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Campaign update!
Let's celebrate, shall we?
In honor of the new milestone reached (second stretch goal: 25.000€ ?), we'd like to keep on shooting for the stars and reward our best sponsor. It is very important for us that this campaign gets shared, because sharing allows us to increase our reach and meet new fans, so we want to officially start a Referral Contest that will award our top referrer!
How does the Referral Contest work?
- You must be logged in to your Indiegogo account
- You have to use Indiegogo’s sharing tools, the buttons at the top of the campaign page (so Indiegogo can attach your unique ID to the link and track it)
- You’re done!
All you have to do then is to check the referrers' rank that we’ll post from time to time and try to beat the person at the top! The referrals made until now will still be valid, so you already have some competition (check the referrer rank in the UPDATES tab)!
You can share the campaign on your wall, in groups and pages and tag people you think might enjoy our new album, and why not, ask them to share your link as well!.
The top referrer, the person that generates the bigger revenue through his/her referrals, will win a prize accordingly to his/her purchase (check the prizes in the UPDATES tab).
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Introduction
Who are we?
Hi! We are Ancient Bards, a Symphonic Epic Metal band from Italy. Our musical project hailed in 2006 and we recently embarked on a tour in celebration of its 10 year anniversary. We released three albums since 2010.
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Each of these albums is a chapter of The Black Crystal Sword Saga part 1, a fantasy story rich in heroes, adventure, and plot twists.
Now we are psyched for Part 2!
Four long years after our latest release, a new exciting chapter is finally ready to be recorded, but we need your help to bring it to life!
We believe in this new album, we’ve been working on it for the last couple of years, and the thought of if not being heard by our new and old fans is simply sad. We'd like for our music to have a chance to be heard and enjoyed at its highest potential, but we lack the resources to achieve our true vision right now.
If you decided to join us and back this campaign, the magnitude of what you would help us achieve is beyond calculation! You would be the oxygen that keeps the flame alive, giving us the chance to express our art in freedom, which is the best gift any artist could ask for.
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What We Need & What You Get
What do we need funds for?
We need to cover all the expenses related to the production and release of a new album, which means payments for:
- Pre-Productions
- Recording, mixing, and mastering
- Choir
- Cover Artwork and Booklet design
- Photos and 1 Video clip
- Press releases, promotion and Website updates
We need 17.000€ to get the album on its feet.
STRETCH GOALS
If we reach:
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20.000€ - we’ll make a second video clip
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25.000€ - we'll release the video "Live from Willemeen" (Download)
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30.000€ - we'll release the video "Live from Wacken Open Air" (Download)
Anything over 30k will be used as Tour Support!
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What's in it for you?
This crowdfunding is a way for us to have a closer relationship with you and reward your support with amazing perks! Here’s an overview:
THE ALBUM
How about a unique DELUXE EDITION of the new album?
Through this campaign, we are releasing a special edition which will only available for our backers. Don't let it slip through your fingers, because once the campaign is over, you won’t find it anywhere else!
The DELUXE EDITION consists in a beautiful double-feature DigiPak including:
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CD1 - Regular Album. The Ancient Bards’ Symphonic metal that you’re used to, but better!
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CD2 - Special Orchestral Version. Sara’s voice accompanied by beautiful rearranged orchestrations, that make the symphonic elements of our music really stand out.
Stay tuned for the big Cover Artwork reveal!
Everyone who buys the DigiPak will be glad to find their name inside the booklet, included in the list of the mighty Knights of the order of the Ancient Bards.
THE KNIGHTHOOD
Didn’t we tell you?
Every one of our backers will officially be dubbed Sir or Lady of the Ancient Bards Knighthood, the order of our most cherished, precious and loyal fans. If the perk you choose contains an item that needs to be shipped, you will receive your personal membership card!
As a member of the Knighthood, you’ll be considered a noble knight, the protector of music and artistic expression, the follower of our code of chivalry.
Musica Veritatem Munit - Music Protects the Truth - will be your credo.
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IT’S YOU AND US
The exciting thing is that we are running this campaign exactly while we record the album, so all our backers will be able to virtually sit by our side as we will post photos, videos, live streams, and updates right from the studio. We're in this together, you will bring this album to life along with us!
RELEASE & DELIVERY
Depending on the outcome of this campaign (and on a few other technical factors), the release of the album is expected to be between October and December 2018. Though we will do our best to let you have them earlier, please note that the delivery of the rewards is related to the release date of the album.
THE T-SHIRT
Much like the Deluxe Edition of the album, the T-Shirt design you'll receive from this campaign will be exclusive and reserved to the members of the Knighthood.
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WE LIKE HEARING FROM YOU
If you have a new perk idea in mind, feel free to hit us up and we’ll see if we can put it together!
For a detailed list of perks, check the dedicated column of the page.
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The album
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ORIGINE - THE BLACK CRYSTAL SWORD SAGA PART 2
(Artwork by the amazingly talented Vincent Lefevre)
You’ve been asking why we’ve been silent for so long: the reason is that we wanted to take the time to create our best album ever, for ourselves and for our fans.
We wanted to make a consistent step forward. Our main goal, throughout the whole composing process, was to channel all of our ideas into something that would end up being 100% us.
We wanted for the album to sound incredible! Daniele went all out with the orchestrations this time, he wanted to achieve the most immersive experience possible so the listener could get sucked right into the story. He spent a lot of time testing and finding the right sound to craft what he had in mind.
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The Black Crystal Sword Saga
We left you in quite the cliffhanger at the end of A New Dawn Ending and we think it’s only fair now that we provide you a chance to find out more about the story.
The new chapter will blow you away, so brace yourselves and expect the unexpected from this new, epic adventure!
"Hearts bathed in light. Hearts drowned in darkness. Take a closer look, nothing's like it seems. The line that separates good from evil is as thin as a blood thread"
New to the Saga? Discover more here!
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Your impact is huge
You matter to us and we cherish any form of support, to us and to this campaign.
Why would you wanna back us now instead of just waiting for the regular release of the album? Well:
- You would know you did something amazing! You would be the reason a piece of our souls (that's what music is to us) was able to take flight and touch thousands of hearts.
- You would get a hold of something truly unique, a deluxe edition album that you would be proud to own and to play.
- You would be part of a Community of music lovers like yourself. You'd meet brilliant, friendly people to share your thoughts with.
- You would forever have our gratitude.
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Other Ways You Can Help
We would be thrilled if you decided to join us on this journey and back us to help keep the dream alive!
We get it though if you just can’t contribute, but you know what? You still can help! Here's how:
- Use Indiegogo’s Sharing Tools and help us reach as many people as you can! You can find the buttons at the top of the page, under the "amount raised" section. They look like this:
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- Use our Facebook frame overlay to show your support! You can use it on your profile pictures and in your stories! Find the frame here.
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Get the word out and make some noise about this campaign, we can do it together!
Help us bring our music to you!
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... The Black Crystal Sword Saga continues!
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Thank you!
Waiting for you in the Knighthood, all the best
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