Ancient Bards is an Italian

symphonic power 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, formed in January 2006 by keyboard player Daniele Mazza.

History

Line-Up

The project, originated in the mind of Daniele Mazza, started to materialize in 2006 after Daniele met with

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

player Martino Garattoni. The first stable line up was completed in 2007, with

Sara Squadrani Sara Squadrani (born 14 February 1986) is an Italian soprano singer, best known as a vocalist of the Italian symphonic power metal band Ancient Bards since 2007. She has also collaborated with Arjen Anthony Lucassen's metal opera project ''Ayre ...

as singer, Alessandro Carichini as drummer, and Claudio Pietronik and Fabio Balducci as guitarists. In September 2010, Alessandro left the band, to be replaced by a new drummer

Federico Gatti Federico Gatti (born 24 June 1998) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Juventus and the Italy national team. In his youth career, Gatti played for the clubs Chieri, Torino and Alessandria. Gatti's senio ...

. The latest line-up change occurred in the end of 2013 after recording the third album ''A New Dawn Ending'', when Balducci left the band for personal reasons. For live shows in 2014 Simone Bertozzi filled in as a guest second guitarist.

Albums

The style and concept of their 2010 debut album, ''The Alliance of the Kings'', has been seen as inspired by fellow Italian band

Rhapsody of Fire Rhapsody of Fire (formerly known as Rhapsody) is an Italian symphonic power metal band formed by Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli, widely seen as a pioneer of the symphonic power metal subgenre. Since forming in 1993 as Thundercross, the ban ...

. The album is the first part of '' The Black Crystal Sword Saga'' with each song making up a single "episode". The Italian and German editions of ''

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 ...

'' commented on the "sophisticated songwriting" in this release. The latter magazine also found similarities to

Anette Olzon Anette Ingegerd Olsson (born 21 June 1971), known by the stage name Anette Olzon, is a Swedish singer, best known as the former lead vocalist of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish from 2007 to 2012. She is also the vocalist of Swedish class ...

in singer Sara Squadrani's voice. The band's second album, ''Soulless Child'', was released in 2011. It continues ''The Black Crystal Sword Saga'' introduced in the previous album. The reviewers of ''Metal Hammer'' Germany and ''Rock Hard'' agreed that the album had a tendency towards

kitsch ''Kitsch'' ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as Naivety, naïve imitation, overly eccentric, gratuitous or of banal Taste (sociology), taste. The modern avant-garde traditionally opposed kitsch ...

. While ''Metal Hammer'' found several positive remarks about individual tracks, ''Rock Hard'' criticised a lack of original hooks. In April 2014, a third album, ''A New Dawn Ending'', was released. This concluded the first part of ''The Black Crystal Sword Saga'', making that section a complete trilogy. Ancient Bards announced their fourth album in June 2018 entitled ''Origine - The Black Crystal Sword Saga Part 2''. It is the beginning the second part of ''The Black Crystal Sword Saga'' and was released on 25 January 2019. They also announced on their Facebook page that touring guitarist Simone Bartozzi had been made a permanent band member after touring with them since 2014.

Discography

; EP * ''Trailer of the Black Crystal Sword Saga'' (2008) ; Albums * ''The Alliance of the Kings'' (2010) * ''Soulless Child'' (2011) * ''A New Dawn Ending'' (2014) * ''Origine - The Black Crystal Sword Saga Part 2'' (2019) * ''Artifex'' (2025)

Members

Current members * Daniele Mazza – keyboards (2006–present) * Martino Garattoni – bass (2006–present) *

– vocals (2007–present) * Claudio Pietronik – guitar (2007–present) * Federico Gatti – drums (2011–present) * Simone Bertozzi – guitar (2018–present; touring member 2014–2018) Former members * Alessandro Carichini – drums (2007–2010) * Fabio Balducci – guitar (2007–2014) Timeline

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2006 establishments in Italy Italian power metal musical groups Italian symphonic metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2006 Female-fronted musical groups Mixed-gender bands