Hastings 1066 [Import]

Hastings 1066 is a concept album about a historical event, which is kind of a historical event in itself. It is about, as the title implies, The Battle Of Hastings in 1066 AD between the invading Norman army, led by William the Conquerer, and the predominately Saxon defenders of King Harold II. The battle was very close and circumstances (like the fact that Harold's army had fought another major battle two hundred miles away, only nine days previous) and other events helped William win. In England it is acknowledged as the last time an invading army won.

The invasion was apparently precipitated by a broken pledge, whereupon the king previous to Harold II, Edward the Confessor, had promised the throne of England to William I(William the Conquerer) when he died. The dying King ostensibly reneged on the deal, eventually resulting the Battle of Hastings, by a royally(pun intended) [angry] Duke William of Normandy. The good Duke was obviously a poor sport.

Now let's talk about this wonderful musical experience Hastings 1066 and the remarkable band that made this magnificent album.

Thy Majestie is a supremely talented group of musicians from Italy. Their musical inclinations, like most young Italian musicians, lie with power metal. If you know anything about heroic power metal you probably know that Italy has more power metal bands than grape vines or so it seems. You also probably know most of the heroic power metal albums being made are concept albums(those which tell a story) and, in Italy especially, the story is usually about some fantasy subject. Some popular power metal album titles are as follows: Stairway to Fairyland, Power of the Dragonflame, Dragonlord, The Gates of Oblivion. Get the picture? So how do our imaginative, talented sextet separate themselves from the pack. It's brilliant, really. Don't do fiction stories like everybody else. Do non-fiction. It's so simple, with one stroke you have neutralized the competition. And while we're at it we'll add some medieval melodies, bring in a symphonic orchestra and a choir, gotta have a choir. Therion has a Choir. Rhapsody has a Choir. Yes, we'll add a choir. Well, talk is cheap and [nonsense] walks, but let me tell you Thy Majestie delivers.

Joan of Arc By the way, one interesting item thats not in the biography is their next project. They are currently working on another Historical Epic Symphonic piece about Joan of Arc. I can't wait.

Hastings 1066 contains all the possible nuances of power metal you could want; from from hard driving speed metal to soft melodic interludes. You say, you like variety in speed and intensity, it's there. you want the pomp and majesty of bygone eras, you've got it. How about those cheesy lyrics about dragons and goblins, sorry you can't have everything.

This music is worthy of comparison to the paragons of the genre; Rhapsody, Sonata Arctica, Dark Moor and Freedom Call. In addition their music is flavored with several "suites" as they call them, which are symphonic introductions, not to mention the inclusion of Operatic sounding choirs that remind me of Therion. In fact I'll bet if Christopher Johnsson decided to do an Epic Power metal project it would sound like this. Maybe this is the start of a new Genre - Symphonic, Orchestal, Operatic, Power Metal.

Songs

1. "Rerum Memoria" is Is a three minute Operatic/Symphonic overture with the choir singing in Latin.

2. "The King and the Warrior",3:26, is a true power metal song with speed drumming and heavy guitar work set to these lyrics, "Crowned in January of ten sixty-six, Harold was set as King, Formidable warrior a braveheart he is, William from Normandy.........."

3. "Echoes of War" 5:56, is a medium-fast tempo song with multiple vocals and heavy use of the choir."Edward the Confessor to Harold, Now on my deathbed I lie and when I'll fly on the black wings of Death you'll guide my reign......"

4. "The Sight of Telham Hill",5:52, a medieval and flute intro leads to a varied pace and very complex power metal number utilizing the choir extensively, "Near to defeat he should collide, with all Williams ardour before he dies, but his stubborness gave him the strength, to fight for a future gain.........."

5. "Incipit Bellum", 1:46, is another piece which showcases the choir, again singing in Latin.

6. "The Scream of the Tallefer", 7:30, is maybe the best song with a wonderful combination of sounds, textures and varying tempos. Magnificent use of orchestra and choir with power metal attitude. "Leave your hopes beyond the Horror, You fight only to survive, Raise your steels and pride!...."

7."Anger of Fate", 7:13, is a medium paced song, emotionally delivered by the vocalist - Dario with some choir backing and moderate instrumentation. "But destiny had already crowned his man, the Conquerer prevailed......"

