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DRACHENBLUT

Asgard

Neo-Prog


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Asgard Drachenblut album cover
3.11 | 26 ratings | 4 reviews | 12% 5 stars

Good, but non-essential

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Studio Album, released in 2000

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Blue Fire (5:36)
2. Red Fire (4:46)
3. Ch. I Sigurd (1:09)
4. Ch. II Dragon's Blood (3:16)
5. Ch. III Quid (10:45)
6. Ch. IV Drachenfels (4:01)
7. Ch. V In The Lands Of The Dragon Of Midgard (05:37)
8. Ch. VI Initiation (10:10)
9. Ch. VII "I'm The Udder" (3:21)
10. Ch. VIII The Bathe Instrumental (2:35)
11. Memories From Sigurd's Past (2:38)
12. Danger! (Sigurd In Love) (4:15)
13. A Lime-Leaf Was On His Back (9:00)

Total Time: 67:58

Line-up / Musicians

- Chris Bianchi d'Espinosa / bass, guitars, vocals
- Peter Bachmayer / drums, percussions
- Sergio Ghiotto / guitars
- Alberto Ambrosi / keyboards, flute, vocals
- Ivo Gallo / lead and backing vocals

Releases information

CD Dragon's Music DRMUS 002

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to Grendelbox for the last updates
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ASGARD Drachenblut ratings distribution


3.11
(26 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(12%)
12%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(38%)
38%
Good, but non-essential (27%)
27%
Collectors/fans only (19%)
19%
Poor. Only for completionists (4%)
4%

ASGARD Drachenblut reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by loserboy
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars Dark, foreboding prog bubbling with strong energy and rich in song writing, musical textures and atmospheres. "Drachenblut" marks the 5th studio work for ASGARD who have been silent for well over 6 years and have re-emerged with this progressive rock beauty. For those who remember the magic of ASGARD's remarkable earlier albums will simply adore this one. Although "Drachenblut" contains ASGARD's patented deep medieval prog-like musical imagery, it also explores lots of new space. Musicianship is just exceptional with the highly inventive keyboard tapestries of Alberto Ambrosi , creative driving bass lines of Chris Bianchi d'Espinosa, the intricate and varied guitar expressions of Sergio Ghiotto (ex - TOP LEFT CORNER and the percussive master strokes of Peter Bachmayer. New lead vocalist Ivo Gallo adds a whole new wonderful dimension to the music of ASGARD and continues the romantic influences with a slightly harder delivery than his predecessor and a highly expressive voice - a perfect fit! Overall musically one can draw certain allusions to that of "ARENA" and "GENESIS" with loads of HACKETT'esque guitar accents throughout. Without a question "Drachenblut" will make some noise out there and IMHO I would rank this as one of the best prog albums of 2000 so far...
Review by Cesar Inca
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Drachenblut is the fifth item of Asgard's constant explorations into the traditions of ancient magic within the realms of musical art in prog rock. After the original line-up's singer andguitarist left the band, you could really suspect that the album after Arkana was destined to retrace the band's steps in pursue of a proper refurbishment of their neo-symphonic vision, since the aforesaid members' inputs were crucial and determining for the band's core sound. Drachenblut took some time to complete given the fact that the definitive line-up changes didn't ultimately gel, but eventually, the remaining members, keyboardist/flutist Alberto Ambrosi and bassist/2nd guitarist Chris Bianchi d'Espinosa, managed to restore the quintet format. The sound production is far from perfect, but that's another issue tha twe won't get into now. New vocalist Ivo Gallo, given his style and tone that are more related to hard rock and Stone Temple Pilots-type grunge, had to bear on his shoulders the burden of carrying the lyrics' messages over a rockier development of Asgard's sound. Hardening the sound of prog was nothing new for Asgard: the excellent concept album Imago Mundi was actually very prog metal- related from the neo-prog shoreline that Asgard had created out of the influences received from Fish- era Marillion, Gabriel-era Genesis and the pastoral factor of vintage Italian symphonic prog. But now the band's style has become a bit darker, even more related to the somber vibe that we can find in IQ's epic moments and teh stamina than we can find in many heavy prog and prog metal bands. The first two tracks are manifestos of the symphonic trend that the band is now headlong for: 'Blue Fire' is a ceremonious mid-tempo rocker, while 'Red Fire' delivers a more frantic rhythmic structure, both finding a comfortable place in the crossroads of heavy prog and Imago Mundi powerfully metallish neo. Gallo's voice and style work well in the energetic passages, but they don't at all in the softer ones. The pastoral first half of 'Dragon's Blood' and the dreamy atmospheres of 'In the Lands of the Dragon of Midgard' are very hard for him to merge well into the whole integral mood. The same goes for the first of the two epics, 'Quid': it is beautifully constructed as in the eerie climaxes one can find in 2Esoteric Poem and Arkana, but the vocalist of the moment is not the right messenger. Of course, he is very efficient in the majestic mid-tempo 'Drachenfels', as well as the other epic 'Initiation' (the album's apex). 'Initiation' states a compact cohesiveness through the various motifs, in a sequence that goes from the mysterious to the solemn, and from there to the bombastic: the pastoral closure is an effective way to complete the idea. I Am the Udder is a short yet catchy rocker that also fits Gallo's style well. The character of Sigurd had been introduced in the spacey brief instrumental tha tis track 3, and now it meets the two melodic rockers 'Memories from Sigurd's Past' and 'Danger!', preceded by the piano solo piece entitled 'The Bathe'. The piano solo is fine, but teh two rockers do not work quite right: they are agile and catchy, but they are in danger of trivialising the Asgard ideology (especially 'Danger!'). Luckily, the last track 'A Time-Leaf Was on His Back' corrects things in pure splendorous fashion: the track's development fits the standard of neo-symphonic at its best, even reprising some motifs from 'Initiation' in its closing climax. Drachenblut is a very good album, but Asgard had proved to be capable of much better things, more productive for the preservation of the prog rock flame through the 90s. This album doesn't represent the real Asgard: Yes could do realyessian music with Moraz instead of Wakeman, Genesis did the same without Gabriel for a while, DT without Moore, etc. Grade: good, at times very good with moments of Asgardish greatness.

Latest members reviews

2 stars I have really never understood the old ancient world's fascination for the old Viking world. It seems like the Italians & Co from the old Roman empire believe the old Asatru has the answers to all their ills. Financial meltdown and a sprained wrist ? Unleash Odin. Most of us up in the North would ... (read more)

Report this review (#597016) | Posted by toroddfuglesteg | Tuesday, December 27, 2011 | Review Permanlink

4 stars A great album! Though heavier than previous albums, Asgard again manages to create an mysterious but epic atmosphere in which to tell a heroic story. Recommended for any prog fan who likes instrumental complexity. I will address the tracks one by one. - "Blue Fire" is a decent opener of the alb ... (read more)

Report this review (#258487) | Posted by Troubadour | Wednesday, December 30, 2009 | Review Permanlink

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