Haggard () is a German

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-genre style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitars ...

band founded in 1989. The group combines

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

and

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

with

death doom metal Death-doom (also known as death-doom metal or doom-death) is a fusion genre of death metal and doom metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double-kick drumming of d ...

History

Haggard was founded in 1989 and originally played

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

. They changed their musical style after their first demo tape, ''Introduction'' in 1992, becoming a band with symphonic melodies and classical instruments but folk themes. The album '' And Thou Shalt Trust... the Seer'' marked their breakthrough in 1997. After their second album '' Awaking the Centuries'' (the life of the prophet Nostradamus), they toured through Mexico twice. Just before their album ''Awaking the Centuries'' was released, the group had its highest number of musicians at 21. All their songs are written by vocalist and guitarist Asis Nasseri. In 2004, they released their third album ''

Eppur Si Muove ''And Yet It Moves'' is a puzzle-platform game developed by independent developer Broken Rules. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux on April 2, 2009, and for Wii as a WiiWare title in August 2010. ''And Yet It Moves ...

'' about the life of Italian scholar

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

, sentenced to house arrest for

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

by the Catholic Church for supporting Copernicus' claim that the Earth revolved around the Sun. In 2021 the album was elected by ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions published by different companies available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' featu ...

'' as the 23rd best symphonic metal album. The fourth album, '' Tales of Ithiria'', was released in 2008 and is based on a fantasy story. Since 2008, Italian bassist Giacomo Astorri has collaborated with Haggard as a stable member. Besides his work with Haggard, Astorri has played in various metal bands, including The Dogma, Infernal Angels (guitar), ZAP (bass), and is currently a member of the Italian doom metal band Stryx (https://www.stryxband.com), whose debut album is in preparation. In addition to his music career, Astorri is also a professional concert and event photographer. In 2010, the band had its first concert along with a symphonic orchestra. Haggard played together with the philharmonic orchestra of Plovdiv in the Bulgarian city of

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

on 19 April 2010. Although a new album with the title of ''Grimm'' was originally announced for the end of 2012, the album has since been postponed indefinitely.

Discography

Demos

* ''Introduction'' (1992) * ''Progressive'' (1994) * ''Once... Upon a December's Dawn'' (1995)

Studio albums

Live

* '' Awaking the Gods: Live in Mexico'' (2001)

DVDs and videos

* ''In a Pale Moon's Shadow'' (1998) * ''Awaking the Gods: Live in Mexico'' (

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

) (2001)

Members

Current members

* Asis Nasseri – vocals, guitar (1991–present) * Giacomo Astorri – bass * Janika Groß – soprano * Frank Schumacher – tenor vocals * Claudio Quarta – guitar * Aline Deinert – violin * Ivica Kramheller – double bass * Lisa Hellmich – viola * Anne Eberlein – viola * Cosmin Nechita – violin * Johannes Schleiermacher – violoncello (cello) * Florinda Hoffmann – violoncello (cello) * Hans Wolf – piano, keyboards, organ, harpsichord * Ingrid Nietzer – piano, keyboards * Maurizio Guolo – drums, percussion (2012–present) * Stefana Sabau – oboe * Catalina Popa – flute *Veronika Kramheller - soprano *Michel Schumm - drums, percussion *Michel Stapf - violin

Past members

* Florian Bartl – oboe, English horn * Judith Marschall – violin * Fiffi Fuhrmann – tenor vocals, bass * Dorothea Zelinsky – violin * Mark Pendry – clarinet * Sasema – vocals * Gaby Koss – soprano vocals * Robert von Greding – clarinet * Christoph von Zastrow – flute * Danny Klupp – guitar * Kathrin Pechlof – harp * Karin Bodemüller – vocals * Florian Schnellinger – percussion * Andi Nad – bass * Robin Fischer – bass * Andi Hemberger – vocals * Kathrin Hertz – cello * Andreas Peschke – flute *

Manuela Kraller Manuela Kraller (born 1 August 1981) is a German spinto soprano singer. She is best known as the former lead singer of symphonic metal band Xandria from late 2010 until late 2013. She was formerly one of the soprano vocalists in the symphonic m ...

– soprano vocals * Susanne Ehlers – soprano vocals * Veronika Kramheller – soprano vocals * Jonathan Whynot – guitar * Michael Stapf – violin * Andreas Fuchs – horn – percussion * Linda Antonetti – oboe * Steffi Hertz – viola * Patrizia Krug – cello * Luz Marsen – drum * Michael Schumm – classical percussion – drum * Ally Storch-Hukriede – violin In addition to the 16 band members, more than 10 guest artists and musicians were involved in the making of the album ''

''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haggard German doom metal musical groups German symphonic metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1989 German death metal musical groups German heavy metal musical groups English-language musical groups from Germany