The project, originated in the mind of Daniele Mazza, started to materialize in 2006 after Daniele met with bass player Martino Garattoni. The first stable line up was completed in 2007, with Sara Squadrani as singer, Alessandro Carichini as drummer, and Claudio Pietronik and Fabio Balducci as guitarists.
In September 2010, Alessandro left the band, to be replaced by a new drummer Federico Gatti. The latest line-up change occurred in the end of 2013 after recording the third album A New Dawn Ending, when Balducci left the band for personal reasons. Permanent replacement for Fabio has not been announced yet, but for live shows in 2014 the band has been joined by Simone Bertozzi as a guest second guitarist.
Albums
The style and concept of their 2010 debut album, The Alliance of the Kings, has been seen as inspired by fellow Italian band Rhapsody of Fire. The album is the first part of The Black Crystal Sword Saga with each song making up a single "episode"
The Italian and German editions of Metal Hammer commented on the "sophisticated songwriting" in this release. The latter magazine also found similarities to Anette Olzon in singer Sara Squadrani's voice.
The band's second album, Soulless Child, was released in 2011. It continues The Black Crystal Sword Saga introduced in the previous album. The reviewers of Metal Hammer Germany and Rock Hard agreed that the album had a tendency towards kitsch. While Metal Hammer found several positive remarks about individual tracks, Rock Hard criticised a lack of original hooks.
In April 2014, a third album, A New Dawn Ending, was released. This concluded the first part of The Black Crystal Sword Saga, making that section a complete trilogy.
Ancient Bards announced their fourth album in June 2018 entitled Origine - The Black Crystal Sword Saga Part 2. It is the beginning the second part of The Black Crystal Sword Saga and was released on 25 January 2019. They also announced on their Facebook page that touring guitarist Simone Bartozzi had been made a permanent band member after touring with them since 2014.
A New Dawn Ending
Ancient Bards Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I was catching my breath,
I was binding up my wounds
and checking myself everywhere
for broken bones.
I had nothing there left to do,
until I looked up
and I saw it laying there,
History says we owe respect
to this legendary sword.
We know, oh mighty kings,
the Dark Cave is where it belongs.
We'll lay it there for the world to see
we restored our eternal peace.
As soon as I stood up,
I collected the pieces
and then put them in this pouch,
which I tied to my belt
to keep it safe.
But now look at this, everyone,
the crystal is white!
I don't know what this change means,
the black has gone away.
History says we owe respect
to this legendary sword.
We know, oh mighty kings,
the Dark Cave is where it belongs.
We'll lay it there for the world to see
we restored our eternal peace.
We know, oh mighty kings,
the Dark Cave is where it belongs.
We'll lay it there for the world to see
we restored our eternal peace.
Here falls the blue veil of the night,
the deep blue veil of the night.
Lie there for eternity!
We should stay here and rest our bones,
I think we deserve this much at least!
Oh majestic, proud Black Dragon watch our sleep,
this will be your last guard.
"Oh lowly, unsuspecting sleeping kings, your immense
valor makes my duty all the more harrowing. Oh, there
you are... When I look upon you the part of me that still
remembers my life on these lands craves to touch you.
Sadly, those memories don't belong to me anymore and
my purpose is different. I see you in your restless sleep
and I know what you're dreaming of... images from the
ancient legend... it all will soon be clear, I promise, but
now you need to wake up, wake up Daltor, wake up!"
"Uh! Uh? Who is it? Who's speaking?
"Don't be afraid Daltor, it's me, your father"
"What? No! No! That's... that's impossible!"
Thick, dark voracious clouds
have devoured almost the entire castle,
while unforgiving gloom
still drips down carving stones like knives of terror.
Evil is still around!
I'm finally free, I'm finally out,
I was there, trapped for so long,
held down, locked and kept in chains,
closed in, since the beginning of time!
I am the anguish darkness fears,
everything from now on will change.
Bow down for there's no escape,
indulge me and if you don't you will die!
Echoes in the halls,
whose voice is this?
For the righteous there's no rest,
no truce to his misery,
'cause the universe relies on him
to protect, fight and serve.
Maybe a preventive spell
has brought Sendor to this world again?
Duping hard the laws of death
to put an end to what began.
Evil is still around!
Damnation is a trifle
in comparison to my depravity.
Wicked, cruel and unmerciful,
perverted since the beginning of time!
I'm finally back to rule the world,
everything will bend at my will.
I'm the Lord of all your souls
indulge me and if you don't you will die!
Echoes in the halls,
whose voice is this?
For the righteous there's no rest,
no truce to his misery,
'cause the universe relies on him
to protect, fight and serve.
Maybe a preventive spell
has brought Sendor to this world again?
Duping hard the laws of death
to put an end to what he had begun.
In its presence, turmoil, crisis!
Nothing grows and nothing rises!
"With Dorus' arrival so began your venture forged in
deception. What you were seeing was just a body brought
back to life, for Dorus was a child without a soul, sent to
you by the Dark Wizard. You were deceived, and used, by
Sendor, for he needed your weapons, brought together,
to open the chest containing the black crystal sword. He
needed that sword and its supreme power, a power that
he thought could also bring back the soul of his son too.
With this well-orchestrated deception he got what he
wanted, he got the sword."
