Haggard - Tales Of Ithiria review
| Band: | Haggard |
| Album: | Tales Of Ithiria |
| Style: | Symphonic metal |
| Release date: | August 2008 |
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 [Mecano cover]
10. On These Endless Fields
11. Chapter V - The Hidden Sign
The symphonic powerhouse that is Haggard has marked listeners with their firs two albums, namely Awaking the Centuries [2000] and Eppur Si Muove [2004]. The long awaited successor has now been unveiled this month with Tales of Ithiria. In the continuation of their previous releases, their new offering varies little from the winning formula used by their main composer Asis Nasseri.
Another four years have passed and yet Haggard is still a well reckoned name, the quality of their symphonic power metal surpassing anything previously known. The full orchestra is back in action, more determined than ever before. However, while satisfying the Tales of Ithiria are lacking the wow factor that I was expecting from Haggard. All their classic elements are present, their heavy riffs thrive, classically trained singers are showcasing their talents, but despite all of that something is missing to win me over completely.
The narrator short passages add little to the music, and the fast heavy parts are too dispersed to turn this album into a proud successor of Eppur Si Muove. The Meccano cover 'Hijo de la Luna' is a very nice surprise, although I doubt it will convince die-hard fans as well as nostalgic fans of the Spanish combo. The production is in my opinion not on par with their previous album either, which does not help.
Overall a decent album, but not enough true Haggard-style music to turn heads around. A couple more songs would have definitely added tremendous value. Nevertheless, Tales of Ithria is still a special album, which should fill fans of symphonic power with enough value for their buck.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 6 |
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Written on 19.09.2008 by
Bringing you reviews of quality music and interesting questions such as: "A picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is a song worth?" I have only got so much patience and skills, you do the math. |
Comments
Comments: 22
Visited by: 388 users
| schwanderen Posts: 32 |
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| Deadsoulman elite Posts: 8004  |
"the Tales of Ithiria are lacking the wow factor that I was expecting from Haggard" This is exactly what I thought after the first couple of spins. It is a good album but it clearly doesn't show the four years of hard work which led to its release. It's just not a surprising album. And I too miss the heavy guitars.
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| Katatronik Angel of Lust Posts: 1018  |
Agree with you, especially for the production and the guitars, not very powerful... Good album anyway, but Eppur Si Muove is their real masterpiece IMO
---- "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." Howard Phillips Lovecraft
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| Iceland_Norway Posts: 263  |
I must Listen to it and Preview albums for Haggard.
---- Føroyar mítt land Tú alfagra land mítt Føroyar mín Móðir
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| corrupt With a lowercase c admin Posts: 3131  |
Pretty much my opinion too. Only the narrated parts between the songs sound ridiculous. Seens as how long the album was postponed I really expected Asis to outperform hisself this time. Hence I was really disappointed when I got the album. Also the "limited edition" is nothing more than a paper box and patch. Expected more on that front too. But one thing, Haggard have three Albums out so far, not counting "Progressive". Before the two you mentioned, there was "And Thou Shalt Trust... The Seer" from 1997.
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| THE_BLACK_GOD Account deleted |
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| Talvi Posts: 825  |
This band has nothing to do with power metal, even if this album has too much narration.
---- My account on other musical pages: http://www.last.fm/user/Pozito/ http://rateyourmusic.com/~Talvi
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| corrupt With a lowercase c admin Posts: 3131 |
Written by Talvi on 19.09.2008 at 22:46 qft.
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| Enissa Posts: 815  |
Written by Guest on 19.09.2008 at 17:52 Agree with u I saw a lot of ppl doing this, such an aweful thing!! They just dont want to see specific albums(Dont like or bands they dont like) on MS charts, just like Kamelot's The second Coming, it was on the No.1 rating 9.5 then one day later it was out of the Charts with 8.5!!!! (And many voted dont have it) I mean what the Hell is wrong with these ppl???!!! Anyway, about Haggard's new album, I found it really convincing & Beautiful album maybe it isnt like Eppur Si Muove, or Doesnt have good Production.... But I wont Judge it this way, The Music (Guitars or Symphonics) are so good, and the vocals are tooo Fantastic, and thats what's matters to me! My rate is 8.9
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| schwanderen Posts: 32 |
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| TyrannicalGOD Posts: 8  |
i just got the album today...i am disapointed on the length...43 minutes is NOT enough....  i like the way it was produced....with the guitars and and vocals sounding ANALOG  ...eppur si muove has it and so does the seer....MS should change the way u vote BY inputing the Serial number on the back of the CD case as confirmation thet u do in fact OWN the Album...
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| Duy Hung Account deleted |
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| MétalNoir Fils du Lys Posts: 847  |
Eppur Si Muove was much heavier and symphonic. Tales of Ithiria is more like atmospheric rock with growls here and there, but on the whole, the album is not very powerful. I like the narration, though. The actor speaks very clearly and it's easy to follow the story even if English is not your mother tongue. Some narrative tracks are actually more epic than "real" ones...
---- Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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| Ernis 狼獾 Posts: 6807  |
Yes the album seems slightly short....one would expect something larger of it but in general it is a wonderful work from a wondrous band....and the Mecano cover is one of the best covers of recent years....
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| Dark Cornatus Powerslave elite Posts: 4330  |
I dont think you could rate the album over 8 for a few reasons. It is too short (in terms of actual songs), poor production that clearly shows, and the narratives are just plain bad, im sure that there might be some who enjoy the whole story, but i bet even they would skip them after a few listens. However, 3 tracks off the album stand out for me as some of their best work. Tracks 2, 8 and 4 respectivly.
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| Dominus The Shooter Posts: 375  |
The best Haggard album. Nice song "Hijo de la Luna" (Son Of The Moon)
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| bayern Posts: 21 |
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| Solstafir! Posts: 75 |
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| Elyar S. Gud är Död Posts: 323  |
This is not just a good album but even comparable with Awakening the Centuries I think.
---- Kiss my ass if you dont like me, I dont care.
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| giok99 Posts: 85  |
Really love this album. The production is really nice and i LOVE the voice of the narrator. The ambiance on this disk is awesome, make me feel taken in another century in a land far far away. Great work, for me the best one.
---- Nothing is real
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| Paradox0 Unasuming Madnes Posts: 592 |
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| Kuroboshi Posts: 1168  |
Written by Paradox0 on 01.05.2012 at 07:36 Word. You said it. This is easily their worst, IMO. Whereas their 2nd and 3rd albums really had beautiful and awe-inspiring melodies, this seems to hamper. Just not going anywhere.
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