Reviews : Albums : Thy Majestie, "Hastings 1066"

Not to be confused with a German black metal band called Thy Majesty, the Italian band plays an adventurous brand of epic, symphonic power metal. After its first full-length album The Lasting Power, based on a fantasy book, The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks, the band received a good amount of praise yet, also ceaseless comparisons to its countrymen, Rhapsody. Thus, tired of constantly being labeled fantasy-metal, the lads in Thy Majestie decided to write an album that would forever remove any musical comparisons to its countrymen and establish Thy Majestie as formidable player in the symphonic power metal scene. With the release of Hastings 1066, the band clearly succeeded in both of these tasks.

Hastings 1066 presents an illustrious lyrical tale of the battle between Harold, King of England, and William, Duke of Normandy, while the music serves as the band's vision of a modern era heavy metal soundtrack to one of the most important historical events of medieval times. Approaching such an endeavor can prove to be a grueling experience, especially musically, as the band must make sure that the music is presented in a fashion that trascends the listener back into the time when the story takes place. In the given case, Thy Majestie pulls things off with flair.

The intro, Rerum Memoria is powerful instrumental containing similarities to the main themes of such blockbusters like Gladiator and Braveheart. The tranquil horns at the end of the song bring symbolize that the battle is about to begin, and that's when the shredder, The King and the Warrior comes in. The first thing that immediately caught me off guard are the vocals by Dario Grillo. Like most of the singers from Italy, Dario has an undeniably thick accent that ruins the opening moments of the song, but his voice is worth getting used to.

On Hastings 1066, Thy Majestie pulls off all the right stops: shredding guitars, blasting double bass drums, lots of tempo changes, and plenty of neo-classical moments within and in between the songs. Yet, especially powerful and catchy are the operatic vocals throughout the album like in Echoes of War (4:31), The Sight of Telham Hill (3:06-3:30, 3:44-3:57), and throughout Incipit Bellum.

While the music on Hastings 1066 is substantially different than the one of Rhapsody, the fact that both of the bands are from Italy and use operatic vocals will render more comparisons from those with less experienced ears. However, Thy Majestie's music is less symphonic, no longer deals with fantasy-oriented topics, and is much more progressive in nature, especially during some of the keyboard passages (The King and the Warrior and The Sight of Telham Hill). Thus, the band is clearly strong enough to stand on its own, which is adequately proves with Hastings 1066: an emotional battlecry full of shredding guitar riffs, double-bass drums, and medieval sounds.

Standout Tracks    Echoes of War    The Sight of Telham Hill

Mike.S