Let me introduce myself, I am miss. Ery, your writer for today and hopefully for more to come. The best way to describe my way of writing is: “I jump from subjects in more ways than pretentious people jump to conclusions.” So good luck trying to follow me, for those not fast enough to follow, I suggest someone helps you with that. Yes, I am that crazy, probably even clinically insane but as long as I’m not tested, I’m free. So good luck world, you’re going to need it. Now I could talk about myself for hours on end, but you’re not here for me, are you? No! You came here for this band called Ancient Bards.

This Italian six men (five and one woman) Symphonic/bombastic power metal band has released their new album and you are anxious to know what a total stranger thinks of it. As the name might suggest it, it’s the second part so that must mean there is a part one. The Alliance of the Kings album is actually the first part of this “saga” and that album was released in 2010, which means it took them almost nine years to make the second part. You, who have actually listened to this album, might be excited for this. I however did not know this band existed until recently, so I am going to jump in this album with no former knowledge. And suffer along the way because of it. Enough of this self-pity, let’s just get going with this review.

Their intro to the album called ‘Origine’ started out exactly how one would think: fantasy music with an old man talking about something, no one has any clue what he’s saying. He uses ancient and big words so that he sounds smart but he is actually just an old senile person talking gibberish.  But not to worry, because when their second song starts ‘Impious Dystopia’ you get multiple people who are singing and you can’t understand. Luckily (mostly for me) they have a male vocalist: Simone Bertozzi. His growls are amazing and after googling him I also noticed he isn’t bad to look at. No one is really, not Sara, not Simone, not Martino. They all look amazing! I am drifting off my point… *closes Google* Let’s keep going with this review, shall we?

The next two songs are ‘Fantasy Wings’ & ‘Aureum Legacy.’ Though they are not terrible songs, there is also not much worth mentioning here. These are just the typical symphonic power metal songs, not bad but also not overwhelming. Normally I am a kind of person who just loves when band repeat their chorus a couple of times before the end. Here, on the other end however, I wished they just finished already. Because if they end their song, we can go on to the next and hopefully get something a little different. Something to change the album completely and what do we get?

‘Light’ is the slow song on the album. Because that is just what we needed, something slow to calm down the fast-pasted Christmas tunes we had before. How great! Anyone who has seen the movie ‘Inside Out’ where Anger’s head catches fire and he’s screaming: me right now! But wait, there’s more! Because the intro of ‘Oscurita’ is the fluffing same, shocker there. This is the sixth song on the album and finally Simone is back! He is the only thing right now keeping me from insanity on writing this review, and I haven’t heard him since the second song so this does not bode well for them. Now, you’re probably thinking: Why is Miss. Ery so against this genre? Well, I am not. I love power metal, I don’t mind symphonic metal per se. But I do appreciate the symphonic black metal more like Dimmu Borgir than this. Also, I have all the albums from the band Twilight Force and they are in my top ten list of greatest bands so, it’s not the genre I have a problem with. It’s this fluffing band.

They have the ability to make great music: Vocally, Sara is amazing! She has a powerful voice and can switch almost perfectly between strong and soft. I hear no mistakes in the guitar solos or the keyboard for that matter. Simone has a great voice and knows how to growl. And yet this band does not appeal to me, simply because they are doing nothing worth mentioning. I will not give them a bad score on their music skills, because those are definitely there. However, I can’t give them a high score as well simply because it has already been done before. People who enjoy Amaranthe, Nightwish, … You will enjoy and maybe even love this band so give them a proper chance and don’t mind my review, but if those bands do not speak to you in any way, let this band pass you. To appreciate this band, you have to be able to appreciate the sub-genre, and clearly, I don’t do that enough.

Number eight ‘The Hollow’, had caught my attention, at least the intro that is, maybe for the wrong reasons, but it kind of sounded like something from the series ‘Doctor Who’ and I just love that show. So, I’ll give this band some credit because they made me think of that awesome show! Kudos for you Ancient Bards! ‘Home of the Rejects’, again nothing extra-ordinary. However, their guitar solo was just on point. All the other songs also have great solo’s, but this one sounded for some reason darker and in a way better. I just wish they had done more of this.

Their last song (at least for me, the CD has a bonus track. Check that out if you still want to after my review.) ‘The Great Divide’, which is actually a great name for this track. It consists of three parts and has a total play time of almost 15 minutes. The first part doesn’t really speak to me, the second and third called ‘Teardrop’ and ‘Il Grande E Forte Impero‘ however, there we really hear Simone shine and he sounds amazing. I have spoken highly of him before and not so much about Sara, the actual vocalist, and she does a great job! Really, but I approve of growls way more than opera style singing. So, the few chances I got to listen to him, I try to really appreciate it.

To end my review and my suffering for that matter, all I have to say about this band is: They are good, and have got some real talents. If I had heard part one of this saga, I might have understood more of what the old man was saying in the end. I didn’t and I probably also won’t so you’ll have to do it with this review and just hope that my next review will be about a band I know more about. They are not my cup of tea and they won’t join my CD collection, however if I ever see them as an act for another band I like, I will definitely check them out, to see if their live show can maybe still win me over. Who knows…? But for now, I’m fluffing out!

Release date: January 25th, 2019
Label: Limb Music
Tracklist:
1. Origine  (2:15)
2. Impious Dystopia  (5:41)
3. Fantasy’s Wings  (4:51)
4. Aureum Legacy  (5:42)
5. Light  (4:43)
6. Oscurità  (6:20)
7. Titanism  (5:09)
8. The Hollow  (3:31)
9. Home Of The Rejects  (3:57)
10. The Great Divide  (14:48)
      Part 1 – Farewell Father
     Part 2 – Teardrop
     Part 3 – Il Grande E Forte Impero
11. Eredità Aurea (CD only Bonus Track)