Biography
Demos, AFM years (1992-2003)
Edguy was founded in 1992 by 14-year-old students Tobias Sammet, Jens Ludwig, Dominik Storch and Dirk Sauer. The name "Edguy" was an affectionate epithet for their math teacher at the time. In 1994, the band released two demos, Evil Minded and Children of Steel. These tapes were sent to many record labels, all of whom rejected the band, believing they would be unsuccessful in the music business. Undeterred, they self released their ‘unofficial' debut album, Savage Poetry, in 1995. They signed with AFM Records shortly after, who offered to re-release Savage Poetry with more widespread distribution. The band rejected this proposal in favour of recording a new album, Kingdom of Madness, which was released in 1997, but drummer Dominik Storch left the band shortly after. 1998 saw the release of their second album, Vain Glory Opera, with friend Frank Lindenthal filling in on drums. This album helped expose Edguy to a wider audience, thanks in part to guest appearances from Timo Tolkki (Stratovarius) and Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian). The band was joined by new drummer Felix Bohnke and bassist Tobias ‘Eggi' Exxel later that year, allowing Tobias Sammet to solely focus on vocals (he had previously played bass as well handling vocal duties).
In 1999, Theater of Salvation was released. That same year frontman Tobias Sammet conceived the idea for the Avantasia project, a metal opera featuring well known vocalists and musicians from the rock and metal scene. Whilst Tobias focused on Avantasia, the band took the opportunity to re-record Savage Poetry, to make it widely available to newer fans, as the original had become a much sought after rarity.
Following The Savage Poetry re-recording was the band's fifth album, Mandrake, in 2001. The album was accompanied by their first promo video, for the track “All the Clowns”, as well as the Painting on the Wall single. The Mandrake album also led to the band's first headlining tour. Three shows were recorded in Europe and were the basis for Edguy's first live album, Burning Down the Opera. The band's contract with AFM had expired by this point, which led to them signing with Nuclear Blast Records in late 2003.
Nuclear Blast years (2004-present)
Edguy's first release for Nuclear Blast was the King of Fools EP in 2004. This preceded the Hellfire Club album, released shortly after. The song "Lavatory Love Machine" was also released as a single. The band's productivity continued into 2005 with the Superheroes EP and DVD, the latter featuring footage of the band live and in the studio, as well as a making of documentary for the video of the title track. This was followed by the full-length album Rocket Ride in January 2006.
Sammet spent much of 2007 relaunching the Avantasia project. Edguy returned to the studio in 2008 and recorded Tinnitus Sanctus, with a video being shot for the track “Ministry of Saints” in Belgrade, Serbia. After a contract renewal with Nuclear Blast in late 2008, the band released their first live DVD, Fucking with F***, in 2009. This featured live footage of the band shot in São Paulo, Brazil, on their Rocket Ride world tour in 2006. The band supported Scorpions on the German dates of their farewell tour in 2010.
Edguy released their ninth studio album, Age of the Joker, in August 2011. The band toured Europe and South America in support of the record, including dates with Slash and Deep Purple, as well as an appearance on the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise. In a recent interview promoting the latest release from his Avantasia project, Sammet revealed that a new Edguy album will be worked on in the summer of 2013, with a release tentatively scheduled for mid-2014.
On January 28, 2014 Edguy revealed that the album would be titled Space Police - Defenders of the Crown and released on April 18.
Style
Edguy's lyrics are often metaphorical, alluding to metaphysical or social themes: conformity ("The Headless Game", "Mysteria", "King of Fools"), dictation by the church ("The Kingdom", "The Pride of Creation", "Theater of Salvation"), and dangers of modern civilization ("Navigator", "The Devil and the Savant"). To express such themes, Edguy sometimes use esoteric and hermetic expressions. Yet some of their songs are light-hearted or comedic ("Das Reh", "Save Us Now", "Lavatory Love Machine", "Life and Times of a Bonus Track", "Trinidad"). Edguy does not claim to represent any ideology; Tobias Sammet claimed "[the band is] not political and we are not religious; at least there is no key message in our songs telling you what to think in terms of anything". Edguy also employs lengthy and epic sections in almost every album.
Hellfire Club revealed Edguy's interest in experimenting within music by integrating an orchestra into the production. The album featured a variation on Edguy's style, with a less grandiose, more progressive metal approach being embraced. The band's album Rocket Ride features even less power metal elements, and is arguably more oriented towards hard rock. Their next album, Tinnitus Sanctus, contains even more hard rock oriented songs; a large reduction of double bass drumming is evident, in contrast to Edguy's older albums such as Vain Glory Opera where there is very fast double bass which is common in the power metal genre.
