Ancient Bards
| Ancient Bards | |
|---|---|
|
Ancient Bards at Wacken Open Air 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Italy |
| Genres | Symphonic metal, power metal |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | Limb Music |
| Website |
www |
| Members |
Martino Garattoni Federico Gatti Daniele Mazza Claudio Pietronik Sara Squadrani |
| Past members |
Alessandro Carichini Fabio Balducci |
Ancient Bards is an Italian symphonic metal band, conceived in January 2006 by keyboard player Daniele Mazza.
History
Line-Up
The project, originated in the mind of Daniele Mazza, started to materialize in 2006 after Daniele met with bass player Martino Garattoni. The first stable line up was completed in 2007, with Sara Squadrani as singer, Alessandro Carichini as drummer, and Claudio Pietronik and Fabio Balducci as guitarists.[1]
In September 2010, Alessandro left the band, to be replaced by a new drummer Federico Gatti. The latest line-up change occurred in the end of 2013 after recording the third album A New Dawn Ending, when Balducci left the band for personal reasons.[2] Permanent replacement for Fabio has not been announced yet, but for live shows in 2014 the band has been joined by Simone Bertozzi as a guest second guitarist.[3]
Albums
The style and concept of their 2010 debut album, The Alliance of the Kings, has been seen as inspired by fellow Italian band Rhapsody of Fire. The album is the first part of The Black Crystal Sword Saga with each song making up an single "episode".[4]
The Italian and German editions of Metal Hammer commented on the "sophisticated songwriting" in this release. The latter magazine also found similarities to Anette Olzon in singer Sara Squadrani's voice.[5][6]
The band's second album, Soulless Child, was released in 2011. It continues the The Black Crystal Sword Saga introduced in the previous album. The reviewers of Metal Hammer Germany and Rock Hard agreed that the album had a tendency towards kitsch. While Metal Hammer found several positive remarks about individual tracks, Rock Hard criticised a lack of original hooks.[7][8]
In April 2014, a third album, A New Dawn Ending, was released. This concluded the first part of The Black Crystal Sword Saga, making that section a complete trilogy.
Discography
- EP
- Trailer of the Black Crystal Sword Saga (2008)
- The Black Crystal Sword Saga
- The Alliance of the Kings (2010)
- Soulless Child (2011)
- A New Dawn Ending (2014)
Members
- Current members
- Daniele Mazza – keyboards (2006–present)
- Martino Garattoni – bass (2006–present)
- Sara Squadrani – singer (2007–present)
- Claudio Pietronik – guitar (2007–present)
- Federico Gatti – drums (2013–present)
- Guest musicians
- Simone Bertozzi – guitar – replacing Fabio Balducci on guitar at live shows at 2014
- Former members
- Alessandro Carichini – drums (2007–2010)
- Fabio Balducci – guitar (2007–2014)
- Timeline
See also
References
- ↑ "Ancient Bards - Biography". last.fm. 22 Mar 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
- ↑ "Ancient Bards - Biography". Ancient Bards. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
- ↑ "Ancient Bards at Made of Metal 2014". All Things Sara. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
- ↑ Squadrani, Sara (3 March 2014). "The Saga". All Things Sara. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
- ↑ Marino, Pippo. "Ancient Bards - The Alliance of the Kings - The Black Crystal Sword Saga Part 1". Metal Hammer (in Italian). Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ↑ Riedl, Katrin (1 May 2010). "Ancient Bards - The Allliance Of The Kings". Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ↑ Riedl, Katrin (1 February 2012). "Ancient Bards - The Soulless Child". Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ↑ Albrecht, Frank (2011). [http://www.rockhard.de/megazine/reviewarchiv/review-anzeigen.html?tx_rxsearch_pi1[review]=28177 "Ancient Bards: Soulless Child"]. Rock Hard (in German) (296). Retrieved 6 August 2014.