Haggard - Tales Of Ithiria

Some 8 years ago i saw a video performance at the now defunct Eurorock festival in Belgium of the band Haggard, who were trying hard with about 15 band members on a small stage to bring across their musical message to the audience with a back then special mix of metal, medieval and renaissance folk with neo-classical elements. They really delivered.

Now the band has its new album out in four years time. Tales of Ithiria is a concept album about a fantasy world created by Haggard where the eternal battle between good and evil is fought. What is immediately noticeable is that the neo-classical part is more present on this recording than the metal part. This makes the Tales of Ithiria album quite accessible to a much larger audience than the metal crowd only. Apparantly a great deal of work has been devoted to this album and musically this metal chamber orchestra again operates on a very high level.

Especially the vocals are a real delight to listen to with the combination of soprano voice and other classical voices, the grunts from band leader Asis Nasseri and the voice of Mike Terrana who has lend his expressive voice to tell the epic stories from Ithiria. The instrumentation consists of bombastic percussion, rock, metal and an orchestral backing. Musically Haggard really found the perfect balance between accessible melodies and harmonies on the one hand and highly complex arrangements on the other.

At moments the atmosphere reminds a bit of Therion due to the opera vocals, but musically Haggard taps from a somewhat more tranquil and majestic vein. Fans of neo-classical music as well as gothic metal will find this a great recording. Quite unexpected is the interpretation of the classic poptune ‘Hijo de la Luna’, originally performed by Mecano and later on also by a.o. Sarah Brightman and the Flemish Latin diva Belle Perez. Haggard invites you to enter the hall of the king and let yourself be enchanted by the stories from the land of Ithiria. A truly magnificent musical work!

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Artist: Haggard
Album: Tales Of Ithiria
Genre: Classical/Orchestral/Symphonic Metal
website: http://www.myspace.com/haggard2007
rating: 5 out of 5 stars

By Bez