~Douce † Morte~

Hi ppl! I know it's a yesterday new, but I'd like to tell you my opinion of the Haggard's new release "Tales of Ithiria"

It's supposed the album was ready on past year, but release date was delayed several times ... but at long last the album was ready and for sale on august, 29! And do you know what? Waiting was well recompensed!


It's amazing how Asis Nasseri has created a very characteristic music style. I mean, symphonic bands several times use a "topic" for their albums and this resource is not exclusive of symphonic/operatic bands, you can observe this in some heavy and power Metal bands too. Haggard also uses this resource... but I can say ANY band I ever heard sounds like Haggard, they have a very own and particular style to make symphonic Metal music and thematic albums. You listen to a Haggard's song and can instantly say "Hey, that's Haggard", and even so, each album has its own "feeling" and has unique elements. This is it, similar albums but each one with its own "personality", and that's not easy to get with all those symphonic bands on market!

A few weeks ago, when album was released I listened to the tracks 2 and 9 of this album at Haggard's myspace site...

9th track is a cover of Mecano, a spanish 80'S/90'S pop-rock band with a female vocalist named Ana Torroja (in fact, I like that song very much, sometimes I sing it when I take a shower, hehehe ... remember that my native language is spanish and I was born on 80's. I know this song perfectly!), so when I saw that song was part of the album track list it really took my attemption

Track 2 starts with a male voice singing in latin and a soprano voice responding (repeating the verse) and when I heared it, it was just like "Wow! I HAVE to get that album, and soon!!"

Finally I got Tales of Ithiria one and a half weeks ago, and brought it home to listen to it slowly and in total calm... song by song, reading the lyrics at the time each track plays, as I like to do with all my long-waited or favorite-band's albums. And after the first track (that is a kind of introduction to story), I heared complete that second track that trapped me on myspace... and goddamn, it was amazing! What a soprano voice and what a musical composition!! After that, I can't stop to listen to it until last track finished! And I listen to it each time I can.

Nasseri has created an album wich consagrates the Haggard style: Characteristic but innovating, in wich the "topic" resource achieves its perfection, integrating prosaic narrative with the lyrical elements, resulting in a solid album that, from its begining to its end, tells you a story that doesn't lose its continuity (Even with the allegreto and with the spanish song, that results two little, but well ubicated "inter" before getting you to the next part of the story) It is made in part thanks to tracks 3, 7 and 10, that are ambiented narratives.

Track 4 has a beautiful execution of female and choral voices, maybe the most beautiful of the album.

Track 6 is very sentimental and a little sad, male singer can really transmits you his feeling!

The album structure is somewhat like this:
Intro, story, inter, story (largest piece), inter, story, and the finale... :

This album ends with track 11, that is not a tipical outro or that kind of big solo finale, the track ends with gutural singing and choral voices (the track is 6:25 long), and this is a key to achive that continuity I talk about, because actually the story told in this album is a memory that belogs to the man mentioned by the story-teller in track 1. The complete album takes you inside the story, and this way of ending reminds you that you are inside a memory, the memory of a tale that happened in valley of Ithiria.

What can I say? Haggard did it again! Simply a masterpiece!!

That's why if you enjoy symphonic/classic/operatic Metal music, I absolutely recommend you Tales of Ithiria

Now I'd like to share this mp3 with you :



And here, the album's cover and the track list:




1. The Origin
2. Chapter I - Tales Of Ithiria
3. From Deep Within
4. Chapter II - Upon Fallen Autumn Leaves
5. In Des Königs Hallen (Allegretto Siciliano)
6. Chapter III - La Terra Santa
7. Vor Dem Sturme
8. Chapter IV - The Sleeping Child
9. Hijo De La Luna
10. On These Endless Fields
11. Chapter V - The Hidden Sign


... And my favorite songs??
2nd, 4th, 6th, and (of course) 9th ^_^

That's all for now, see you later and don't forget visiting Haggard's website:

http://www.haggard.de/

Classic Metal rules!\m/