| CD REVIEW Haggard |
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Band : Haggard Münich based Haggard was formed in late 1991 as a Melodic Death Metal act, and with singer guitarist/ Asis Nasseri as their mentor (he writes all lyrics and music, except for occasional excepts of works by Classical masters), released the 1992 demo Introduction. Such was the appreciation of the band's style that they were able to tour rather heavily in support of the likes of Agressor, Anathema, Biohazard, Deicide, and Pyogenesis. In 1994 the band issued the self-financed mini-album Progressive, a release promoted with a European tour in support of Amorphis and Desultory that same year. Still in a formative stage both line-up and musical direction wize, the band would evolve into a full blown 16 piece Metal orchestra with the introduction of several classical instrumentalists and singers (a tenor and soprano), allowing the Death Metal act to morph into one including Symphonical melodies, classical influences, and a Gothic mood by the time of the release of the 1995 demo tape Once...Upon A December's Night, promoted this time by touring with Disgust and Illdisposed, both of Denmark. The German formation got its breakthrough when Lost Episode released their 1997 full-length debut And Thou Shalt Trust...The Seer, an album which contained English, German, and Latin lyrics on top of a mixture of Metal, Classical, and Mediaeval music. That year, touring was done with Rage, followed by a tour with Atrocity in February 1998. In Sept. of that year the band did their first European headlining tour with support from Solefald and Tristania. Also in 1998, Haggard issued its first video tape In A Pale Moon's Shadow. The line-up continued to evolve, and just before the release of 2000's sophomore album (their first on Drakkar Entertainment)Awakening The Centuries (with a concept around the experiences of Michel De Nostredame akà Nostradamus during the Black Plague in Mediaeval Europe) it contained a record 21 people! The band's toured Mexico twice, making good quality recordings on both video and audio, and subsequently released both as audio album and VHS tape/ DVD under the title Awakening The Gods: Live In Mexico, in Sept. 2001. Third album Eppur Si Muove, again a concept album (this time based on the life of Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, one of the first to claim that the earth moved around the sun, which was contrary to the Catholic Church's dogma on the subject at that time) came in April 2004, and right after its release band leader Nasseri replaced part of the band. For the band's fourth album Nasseri broke from his habit of using historical personalities/ fact as a lyrocal subject, in stead using a fictional meadieval-themed story he wrote himself. For more info you'll have to get the album, because I don't intend to spoil your fun in finding out the story for yourself. Video footage about progress in the studio was made during the recordings and posted at YouTube during January 2008 (if you're interested, here's the addresses: youtube.com/watch?v=QOLN5AOiAbk and youtube.com/watch?v=v1Yrt7tubYQ). Originally the album was to be released on June 29, but at that date an announcement was made that the album would possibly not even be released in this year. Lucky for us, things turned out differently! To explain just how the music of this band sounds, one would have to go track-by-track...which would take me too long, so I won't do that. Instead I'll stick to some generalisations. The album opens with the short "The Origin" and guest narrator Mike Terrana opening the story in a grave voice on top of soft classical instruments which gain force towards the end of the track. After that comes opening song and longest track (8:08) "Tales Of Ithiria", beginning with the tenor and soprano doin' a short thing on top of mediaeval classical music. Asis continues with a somewhat story-telling "normal" singing bit, until the heavy guitars kick in, which is when he uses a death growl. The song continues to include elements of classical on top of the guitars...which is a heavenly combination, really. I ain't gonna tell you how the rest of the track evolves, but you're well to know that several combinations in both the music and vocals (both soprano and tenor re-appear, Nasseri does some death vocals in different ways, also brings some "normal" story-telling singing...and the whole is occasionally mixed at the same time) occur in the rest of the song...and album. The narration re-occurs all over the album. As far as the Classical stuff goes, the band currently consists of soprano singers Veronika Kramheller and Susanne Ehlers, tenor singer and bassist Fiffi Fuhrmann, flutist Andreas Peschke, oboe and English horn player Florian Bartl, violinist Ally, viola player Steffi Hertz, cellist Johannes Scheiemacher, piano and keyboard player Hans Wolf, and percussionist Schummi. The more modern part of the band's music is done by Nasseri and co-guitarist Claudio Quarta (whom may also add a couple of grave vocals), the bassist, and drummer Luz Marsen (whom is the only remeining member from the original line-up next to Nasseri). While you'll have to look for certain passages within songs to find a bit of pure Melodic Death Metal (that is, without Classical additions), the band doés bring a very beautiful and Mediaeval instrumental with "In Des Königs Hallen" (horns with violin or cello, and some oboe...very nice, very nice indeed!). Lyrically, you'll find the singers go from English to German to Latin and back, which may make the story somewhat hard to follow at first...but certainly adds to the overall appeal of the whole. In fact, one song even has Spanish lyrics, and though I fail to see how the lyrics of the cover of the hit song "Hijo De La Luna" (a song originally written by José Maria Cano of the band Mecano who got a hit with it in 1990; since then several artists have covered the song, including Loona in 1999, Sarak Brightman in 2000, and Belle Perez in 2003) fit in the concept (I even went as far as to research the background of the song), but maybe I'm just dim? Truly, to get a decent idea of what the band sounds like, you would have to hear them play, so, hurry on over to myspace.com/haggard2007, where the band has posted edits of the album's title track and their electified version of "Hijo De La Luna"...as well as a couple of edits of songs off the previous and the live album (and eventually a full-length track off the 2000 album). It may have taken Nasseri four years since the previous album to complete the songwriting for this new one, but what he's done broders to musical genius...and I for one am gonna try and get anything else by the band I can get my grabbing little hands on! This is simply too wonderful to miss out on, and once you've heard this band's material, you're bound to be hooked. Either that, or you àre indee tone deaf! Me, I'm not, and I'm adding this to my year-lists! 98/100 Tony. |