When asked if the term "happy heavy metal band" applies to the band, Tobias rejected it and added:
We are a heavy metal band. We play angry, powerful, sometimes tongue-in-cheek metal. We are flamboyant and we don't take ourselves too seriously, but that goes for Van Halen too, right? Are they happy rock? No, they have a sense of humor and kick ass! Just like we do...
Studio albums
Savage Poetry (1995)
Kingdom of Madness (1997)
Vain Glory Opera (1998)
Theater of Salvation (1999)
The Savage Poetry (2000)
Mandrake (2001)
Hellfire Club (2004)
Rocket Ride (2006)
Tinnitus Sanctus (2008)
Age of the Joker (2011)
Space Police - Defenders of the Crown (2014)
Faces in the Darkness
Edguy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You don't see anything
And anything is what keeps me alive
I am the mess inside your mind
I am the black behind the light
I'm the tail of the glowing ball
That drowns in the horizon
I trail the setting sun
I'm every cold, cold night
The last one by your side
I am the face in the night
I make you open your eyes
Everytime you lay yourself to sleep
I am the beat in your veins
I'm the worm in your brain
I'm the one to make you start
Form your dreams
Where do you go from here
When nighttime is drawing near
You ain't gonna run, run, run...
When you open your eyes
You'll see them smile
Faces in the darkness
When you wake up from your dream
To burn the nighttime
Faces in the darkness
You hear the noises of the day
You hear them slowly fade away
And you're the only one sensing time again and again
Where do you go from here
When nighttime is drawing near
You ain't gonna run, run, run...
When you open your eyes
You'll see them smile
Faces in the darkness
When you wake up from your dream
To blame the nighttime
Faces in the darkness
Afraid of the night
[Solo]
When you open your eyes
You'll see them smile
Faces in the darkness
When you wake up from your dream
To burn the nighttime
Faces in the darkness
The lyrics to Edguy's song Faces in the Darkness are filled with vivid imagery and a deep sense of unease. The singer of the song seems to be describing the feeling of being alone at night, with only their internal thoughts and fears for company. They describe themselves as the "mess inside your mind," suggesting that they are the tangled, confusing thoughts that keep someone up at night.
The lyrics also reference the idea of a face in the night, which seems to be a metaphor for the fears and insecurities that come out when the sun goes down. The singer suggests that these faces in the darkness are always waiting, ready to pounce when someone is at their most vulnerable. They describe themselves as the beat in someone's veins and the worm in their brain, suggesting that they have a strong influence on their thoughts and emotions.
Overall, the lyrics to Faces in the Darkness paint a picture of a lonely, frightening world that exists only in the quiet hours of the night. The singer seems almost resigned to this reality, suggesting that there is no escape from the faces in the darkness.
Line by Line Meaning
There in the distance
Something is far away from you
You don't see anything
You cannot see anything where you are
And anything is what keeps me alive
The existence of anything keeps me going
I am the mess inside your mind
I represent the chaos in your thoughts
I am the black behind the light
I am the opposite of what you see, concealed in the shadows
I'm the tail of the glowing ball
I am what remains of something that was once radiant
That drowns in the horizon
Fading away into the distance
I trail the setting sun
I follow the sun as it sets
I'm every cold, cold night
I embody every chilling night
The last one by your side
I am the one who remains with you until the end
I am the face in the night
I am the one you see in the darkness
I make you open your eyes
I make you wake up and become aware of your surroundings
Everytime you lay yourself to sleep
Each time you go to bed
I am the beat in your veins
I am the pulse that runs through your body
I'm the worm in your brain
I am the negative thoughts that consume your mind
I'm the one to make you start
I initiate your thoughts and dreams
Form your dreams
I shape your dreams
Where do you go from here
Where do you proceed from this point?
When nighttime is drawing near
When night is approaching
You ain't gonna run, run, run...
You cannot escape
You'll see them smile
You will observe them grinning
Faces in the darkness
In the night, you will perceive their faces
To burn the nighttime
You will awaken and seize the night
You hear the noises of the day
You perceive the noises of everyday life
You hear them slowly fade away
You hear them gradually decreasing
And you're the only one sensing time again and again
Only you can perceive time repeating itself over and over
To blame the nighttime
To feel the dark and nighttime responsible for a situation
Afraid of the night
Fearful of the dark
Contributed by Jacob M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.