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Greetings metal brethren!

I've been listening to Epicus..., SORCERER, LORDS OF THE CRIMSON ALLIANCE, OMEN, MANILLA ROAD, CIRITH UNGOL, DOOMSWORD and PAGAN ALTAR... a lot. I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of bands that put you right back into the Middle Ages, sword in hand against sorcerers. Needless to say I am NOT looking for the efeminated crap of the Power Metal bands riding their ponies across the rainbow to save their beloved princes.

Cheers!

I can't completely understand what you want, in the sense that to me the atmosphere you describe isn't present in all the bands you mentioned, but here are a few I think along those lines:

COMMANDER - 'The High 'n' Mighty' LP (esp. 'Die By The Blade' and 'The Blade Shines On')
HEATHENS RAGE EP
KILLEN LP
LIEGE LORD - 'Freedom's Rise' LP
BREAKER - 'In Days of Heavy Metal' EP
TANTRUM - 'Knights of Fire' track
AVALON - 'Live Or Die' LP
DARK KNIGHT - 'Return of the Dark Knight' track
DARK AGE EP
H and H 7"
OBLIVION - 'Quest For Power' demo
CONQUEST - 's/t' demo
TYTON - 'Castle Donnington' track
SACRED RITE EP
CASSLE EP

I'll get back to you with more later.

There are tons of albums like this and this morning I was listening to the first Tierra Santa CD called "Medieval". It´s not from the 80s and the lyrics are in Spanish, but it´s huge!

Adramelch`s first album had a very medieval atmosphere...

daniel wrote:I can't completely understand what you want, in the sense that to me the atmosphere you describe isn't present in all the bands you mentioned, but here are a few I think along those lines:

Point taken, there, but it is a hard thing for me to define... If I went for song examples, maybe it would be easier?

Lords of the Crimson Alliance "The Sorcerer"
Candlemass's whole Epicus... and "Of Stars and Smoke"
Pagan Altar's "Sentinels of Hate" and the whole of Mythical and Magical which to me portrays a middle ages village in some shire in England.
Doomsword, Omen, Manilla and Cirith Ungol are more broad in the atmosphere they evoke on me, but they all end up carrying me back to some epic battlefield sooner or later!

Did I manage to be clearer, Daniel? Thanks for the bands you mentioned already, will check them out!

I suppose you have already heard BROCAS HELM's Black Death?

ION BRITTON wrote:I suppose you have already heard BROCAS HELM's Black Death?

Yes.

What about MEDIEVAL STEEL? Cuts you like a knife!

UriahHeep wrote:What about MEDIEVAL STEEL? Cuts you like a knife!

Warriors on the battlefieeeeeeld, laying down their liiiiiiiiiiiiiiives
FOR STEEL!

Forgot to put those on the list there. Those, Orialix and Xcaliber.

I think you're kind of mistaken when you use the word "medieval" to describe the feeling you have while listening to such bands.

Indeed, a band with a so called "medieval" feeling to me would be a band using the harmonies, patterns and colours of real medieval music. I talk about stuff influenced by the "Cantigas de Santa Maria", "el Llibre Vermell de Montserrat", "the original "Carmina Burana" from the XIIIth Century, the trouvères and troubadours material, the Minnesänger tradition, etc.

Most of the bands you mentionned here in this topic might have withdrawn a more or less strong inspiration from some real histroical event, but mainly I think they fantasize about Middle Ages, and thus are closer to a romantic vision from the medieval era, and sometimes from the Tolkien-like litterature, than real medieval History.

Musically, I'd say that these bands are sounding more EPIC than really MEDIEVAL.

Oh well, that's just my point of view, but you know, having studied medieval History and archaeology for years, I tend to like when the vocabular is used in an "accurate" way.

Nathaniel wrote:I think you're kind of mistaken when you use the word "medieval" to describe the feeling you have while listening to such bands.

Indeed, a band with a so called "medieval" feeling to me would be a band using the harmonies, patterns and colours of real medieval music. I talk about stuff influenced by the "Cantigas de Santa Maria", "el Llibre Vermell de Montserrat", "the original "Carmina Burana" from the XIIIth Century, the trouvères and troubadours material, the Minnesänger tradition, etc.

Most of the bands you mentionned here in this topic might have withdrawn a more or less strong inspiration from some real histroical event, but mainly I think they fantasize about Middle Ages, and thus are closer to a romantic vision from the medieval era, and sometimes from the Tolkien-like litterature, than real medieval History.

Musically, I'd say that these bands are sounding more EPIC than really MEDIEVAL.

Oh well, that's just my point of view, but you know, having studied medieval History and archaeology for years, I tend to like when the vocabular is used in an "accurate" way.

You have the truth of it, but when I used "medieval" it was really in the hope that a Middle Ages setting would come to mind straight away. I don't mean it in the literal sense of actual Medieval influences there, but I wasn't too fond about using Epic because to me that would describe great, lengthy or ambitious songs... Let us settle for "Middle Age Obscure Fantasy" then

I think Ritual (UK) would be right up your alley. Especially the "Valley of the Kings" album has a very epic and english atmosphere not too different from Pagan Altar's "Mythica & Magical".

mordred wrote:I think Ritual (UK) would be right up your alley. Especially the "Valley of the Kings" album has a very epic and english atmosphere not too different from Pagan Altar's "Mythica & Magical".

"Widow" is also brilliant, and I actually prefer it to "Valley of the Kings"

roihlem wrote:Adramelch`s first album had a very medieval atmosphere...

Yeah, that's the first one that came to my mind.

Also:
Warlord - Deliver Us
Slough Feg - Down Among the Deadmen
Bathory - Viking albums
Excelsis - Kurt of Koppigen and Tales of Tell (these might be a bit too close to power metal, though)
Hammers of Misfortune - The Bastard
Icefall - Ghostlands demo

Thanks! Got a good list to start digging already