"Fairly unknown in the world of metal," drummer Frederik Ehmke (Malsch, 1978) joined German epic metallers Blind Guardian in July 2005. He replaced drummer Thomen Stauch, who left the band in April after 20 years.



Blind Guardian released the following statement regarding Ehmke's addition to the group:

"A few weeks ago an unknown guy who introduced himself as Frederik Ehmke applied for the job as a drummer in a fairly firm manner. His vital, expressive and skillful performances of some Blind Guardian classics ('Journey Through The Dark', 'Time Stands Still' and 'And Then There Was Silence') blew us away completely. Pretending not to be convinced, we invited him to do a shootout recording session under real production terms to check out if the creative chemistry would also work out fine. After finishing these recordings it was obvious to us: Frederik is going to be our new drummer!"

Factoid: Frederik Ehmke always plays drums barefoot.