"But that sword, a source of pure evil, is not made
to be held by men as it makes them lose their
reasoning, and you son, you did the only thing
you possibly could do. But see? The pieces of
crystal have turned white... that means that you
released something far more dangerous than
Sendor, something that only an old legend dares
to talk about. There's nothing left to do now
but prepare to face the worse, because the legend
is becoming truth and the truth is now.
History is repeating itself: the most ancient of
evil has been freed."
No! Things are so much worse than before!
"Finally! I have been awakened!"
"A New Dawn Ending" by Ancient Bards speaks of a journey that has come to an end, and warriors who have revived the legendary sword. The first stanza sets the tone for the rest of the song, with the singer talking about his injuries and exhaustion. He then spots the shattered sword, and the reference to history and respect add an air of solemnity.
As the song progresses, we come to know the significance of the sword and the need to preserve it for the world to see. The crystal had turned white, and the black had gone away, indicating that something new had come into being. The lyrics convey the message that the sword needs to be placed in the Dark Cave to restore eternal peace.
The song takes a dark turn as we see ominous signs of evil creeping in, and the singer's realization that something worse has happened. The lyrics speak of deceit, deception, and a battle that needs to be waged to preserve what is left of the world. The final line, "Finally! I have been awakened!" adds a twist to the story and leaves the listener wanting more.
Line by Line Meaning
Just right before we left,
I was catching my breath,
I was binding up my wounds
and checking myself everywhere
for broken bones.
Preparing to leave, I checked myself for injuries and wounds to make sure everything was fine.
I had nothing there left to do,
until I looked up
and I saw it laying there,
I saw the shattered sword.
When I was all done checking myself, I looked up and saw the shattered sword lying there.
We know, oh mighty kings,
the Dark Cave is where it belongs.
We'll lay it there for the world to see
we restored our eternal peace.
We know where the sword belongs and we'll return it to the Dark Cave so that it can be seen and eternal peace can be restored.
But now look at this, everyone,
the crystal is white!
I don't know what this change means,
the black has gone away.
I looked at the sword's crystal and it was white instead of black. I don't know what this means, but the black has disappeared.
Here falls the blue veil of the night,
the deep blue veil of the night.
Lie there for eternity!
Night is ending and we'll leave it behind for eternity.
Oh majestic, proud Black Dragon watch our sleep,
this will be your last guard.
The Black Dragon will guard us while we sleep, but this will be its last duty.
I'm finally free, I'm finally out,
I was there, trapped for so long,
held down, locked and kept in chains,
closed in, since the beginning of time!
After being trapped for so long, I'm finally free from my chains that had locked me away since the beginning of time.
I am the anguish darkness fears,
everything from now on will change.
Bow down for there's no escape,
indulge me and if you don't you will die!
I am what darkness fears, and everything will change from this point on. If you don't follow me, there's no escape and you'll die.
Maybe a preventive spell
has brought Sendor to this world again?
Duping hard the laws of death
to put an end to what began.
Maybe a spell brought Sendor back to this world, breaking the laws of death to put an end to what he had started.
No! Things are so much worse than before!
Things are worse now than they were before.
"Finally! I have been awakened!"
Someone or something has finally been awakened.
Thick, dark voracious clouds
have devoured almost the entire castle,
while unforgiving gloom
still drips down carving stones like knives of terror.
The castle has been consumed by thick, dark clouds which are carving the stones and causing a feeling of terror.
For the righteous there's no rest,
no truce to his misery,
'cause the universe relies on him
to protect, fight and serve.
The righteous have no rest and must always protect, fight and serve because the universe relies on them.
Damnation is a trifle
in comparison to my depravity.
Wicked, cruel and unmerciful,
perverted since the beginning of time!
Compared to my depravity, damnation is nothing. I have been wicked, cruel and unmerciful since the beginning of time.
I'm finally back to rule the world,
everything will bend at my will.
I'm the Lord of all your souls
indulge me and if you don't you will die!
I have returned to rule the world and everything will bend at my will. I am the Lord of your souls and if you don't follow me, you will die.
Maybe a preventive spell
has brought Sendor to this world again?
Duping hard the laws of death
to put an end to what he had begun.
Maybe a spell brought Sendor back to this world, breaking the laws of death to put an end to what he had started.
"With Dorus' arrival so began your venture forged in
deception. What you were seeing was just a body brought
back to life, for Dorus was a child without a soul, sent to
you by the Dark Wizard. You were deceived, and used, by
Sendor, for he needed your weapons, brought together,
to open the chest containing the black crystal sword. He
needed that sword and its supreme power, a power that
he thought could also bring back the soul of his son too.
With this well-orchestrated deception he got what he
wanted, he got the sword."
"But that sword, a source of pure evil, is not made
to be held by men as it makes them lose their
reasoning, and you son, you did the only thing
you possibly could do. But see? The pieces of
crystal have turned white... that means that you
released something far more dangerous than
Sendor, something that only an old legend dares
to talk about. There's nothing left to do now
but prepare to face the worse, because the legend
is becoming truth and the truth is now.
History is repeating itself: the most ancient of
evil has been freed."
Someone explains that Dorus was a child without a soul, sent by the Dark Wizard to use the swords to open the chest containing the evil sword. But the evil sword was not meant to be held by men as it makes them lose their reasoning. The crystal pieces have turned white, releasing something even more dangerous than Sendor. They must now prepare to face the ancient evil.
Echoes in the halls,
whose voice is this?
There are echoes in the halls and someone wonders whose voice it is.
Contributed by Peyton W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.