Haggard: The perfect combination of Metal and Symphonic music.
Throughout the years and with the many kinds of music that have come into existence in the world, it has become a popular practice to create new genres from fusions. No other group has achieved a better fusion of two contrasting musical styles than the band Haggard and if you have not heard of them yet, get ready to learn a bit of their history.
The Music Post | David Leonardo Puentes
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Haggard is a group from Germany that with its unique and original musical style has achieved international recognition that has led them to travel all over the world. Their genre can be defined as progressive metal, but it's best described as fusion. Their music is a mix of Metal, Medieval Music, and Classical Music.
This group has very clear influences in their music and in their compositions that come from the Baroque and Classical times. Some composers who have inspired their songs are Johan Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and also symphonic metal bands. Like their music, their lyrics deal with historical themes, some heroic, mythological, or legendary.
This group was created in 1989 as a Death Metal band by lead singer/guitarist Asis Nasseri and three other founding members. The group is large and it also includes a wide variety of instruments such as piano, guitar, bass, drums, harpsichord, cello, flute, double bass, and oboe, among many others, and all of this is possible thanks to the 18 members that currently make up the band.
A rather curious fact about the group is that its name has a particular origin because the meaning of the word "Haggard", which has its origins in the English and French languages, means having a face of tiredness, fatigue, worry, or suffering. The name does not seem to have anything to do with the band's songs or musical inclination and the reason is because frontman Asis Nasseri picked the name at random by opening a page from a dictionary and choosing that word as the name of the group.
The group has four albums recorded in a professional studio and another about to be published, they have five demos and EPs and a live production entitled "Awaking the Gods". Their first EP was more inclined to Death Metal, at that time the group was not what it is today. This EP was called “Introduction”, it came out in 1992 and it didn't have a very good reception among the listeners. It wasn't until the year 2000 that their style solidified and together with the largest number of members they have ever had, they released the album “Awaking the Centuries”. This album had a style leaning towards baroque music without leaving aside the metal component and it’s considered by many of the band's fans as the group's best album.
This incredible group is recognized as one of the best bands of the symphonic metal genre and during the next few months thousands of people from Latin America will be able to enjoy their music since the band decided to announce their biggest tour to date, starting from June 11 and they will pass through the following countries: Brazil, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico.
Without a doubt, this band deserves to be heard and appreciated by more people. The members have been able to create an unparalleled combination that brings together history and generations of musical composition. It is this ingenuity that has made this band a musical force like no other.
