Rhapsody are finally back! Free of Magic Circle Music after a legal case which effectively shut down the band for several years. The details of what has happened will likely be kept under wraps but the important thing is that Rhapsody have created an excellent comeback album. The inspirational fire that I found sorely lacking on
Triumph or Agony is burning bright here.
Christopher Lee is back too... I shook my head in disbelief as he gloriously shouted on top of the opening orchestrated introduction
"Here they are, here they remain. Mighty immortal warriors... Rhapsody!!!" A bit of cheese? It was only when this passage resurfaced later that I realized it was part of the promo copy protection. Phew... But just the fact that I was in doubt goes to show that after the floating head incident on their website and other comical mishaps, which incidentally all happened after their switch to Magic Circle Music, I never know what Rhapsody might try next. Fortunately the album is low on cheese and high on quality music. Rhapsody have found their way again and determinedly charged down the path of righteous symphonic metal.
Let's get the negative stuff out of the way first. The Lord of the Rings-inspired story still doesn't captivate me in any way. This is beginning to have a significant negative effect on my overall impression.
The second fatality of the album is the narration. Rhapsody are still a prime example of
the narrator's curse. Rhapsody, oh great ones, please understand that you do not need narration. The music is perfectly able to speak for itself. The narration completely ruins the atmosphere, dumbs down the whole album and will make your listeners feel like idiots for listening to it. Seriously! Not even the great Christopher Lee narrates convincingly this time. I don't know who instructed him to read like this but it sounds completely off and is unintendedly comic. I could go on and on and ON about what is wrong with the idea of narration on an album and its execution here but I already wrote a whole article on the subject so I will just give one last advice: Rhapsody, loose the narration!
The above critical remarks are fortunately not enough to ruin a perfectly brilliant suite of music, not for me at least. Now on to the good stuff, the music!
Sea of Fate blasts open the album in a purely satisfying way and sends a fond thought back to "Flames of Revenge" from the debut in its opening moment. I love the way Fabio's vocal work carries the song through its chorus section as his voice rises like a wave over the music. The instrumental battle in the middle of the song is a welcome return to the Rhapsody style of yore.
Crystal Moonlight keeps up the pace and strengthens things further. Alex Holzwarth's drumming is as tight and competent as ever. The song varies in speed throughout and his nicely detailed drumming keeps its stride rolling back and forth in bursts of energy. Crystal Moonlight is one of the growers on the album.
Reign of Terror runs amok with screaming power vocals and speed beyond most of what Rhapsody have done in the past. Choirs add "oomph" and Fabio's vocals come fast and hard. Yet the song keeps its delicate melody in check and is overall very enjoyable.
The album also has, now almost obligatory for a Rhapsody album, a "forest dance song" for lack of a better definition. Flute introduces a happy melody and I can only swing along as I imagine dressing up as a tree and having a feast in a nearby forest with a bunch of elves and hobbits. Happy times, but the song, sung in Italian, is the low point of the album for me and doesn't really bring anything interesting to the mix beside a folky vibe.
Raging Starfire speeds thing up again and is a convincing display of the return of the good old Rhapsody style. More speed, more power and more energy. Great stuff.
Lost in Cold Dreams is a solid power ballad. The chorus section is especially impressive as Fabio opens up his full register and sings in a powerful classical voice.
On The Way to Ainor is the pinnacle of the album and it shows that Rhapsody are as capable as ever to create stirring music. The song structure is well thought out and varies enough to stay interesting and keep growing for a long time. The song evolves slowly and peaks in one of those spellbinding choruses that is borderline magical and have become a Rhapsody trademark. It is a song that leaves me energized and ready to charge down towards any oncoming battle with high spirit and a carefree skip in my stride. It's happy metal to the extreme.
A 11 minute epic ends the album and makes way for a sequel. The song is sufficiently atmospheric and well structured to fill out the running time and doesn't feel overlong.
It sounds like
Luca Turilli has rediscovered his guitar and thank god for that. The guitar work is up front and gives the album a metallic, neo-classical edge. Plenty of solos and details to enjoy and this is a huge step up since the last album. The production is great and the sound is sufficiently huge to give life to all the details in the songwriting. Great musicians all around.
Put very simply, I adore the music that Rhapsody have made but I groan their attempt to make their albums into something bigger than just music. Especially the later albums have proven beyond any discussion that the narration does not work convincingly. It takes something away from the music and gives the albums a comical edge which is such a shame when the music is a good as this and easily able to stand on its own. I will keep hoping that Rhapsody learn from their mistakes.
My hope is that Rhapsody will finish this story as quickly as possible and then leave the Enchanted Lands/Algalord Chronicles and narration behind, move on and get the rights to adapt the first Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy purely by music. Now that would fit perfectly with the concept of Rhapsody and they wouldn't have to spend time on coming up with a story themselves.
The fire of Rhapsody has reignited and it's a great feeling to have them back with renewed musical inspiration. The Symphonic Power Metal throne has been reclaimed. Nobody does this kind of music better.
The final score...
Hollywood Metal 1 - Film Score Metal 0
Written by
Steen Saturday, May 1, 2010
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