ASGARD - DRACHENBLUT - 2000

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...
http://www.progarchives.com