André Olbrich is the lead guitarist of the German 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...

 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...

. He is one of the band's founders together with vocalist 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...

, and serves as one of its main songwriters.

Olbrich was ranked #76 out of 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time by Guitar World

Guitar World

Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...

.

Personal

Olbrich has a Greek wife and two sons. He was a school friend of Hansi Kürsch's. He is known to be sociable with fans, often chatting with them after concerts.

Olbrich's favorite books are The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings

The 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...

and The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R...

, both by J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien

John 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,...

; he has stated that his dream is to create an orchestral rock-opera for these epics. His favorite games are alternately listed as Baldur's Gate II and World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...

.

Professional

Olbrich's style is influenced by his favourite bands, which include Judas Priest

Judas Priest

Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...

, Metallica

Metallica

Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...

 and Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...

. Additionally Olbrich relies heavily on staccato

Staccato

Staccato is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation it signifies a note of shortened duration and separated from the note that may follow by silence...

 technique. He is listed on Guitar World

Guitar World

Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...

's list of the "100 Greatest Metal Guitarists" at #76. He is also ranked #64 in Joel McIver's "The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists

The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists

The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists is a book by British author Joel McIver, published in 2009 by Jawbone Press and featuring a foreword by Glen Benton of Deicide. Foreign-language editions appeared shortly after the original English language version. It contained a list of 100 guitar players in...

". André's guitar work often reflect's vocalist Hansi Kursch

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...

's singing. Many discredit his guitar playing for the lack of shredding

Shred guitar

Shred guitar or shredding is lead electric guitar playing that relies heavily on fast guitar solos. While some critics argue that shred guitar is associated with "... sweep-picked arpeggios, diminished and harmonic minor scales, finger-tapping and ... whammy-bar abuse", several guitar...

 in the solos, however, like many other guitarists (in particular Slayer

Slayer

Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...

 guitarist Jeff Hanneman

Jeff Hanneman

Jeffrey John "Jeff" Hanneman is a rhythm/lead guitarist and founding member of the American thrash metal band Slayer. Hanneman grew up in Los Angeles in a family of war veterans, and his fascination with warfare is attributed to his upbringing...

) he believes having his own style is more important than being good at what someone else already has done.

Equipment

André's gear

• ESP Guitars
  ESP Guitars
  , located in North Hollywood, California, is an American-based, Japanese-owned manufacturer of electric guitars and basses.- History :In 1975, Hisatake Shibuya opened a shop called Electric Sound Products in Tokyo. It provided custom replacement parts for guitars. In 1976, ESP gained a reputation...
  
   Original Series Horizon Custom

1. Body: Alder
2. Neck: Maple (Neck-thru)
3. Pickups: 2x EMG 81
4. Floyd Rose Tremolo System
5. 24 Jumbo Frets
6. Original Jackson-style pointed headstock

• ESP Guitars
  ESP Guitars
  , located in North Hollywood, California, is an American-based, Japanese-owned manufacturer of electric guitars and basses.- History :In 1975, Hisatake Shibuya opened a shop called Electric Sound Products in Tokyo. It provided custom replacement parts for guitars. In 1976, ESP gained a reputation...
  
   Original Series M-II Neck Thru

1. Body: Alder with Maple Top
2. Neck: Maple (Neck-thru)
3. Pickups: 1x EMG 81 (bridge) 1x EMG SA (neck)
4. Floyd Rose Tremolo System
5. 24 Jumbo Frets

• ESP Guitars
  ESP Guitars
  , located in North Hollywood, California, is an American-based, Japanese-owned manufacturer of electric guitars and basses.- History :In 1975, Hisatake Shibuya opened a shop called Electric Sound Products in Tokyo. It provided custom replacement parts for guitars. In 1976, ESP gained a reputation...
  
   Original Series Explorer Custom

1. Body: Mahogany
2. Neck: Maple (Neck-thru)
3. Pickups: 2x EMG 81
4. Floyd Rose Tremolo System
5. 24 Jumbo Frets

• Ovation Guitar
  Ovation Guitar
  The Ovation Guitar Company, a holding of Kaman Music Corporation, is a guitar manufacturing company based in New Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Ovation primarily manufactures Steel-stringed acoustic guitars....
  
  Legend

1. Strings: D'Addario .010 - .046
2. Picks: Jim Dunlop Nylon 1 MM
3. Amp: Engl Straight
4. Cabinets: 2x Marshall 1960 ( A & B )

• Amplification

He is believed to use Marshall amps for his distortion/lead riffs:

1. Marshall JCM 900 Dual Reverb
2. Marshall TSL 60 (Triple Super Lead)
3. Marshall cabinets 4x12 (with Celestion V30 speakers)

• Rack

1. ENGL savage
2. Furman Powerconditioner
3. Shure LX Wireless System
4. Rocktron Patchmate
5. Yamaha SPX 990
6. Ibanez Tubescreamer
7. Hughes & Kettner "Red Box" Pro
8. Morley Power Wah
9. Dunlop crybaby 535q (used during A Twist In The Myth tour)
10. Boss AC2 Acoustic Simulator

External links

• Blind Guardian Official Homepage