or bust" kind of guy at all but fora band like Blind Guardian, i'm there for the riffs. Really haven't been able to bring myself to listen to them since Night at the Opera and still not sure I will. This was fun though.

[@TMINE100]

I missed the intro and didnt realize it was the great director when I watched it around the time. I just thought he had the same name lol.

[@HeavyMetallurgy]

Nope....l he's the one and only Zahler! Thanks for watching!

[@MrRandalFlagg]

I think you slept on Punishment Divine a bit (then again I've not heard the studio version for ages), but in general yeah, A Night at the Opera is a tiring experience.

[@MrRandalFlagg]

oh, right! there are songs from that album on that 2003 live and they sound so much better without tons of shit stuffed in them

[@recordmass6298]

Interesting fact. Here in Europe (southern Europe especially) they're a band that has been so "overplayed" especially during the "Lord of the rings" and post era (bars, shows, merchandise, coverage in general, etc) that it got a lot of animosity for that, especially in the more underground circles. I like some of their their stuff, but they got too saturated for me.

[@HeavyMetallurgy]

Understood and that makes sense as most metal communities often tire of the local "scene" bands. Thanks for watching.

[@willemlenders8272]

Whenever I hear The quest for tenderloin I get really hungry.

[@HeavyMetallurgy]

Just don't overcook it, like BG did on Night at the Opera!

[@kaptaink1897]

Imaginations From the Other Side is my favorite. I can't help but sing along with that one. Night at the Opera might be the first time I thought of an album as being really over-produced, to the point where it's a problem. I find it abrasive and uncomfortable to listen to, and that's coming from a guy who likes raw black metal.

[@HeavyMetallurgy]

Agreed Kaptain... they really overdid it on this album, both conceptually and sonically. Does it suck? Nah. Just too much and the songs felt like a step backwards from Nightfall. Cheers.

[@dimitarmitev7176]

Hooly sheeet! 🤣 Another 4 hour 'introduction' for 1 of my top 3 favorite bands of all Muzik!... You'll have to make another 4-h. show on Gamma Ray and the circle will be full... Don't Break The Circle!... The circle must be going on and on 🤫🤐🙄🫣😁🍻

[@dimitarmitev7176]

These 3 bands have also always made the best cover songs Ever! 😜

[@dimitarmitev7176]

"Mirror, Mirror" is their "I Want Out" 🥸💣🤫😄🍻

[@dimitarmitev7176]

And "ATTWSilence" is their "Keeper" song. So... what's not to like here??? 🫨😯🙄🤔🥸

[@dimitarmitev7176]

But "ATITMyth" is for me as Chameleon for Alan, or "Better Than Raw" 🤐