Label: AFM Records
Release date: November 26, 2021
Production: Alex Staropoli
Album length: 66.39 min
Genre: Symphonic Power Metal
Rating: 9.5/10
Rhapsody Of Fire need no introduction. Even in 2021, this long-lived symphonic power metal institution from Trieste fully earns the badge of Hollywood-style symphonic epic metal. Back in the nineties, still going by Rhapsody, they already showed an incredible musical kinship with the fantasy worlds of all those creators of tales of inexhaustible imagination, led by J.R.R. Tolkien.
The band later split into two big chunks of what was once a magnificent rock massif, the Staropoli-Turilli partnership. Even so, both of those chunks today are rightful heirs to the duo that founded this one-of-a-kind band in 1993. Staropoli and Turilli each make new albums under their own version of the former joint band, and every one of those records is a credible, confident effort. Even in post-millennial times, they justify carrying on the legacy of power metal’s classic days, when classics like the first two Rhapsody albums, “Legendary Tales” and “Symphony Of Enchanted Lands”, were born.
The new album, the thirteenth studio record by my count, is no exception. It’s the second part of the saga about the empire of the Nephilim. The Nephilim were a race said to have ruled the world before the Great Flood. They were supposedly the children of women and the sons of God, described as giants. But that’s not how it went down. According to the Old Testament, God sent the Flood precisely because of the Nephilim, giants three times the size of humans who worshipped their own gods and refused to bow to God. Well, in the story, or saga, that winds through both albums, “The Eight Mountain” (2019) and now the latest, “Glory For Salvation”, the Nephilim return and forge a plan to destroy the human race. ‘The Konstrukts’ are the new alliance of Nephilim, who plan to wipe out humanity upon their return. They bring about a genocide, but the story wraps up with a ray of hope left at the end. The dream of humanity’s return lives on … Anyone who knows “The Eight Moutnain” knows that on that album’s closing track Tales of a Hero’s Fate, the band even used a (posthumous) narration by Christopher Lee. Well, on the new album, Lee’s mighty voice is missing.
So the rhapsody of neo-classically tinged power metal carries on through the band’s latest studio album, and its glitter and deliberate ‘excess’ neither fade nor dim. Bombast and pomp rule every step. Inspired ideas and compositional variety are the architects of this lavish power metal theater, and all that deliberate strutting and puffing-up only makes it better. It’s the band’s trademark since forever, and exactly what its devoted fans demand. Even though the new album runs over 66 minutes, there isn’t a single solitary moment that steals the listener’s time. The band carried its creative excellence over from the previous album, confirmed it with the EP “I’ll Be Your Hero”, and once again embodied it phenomenally on this new studio outing.
The content is packed with remarkable skill, and not just when it comes to the structure of the compositions, but also the arrangements and production. The saga literally comes alive. That’s thanks to the execution too, with new singer Giacomo Voli (his second Rhapsody of Fire album) coming within a hair of the unforgettable Fabio Lione with his operatic vocal style. It’s no longer news, but it’s worth adding that Staropoli’s ever-present experience is felt on the album once again, as he has brought his musical vision to creative perfection. The musical recipe that has accompanied this one-of-a-kind band for almost thirty years, he has polished to perfection.
The album is arrogantly, blissfully theatrical, full of atmospheric upheavals, at times quite dark, but always subordinate to a hypnotic, enchanting musicality that instantly sweeps up any fan of classic power metal, devoted to the hunt for the right mix of metal punch and catchy musical pomp.
Once again the album plays like a strikingly fitting soundtrack for any fantasy film or book, which was also the point of reviving the saga and the concept laid out for it. You can easily conjure up flocks of dragons, the clang of sharp sword blades, all the grimaces and creatures of the underworld, the gleaming shields of immortal heroes, and so on. Nothing new for Rhapsody Of Fire, but still. Brilliantly packaged and served up once more. Even the ballad sections of the album hide incredible arranging skill, cunning refinement, and ambitious design, and they don’t waste the listener’s time. And the track Maid Of A Secret Land doesn’t lag behind the ultra-pompous charging on the double bass drum pedals of the band’s classic days in any way. Everything is in its place. Preludes, choir chants, folk interludes, bombastic orchestrations, excellent guitar solos, and Roby De Micheli’s inventive phrasing. Staropoli and company have once again delivered the best of what we’re used to from them, and what we, as a rule, demand and expect. Highly vibrant variety and inspiration. An excellent album, then.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
01 Son Of Vengeance
02 The Kingdom Of Ice
03 Glory For Salvation
04 Eternal Snow
05 Terial The Hawk
06 Maid Of The Secret Sand
07 Abyss Of Pain II
08 Infinitae Gloriae
09 Magic Signs
10 I’ll Be Your Hero
11 Chains Of Destiny
12 Un’Ode Per L’Eroe
13 La Esencia De Un Rey
Line-up:
Giacomo Voli – lead vocals, choir vocals
Alex Staropoli – keyboards, orchestrations, choir vocals
Roberto De Micheli – guitar
Alessandro Sala – bass guitar
Paolo Marchesich – drums
Guest musicians:
Manuel Staropoli – baroque recorders, flute
Giovanni Davoli – Irish bagpipes, whistle
Davide Simonelli – violin
Mateo Sivelli – cello
Valerio Mauro – harp
