Hansi Kürsch — born in Krefeld, Germany, on 10 August 1966 — is Blind Guardian's singer, lyricist and co-founder, and the author of one of the most imitated sonic signatures in European metal. That signature is the choir. Kürsch records his own voice in dozens of overlaid layers, building vocal blocks that sound like a whole choir singing at once. It is not a studio effect applied at random: the layers are written in distinct harmonies, like the parts of a choral piece, and that is what gives Blind Guardian the density that sets it apart from any other power metal band. His lyrics come from literature, not the generic fantasy the genre tends to recycle. Nightfall in Middle-Earth (1998) is an entire album built on Tolkien's The Silmarillion — a continuous narrative with characters and spoken passages, one of the first concept albums wholly devoted to that work. Other records draw on Stephen King, Michael Moorcock and Frank Herbert. Until the mid-1990s he combined the duties of singer and bassist, giving up the instrument to concentrate on his voice. He also maintains Demons & Wizards, a project in partnership with Iced Earth's Jon Schaffer.
Bands they were part of and guest appearances (feat.) on other bands.
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