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Thy Majestie > Hastings 1066 > Reviews
Thy Majestie - Hastings 1066

Extremely outstanding while similar among others. - 95%

lulukkkk, October 14th, 2006

This is one of the albums that will eventually win the public by their soul and composition skill. Yes indeed, there's some progressive/epic metal bands out there attempting to make good concept album, but few of them in general manage to combine all the songs into one and open the listeners to its universe. The musical structure in "Hastings 1066" is really attractively complex, it'll be weird to compare it to Dream Theater's works - The complexity in "Hastings 1066" is very well developed and balanced between creativity and inspiration, even if it's not obvious, the blend of chords, melodies, rhythms was very rigidly made that every note contributes efficiently to the musicality, whereas DT's works will rather be identified as rough draft comparing to "Hastings 1066".

For anyone who listens to music through its notes instead of its flow/progression, it won't take them a lot of time to figure out how well the musical messages in "Hastings 1066" are transferred to their ears. For those who play instruments, they will benefit even more - I’m pretty sure that this album will widen one's musical vision by A LOT and reveals different instrument techniques.

The only flaw I can find in this album is in the singer's voice (I found his voice too weak in certain passages), but it merely affects the album's overall performance.

Finally, I would highly recommend this album to almost anyone. Listen to it and you'll see that it's rare, unless if you're an album collector who doesn't even take at least 1 week to listen to a album).

Prog-Symphonic Metal - 98%

keeperoflamu, November 27th, 2002

Epic/Symphonic/Power, this is the right label for this incredible band, and they' re Italian but, please, they are not Rhapsody, so don' t believe who tells you they' re a bad copy of the kings of Italian Hollywood Metal! yes, both the bands come from the same category but there are lot of differences between the two comboes!
Maybe Thy Majestie' ve run the same Rhapsody' s path with "The Lasting Power" (quite good) but here we have a new band with its own specific soul.
You can find in "Hastings 1066" a progressive approach to Symphonic metal never heard before, and sometimes you' ll think to listen to a sort of Dream Theater with all the orchestral arrangements you would like to hear!
Just their orchestration sounds different from many symphonic bands because there are strong folk and medieval elements painting the music that definitively doesn' t sound like the same old warmed up soup.
Do you want more? A so perfect music needs a voice at the top of the whole power and symphonic metal, and the vocalist Dario Grillo can give it, he can be dark and sing high, a very good surprise!
The more classic power-oriented song is surely "The King and the Warrior", the first song (but after a 3(???) minutes intro, not boring but surely not indispensable).
Folkish intro for the splendid "Echoes of War", the most prog-song in the CD.... it' s made of an intricate plot of speed riffs and church' s choirs that conducts the mind to the liberating refrain, my god..!!
My absolute fovourite piece!
I have to say that each song could be a high value contender for the leadership of best song, particularly "The Sight of Telham Hill" and the final majestic "Demons on the Crown", two real careful plugs of an accurate mosaic.
If you like Italian, epic, melodic, symphonic, hollywood, power, prog (what more?) metal, run as fast as you can and buy this unforgivable work and begin your flight to unknown dimensions of your mind!!!!
One of the best Epic Album of the year!!!