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Haggard: Tales of Ithiria

21/04/09 || GardensTale

And here I was, thinking the ultimate gods of metal, Global Domination, would have reviewed at least one Haggard album. Since their sophomore album “Awakening the centuries” came out, this German clan of no less than 16 members (and often more) has become a revered force in the symphonic metal world. No band had so successfully combined classic orchestras and metal before, combining the best of both worlds in a very literal fashion. And they’ve always went all out: any classical instrument, any vocal style, any metal instrument has been used at one point, yet never once did they sound forced or out of place (disregarding the somewhat clumsy first album). Frontman Asis is the one responsible for the whole affair, providing lead guitar and a fittingly hoarse death growl, writing the majority of their stuff in English, German, Italian and Latin, whatever floats his boat.

“Awakening the centuries” wasn’t without irks though, mostly because the 40-minute album seemed to mostly be one 9-minute epic with supporting material. The follow-up was called “Eppur si muove” and took a 180 degree turn: there was so much material packed on one disc it could’ve used a breather here and there. In spite of this minor issue, it was an astonishing album and so it left me with the task of sitting on my thumbs waiting another 4 years or so until Asis was done with the next volume.

Well worth the wait. Correction, the wait and wait again and again, as “Tales of Ithiria” was delayed a bunch of times due to a rich variety of technical issues. Still, well worth it.

Whereas the previous albums were all on historical events or persons (“Awakening the centuries” on the medieval plague, “Eppur si muove” on Galileo Galilei), “Tales of Ithiria” tells a fantasy story concerning a pretty standard invasion-resistance-victory story, but the way it’s conveyed makes it much more powerful than it seems through the cynic’s eye. Every other song is basically a short storytelling skit, which doesn’t just help in giving the album a very powerful storyline-based drive but also leaves a little room for each song to sink in. As mentioned, the predecessor missed something like this and it’s very welcome with an album of this scope and epic.

Because this shit defies the word ‘epic’. It’s a fucking orchestra, what else did you expect? Choirs, galloping riffs supported by a wide array of classical instruments, quiet solos (be it guitar, violin, piano, clarinet, you get the point) with whispered interludes, thundering guitars accompanied by both violin and soprano, illustratively spoken passages, and more details than you can grasp in the first few listens; everything seems to fit together so naturally it’s astonishing. I wouldn’t want to trade with Asis, first needing to write music for like 18 different instruments and then actually recording and mixing the whole bunch.

The songwriting is absolutely fucking fantastic. All the available instruments are used to their maximum advantage, none of the songs get boring anywhere. “Upon fallen autumn leaves” for instance gets the most out of the soprano, who kicks ass beyond imagination, by combining mighty instrumentation with her wordless, gothic (but GOOD gothic, think medieval cathedrals instead of dress-up emo) wails. “The sleeping child” has galloping riffs and a brilliant, hurried atmosphere. Even the cover song, “Hijo de la luna”, fits perfectly and never feels out of place.

It’s difficult to actually dissect the songs and the instruments due to everything fitting together so well. The sum is so much more than the individual parts that it would be a crime to take it apart. It would be like tearing down Stonehenge and looking at each rock individually. So I’ll refrain from doing so, leaving me with just a word on the production, which is as you might have guessed fittingly clear and crisp, letting each instrument take their spot when needed and all the details shine through.

Haggard have so far only improved with each following album, and so “Tales of Ithiria” is definitely their best yet. With the balancing and pacing issues of the predecessors taken care of, this album is like an epic ride through a fantasy story, picking you up at the vocal intro and not putting you down until the last notes have died away. This is one of the best symphonic metal albums yet and I doubt it will be surpassed until Haggard comes out with their next one, hopefully trumping even this one in the process. But until then, no one with a heart for the symphonic, epic and orchestral in metal should fucking miss this.

9 epic fantasy tales out of 10.

Information
Released: 2008
Label: Drakkar Productions
Website: www.haggard.de
Band
Asis Nasseri: guitars, grunts, vocals
Luz Marsen: drums
Claudio Quarta: guitars
Andreas Nad: bass
Su Ehlers: soprano
Veronika Kramheller: soprano
Fiffi Fuhrmann: tenor, crumhorn
Hans Wolf: piano, organ, harpsichord
Judith Marschall: violin
Michael Stapf: violin
Ally Storch Hukride: violin
Steffi Hertz: viola
Patricia Krug: cello
Ivica Kramheller: contrabass
Anna Batke: flute
Johannes Schleiermacher: cello
Florian Bartl: oboe
Michael Schumm: timpani bells, classical percussion
Andreas Fuchs: french horn
Mark Pendry: clarinet
Additional Musicians:
Mike Terrana: spoken voice
Dieter Roth: guitars
Lulyta Garza: vocals on “Hijo de la luna”
Michael Grundel: tenor
Sylvia Lindauer: soprano
Konrad Nageli: classical guitar
Julia Schweiger: flutes
Mathias Kirchgessner: guitars
Rebecca Faviola: concert harp

Tracklist
01. The origin
02. Chapter I – Tales of Ithiria
03. From deep within
04. Chapter II – Upon fallen autumn leaves
05. In des königs hallen (allegretto siciliano)
06. Chapter III – La terra santa
07. Vor dem sturme
08. Chapter IV – The sleeping child
09. Hijo de la luna
10. On these endless fields
11. Chapter V – The hidden sign

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