Battalions of Fear
Encyclopedia
Battalions of Fear is the debut album by German
metal
band Blind Guardian
. It was released in 1988 and is a straightforward metal album. The album is a raw and unpolished speed metal
effort that touches on thrash metal
. This album lacks many of the stylistic flourishes that would mark the band's music in later years. It was remastered, remixed and re-released on 15 June 2007, with the whole first demo tape, Symphonies of Doom, of the band (at the time called Lucifer's Heritage) as part of the bonus tracks. It is a significant power metal
album along with Stratovarius
's Fright Night
and Helloween
's first albums.
and Hansi Kürsch
, except where noted.
Bonus Track
2007 Re-release Bonus Tracks
Note: the 2007 re-release has "Gandalf's Rebirth" bonus tracks, although it is not listed as such.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in the mid-1980s in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres...
. It was released in 1988 and is a straightforward metal album. The album is a raw and unpolished speed metal
Speed metal
Speed metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from NWOBHM and hardcore punk roots. It is described by Allmusic as "extremely fast, abrasive, and technically demanding" music....
effort that touches on thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
. This album lacks many of the stylistic flourishes that would mark the band's music in later years. It was remastered, remixed and re-released on 15 June 2007, with the whole first demo tape, Symphonies of Doom, of the band (at the time called Lucifer's Heritage) as part of the bonus tracks. It is a significant power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
album along with Stratovarius
Stratovarius
Stratovarius are a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1984. Since their formation they have released 13 studio albums and one live album. Along with Helloween, Blind Guardian, Rhapsody of Fire and Gamma Ray, Stratovarius are considered one of the leading groups of the power metal and symphonic...
's Fright Night
Fright Night (album)
Fright Night is the first studio album by Finnish power metal band Stratovarius, released in 1989 through Columbia Records; a remastered edition was reissued in 2003.-Track listing:-Personnel:*Timo Tolkki – vocals, guitar, production...
and Helloween
Helloween
Helloween is a German power metal band founded in the mid 1980s by members of Iron Fist and Powerfool. The band was a pioneering force in the European Power Metal movement and their second and third studio albums, Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt...
's first albums.
Track listing
All songs written by André OlbrichAndré Olbrich
André Olbrich is the lead guitarist of the German power metal band Blind Guardian. He is one of the band's founders together with vocalist Hansi Kürsch, and serves as one of its main songwriters....
and Hansi Kürsch
Hansi Kürsch
Hans Jürgen Kürsch, better known as Hansi Kürsch is a German musician, the lead vocalist and lyricist of power metal band Blind Guardian. Together with André Olbrich, he is also the principal songwriter for the band. He was also the bassist in Blind Guardian until the 1998 album Nightfall in...
, except where noted.
- "Majesty" – 7:28
- "Guardian of the Blind" – 5:09 (André Olbrich, Hansi Kürsch, Marcus Siepen, Thomas Stauch)
- "Trial by the ArchonArchonArchon is a Greek word that means "ruler" or "lord", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem ἀρχ-, meaning "to rule", derived from the same root as monarch, hierarchy, and anarchy.- Ancient Greece :In ancient Greece the...
" – 1:41 - "Wizard's Crown" – 3:48
- "Run for the Night" – 3:33
- "The MartyrMartyrA martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
" – 6:14 - "Battalions of Fear" – 6:06
- "By the Gates of MoriaMoria (Middle-earth)In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Moria was the name given by the Eldar to an enormous underground complex in north-western Middle-earth, comprising a vast network of tunnels, chambers, mines and huge halls or 'mansions', that ran under and ultimately through the Misty Mountains...
" – 2:52
Bonus Track
- "GandalfGandalfGandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West...
's Rebirth" – 2:10
2007 Re-release Bonus Tracks
- "Brian" (Demo Version) – 2:41
- "HalloweenHalloweenHallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
(The Wizard's Crown)" (Demo Version) – 3:22 - "Lucifer's Heritage" (Demo Version) – 4:36
- "Symphonies of Doom" (Demo Version) – 4:08
- "Dead of the Night" (Demo Version) – 3:33
Note: the 2007 re-release has "Gandalf's Rebirth" bonus tracks, although it is not listed as such.
Personnel
- Hansi KürschHansi KürschHans Jürgen Kürsch, better known as Hansi Kürsch is a German musician, the lead vocalist and lyricist of power metal band Blind Guardian. Together with André Olbrich, he is also the principal songwriter for the band. He was also the bassist in Blind Guardian until the 1998 album Nightfall in...
– vocals and bass - André OlbrichAndré OlbrichAndré Olbrich is the lead guitarist of the German power metal band Blind Guardian. He is one of the band's founders together with vocalist Hansi Kürsch, and serves as one of its main songwriters....
– lead guitar and backing vocals - Marcus SiepenMarcus SiepenMarcus Siepen is one of two guitarists in the power metal band Blind Guardian. For the biggest percentage of Blind Guardian's songs, particularly in more recent years, he has almost strictly played rhythm guitar, with most lead and solo work being performed by André Olbrich.-Personal:Siepen is...
– rhythm guitar and backing vocals - Thomas "Thomen" Stauch – drums
Other
- van Waay Design – cover painting
- Kalle Trapp – Recording, mixing and producing
Lyrical references
- "Majesty" is based on J. R. R. TolkienJ. R. R. TolkienJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
. One can also find references to The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
from the songs "Wizard's Crown" and "Run For the Night" - "By the Gates of Moria" and "Gandalf's Rebirth" are instrumentals and thus contain no lyrics but are also based on the same work. "By the Gates of Moria" is derived from Antonín DvořákAntonín DvorákAntonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World"Symphony No. 9 (Dvorák)The Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World", Op. 95, B. 178 , popularly known as the New World Symphony, was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893 during his visit to the United States from 1892 to 1895. It is by far his most popular symphony, and one of the most popular in the modern repertoire...
. - "Guardian of the Blind" is based on Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's ItIt (novel)It is a 1986 horror novel by American author Stephen King. The story follows the exploits of seven children as they are terrorized by the eponymous inter-dimensional predatory life-form that exploits the fears and phobias of its victims in order to disguise itself while hunting its prey. "It"...
. - "The Martyr" is about Jesus Christ.
- "Battalions of Fear" is criticism against Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and his politics as the President of the United States of America. - "Wizard's Crown" is about Aleister CrowleyAleister CrowleyAleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
. Was also originally titled "Halloween" on the album Symphonies of Doom(1985) while the band was still Lucifer's Heritage.