8. "The Pride of the Housecarl", 7:20, on second thought, maybe this is the best song, a chugging beat with the wonderful choir leading with some solos and Dario taking over the lead. the music is so varied, lush and jumbled I can't describe it. Trust me this is a fantastic song. "The rout resounded around the hill, When the last troops had laid down their arms........."

9. "Through the Bridge of Spears", 3:48, Orchestra and choir assisted power metal, "Blow the winds of bloodshed their immortal chilling breeze,Widespread on the lands of Chalbec Hill..........."

10. "Demons on the Crown", 5:50, is a great finale, Power metal with a syncopated beat and very melodic choruses and of course the beautiful ubiquitous choir. "Bless my fallen men, Let me know my defaults to, Quiet my conceited soul........."

I'm not positive on the lyrics, they were very hard to read.

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SIMILAR BANDS
Therion, Dragonland, Freedom Call, Dark Moor, Wizards, Secret Sphere, Edguy, Avantasia, Sonata Arctica, Rhapsody

I am amused to discover at my age, that I can still be a victim of prejudiced thinking where media is considered. As a child of the Sixties, with fairly broad tastes in music, heavy metal was near the top of my "hate" list of mindless or shallow "noise." I didn't consider for a moment, that the practitioners of such a bastardized "form" of musical expression could be anything more profound than brain damaged hedonists. Interested in HISTORY? Never! And if they were, then surely their slant on history would be alien to my own.

Then these crazy guys in Italy (Thy Majestie) did this themed album about the battle of Hastings. They even had the nerve to call it "Hastings 1066", which meant that their key words were sharing (competing with) mine for my Website on the same subject matter. That kind of annoyed me, and I didn't even give their creation a nod. Until a few months ago, for some reason (just like the convert to a religion that he has always before despised), something I read on the Net got my attention. I decided to give "Hastings 1066" a try. Yeah, the heavy metal parts were overwhelming the first couple of times through. But the mixture of vocals and period thematic music and instrumentals really was very good. Just my kind of stuff. So I endured the heavy metal and came to really enjoy this piece of art. Heavy metal, at least the good stuff, is as musical, and surely as complex, as any other musical genre. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is THE most complex form of music invented. What I mistook before as an avalanche of mere noise is in fact a huge interweaving of apparently as many kinds of musical sounds as possible. It is tight, methodical, mathematical. If you don't like the barrage of sound I can't help you there. I have come to like it a lot. Now my daughter's CDs do not drive me off, in fact I listen to them, and I say, "Hey! that sounds just like the bit in Hastings 1066". And I realize that I have lately discovered a musical form that has its talented practitioners, and that my daughter with her good taste knows the difference.

So yeah, this album is really cool. And I want more, maybe later....

I'm not the kind who knows the story to any of these Italian epic power metal bands. (I know Holy War by Dragonland, but that's it, and they're Swedish.) It is some sort of battleish story, but that's all I can tell you without fear of being wrong. The production of the album sounds a lot like that of Highlord or perhaps even Human Fortress. The other band that came to mind was Vision Divine, but not lyrically. The speed, guitars, and style of keyboards used reminds me of Vision Divine. Choir-like voices make certain parts of this album sound identical to something Therion would write. There are a few female-sung lines in this album, but don't buy this just because of that. This isn't like Beholder or Lacuna Coil, for that matter (or the reverse of Nightwish).

The music is faster than Human Fortress, but don't expect much of this album to be VERY fast. You won't hear the REALLY fast paced songs that you hear with Skylark, Labyrinth, Secret Sphere, Beholder, Highlord, or Rhapsody. Most of the songs do qualify as "fast", but they're not all that much faster than a typical mid-tempo song.

Somehow, this band managed to have some guy at Finnvox do the mastering for this album. That puts the production a bit above that of Secret Sphere (I have only heard "A Time Never Come). The album is 55:29 long and doesn't get boring. Although the speed doesn't vary much, you keep hearing new sounds.

This isn't my favorite, but it's a very good album. I give this album a solid 4 stars and not 5 because it doesn't grab my attention the way Skylark and Dragonland do.

I hope I helped you in deciding whether to or not purchase this (wonderful) album. If I helped, please say so! I have a lot of other reviews (and now, I have my own list here on amazon!), so read them when you get a chance. Type in "Tunnelvision" and you should get to the list.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 8 reviews  4.6 out of 5 stars