| Haggard | |
| Image Upright: | 1.2 |
| Origin: | Germany |
| Genre: | Symphonic death metal, death-doom, death metal (early) |
| Years Active: | 1989–present |
| Current Members: | Asis Nasseri Giacomo Astorri Janika Groß Martin Florestan Fiffi Fuhrmann Catalina Popa Stefana Sabau Aline Deinert Cosmin Nechita Anne Eberlein Ivica Kramheller Lisa Hellmich Johannes Schleiermacher Florinda Hoffmann Claudio Quarta Hans Wolf Maurizio Guolo Ingrid Nietzer Michael Schumm Veronika Kramheller |
| Past Members: | See below |
Haggard is a German symphonic metal band founded in 1989.[1] The group combines classical music and early music with death doom metal.
Haggard was founded in 1989 and originally played death metal.[2] 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 about the life of Italian scholar Galileo Galilei, sentenced to house arrest for heresy by the Catholic Church for supporting Copernicus' claim that the Earth revolved around the Sun. In 2021 the album was elected by Metal Hammer as the 23rd best symphonic metal album.[3]
The fourth album, Tales of Ithiria, was released in 2008 and is based on a fantasy story.
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 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.
| Year | Title | Peak positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER[4] | SWI[5] | |||
| 1997 | And Thou Shalt Trust... the Seer | — | — | |
| 2000 | Awaking the Centuries | 64 | — | |
| 2004 | Eppur si muove | 47 | — | |
| 2008 | Tales of Ithiria | 37 | 89 | |
In addition to the 16 band members, more than 10 guest artists and musicians were involved in the making of the album Eppur Si Muove.