March 2022 Feature Release – The Guardians Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month’s feature release for The Guardians has been nominated by Xephyr. It's the 1997 debut album "And Thou Shalt Trust... The Seer" from German symphonic metal outfit Haggard. I'm only mildly familiar with Haggard through my time programming The Guardians playlist & I remember wondering whether to include them due to their incorporation of death metal vocals but I eventually caved because the rest of their sound seemed to be a good fit for the clan. I'll be interested to get your take on it though & it's great to be seeing a symphonic metal release achieving feature release status for the first time in quite a while so as to break up the heavy/power metal dominance.

https://metal.academy/releases/7490

So yeah.... I hated it. Who would have thought it, right? Symphonic metal & I simply don't see eye to eye at all & that fact probably hasn't escaped too many of our regular contributors so I doubt my general apathy for this release will surprise too many of you. I'd actually describe this late 90's example of the niche genre as symphonic doom/death metal & I can't see that it sits all that comfortably under The Guardians clan. Despite the fact that I really struggled with it though, I tend to think that it'd sit better in my much beloved The Fallen clan given the direction of the heavier elements. There's significantly more orchestration than there is metal included here though & it's the metal material that really let's Haggard down in my opinion. The production job & musicianship is seriously lacking on the metal parts while the death metal vocals are subpar at best. I have to admit that the neoclassical/medieval orchestration is actually done fairly well at times but (with the exception of the short & effective classical piece "Cantus Firmus in A-Minor") I can't say that it interests me in the slightest. Nor does the occasional folk melody which only adds to my pain. I couldn't be more outside of my comfort zone really. Let's go our separate ways & forget this ever happened, shall we?

2/5

Damn, another conundrum I just seem to be unable to solve. I know the problem lies with me, but I really can't hear what would attract anyone to this album. It has a very respectable 3.48 rating on RYM, indicating that it is reasonably well thought of, but for the life of me I can't tell why. I am in no way adverse to a bit of medieval folk music but I hate it mixed with metal as it just sounds super-cheesy. There was even a point during In a Pale Moon's Shadow where I couldn't help being reminded of the bit in Spinal Tap where the elves are dancing round the ludicrously tiny Stonehenge - not a great comparison for a real metal release I think you'll agree! The vocals here are also pretty dire - the death metal growls are, quite frankly, shit and the female vocals aren't anything to write home about either. The actual metal sounds like fairly average MDB worship and no amount of medieval folk or symphonic window dressing can raise it any higher than that. I agree with Daniel that, musically, it sounds more at home in The Fallen than The Guardians because if you strip it all back it is just gothic death doom with a few bells and whistles.

At the end of the day, I've just got to admit that I don't get it and that's on me, but to be honest, I'm not going to be losing any sleep over it. We can't all agree all the time and it would be a very boring world if we did, so I'll just leave it there.

1.5/5

I cannot get into this either. I must admit that my knowledge of metal acts incorporating classical instrumentation like this is quite limited. I know Folk and Neoclassical Metal, but this specifically is reserved basically for Haggard and Obesquiae. But even I can tell from a general knowledge of metal that this record does not sound very good. There is a severe lacking of bass presence on this record, making the heavier portions quite lackluster. It has so many of the same production issues that early 90s death metal, but with this being more doom metal, it comes across really flat since the kick drum is not double bass blistering.

The vocals are....there. The harsh vocals sound phoned in and lazy. The clean vocals sound cool and provide much needed substance that is missing in the low end. As for the symphonic elements, they are the best part of the album. Haggard may have been better off just making an album of Renaissance music; without the guitar and drums, the instrumentals can be fully appreciated with an independent bass line. They still aren't very good though, as the keyboards constantly eclipse the winds and strings.

I feel like I should credit Haggard for bringing attention to a different style of symphonic metal that I never cared to search out before. The use of classical songwriting techniques over a style that is not power metal is a nice change of pace, but the way in which it is executed leaves a lot to be desired.

5/10