SYMPHONY OF ENCHANTED LANDS II: THE DARK SECRET

By: Randall D. Larson
Date: Thursday, August 11, 2005

The Italian epic metal band Rhapsody proclaims what it plays is "Symphonic Epic Hollywood Metal," coining a new term in a species of music that has already become over categorized but in their case the appellation is quite accurate (some have even called it "Film Score Metal"). However you want to pigeonhole it, Rhapsody's music, mostly composed by guitarist Luca Turilli and keyboardist Alex Staropoli, is among the most eloquent, chorale, symphonic, and cinematically dramatic of any power/progressive/symphonic metal you'll find. Listening to any of their albums will instantly conjure up visions of vast fantasy landscapes, peopled by all manner of creatures, pleasant and wicked and degrees in between, moving in accord to the dramatic and very filmic music of Rhapsody.

Combining the full forces of symphony orchestra, raging choir, and the band's own amazing virtuosity while conveying an ongoing epic, mythic saga of dark heroic fantasy, their latest album, Symphony Of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark Secret is surely their best work to date. Following the release of a career-spanning compilation, Tales From The Emerald Sword Saga (2004), which offered an excellent overview of the band's progressive fantasy saga that arced across five previous albums (bandleader Luca Turilli also released a pair of solo recordings of very similar style), the new album continues the phantasmagoric tale of wizards, demons, prophecies, swords, and heroes that has formed the fiction behind each of the band's songs.

In previous albums, narrative exposition was spoken by bandmembers somewhat to the detriment of its effectiveness; in this case, the narration is intoned by none other than Christopher Lee, who's deep, classical baritone voice lends an especially masterful tonality to the recounting of the album's backstory. Lee portrays The Wizard King, who conveys the story in deep, dramatic intonations. In "Sacred Power of Ragings Winds," Lee's recitation as he beseeches protection from the majestic winds of the northlands.

Naira... Oriel...Tarna... protect our heroes from the deadly Naroth...") is magnificent. English actor Toby Eddington also contributes narration, as Jras Algor, first wizard of the White Dragon's Order. Including the voices of these actors lends a persuasive edge to the saga, and makes the album so much more of a cinematic, theatrical experience.

The music is uniformly excellent, surging arcs of orchestra and choir are well balanced

with the band's mighty metal rock and roll as the musical saga progresses and develops. Operatic choruses and percussively driven progressive rock melodies abound; the music is primarily melodic, with grand, heroic rhythmic sweeps and commanding cadences. The songs are continually developing, operatically and symphonically, even when the instruments and voices are purely prog metal based. The result is a kind of amalgamated permutation of Vivaldi, Bach, Paganini, Orff, Wagner, Basil Poledouris, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and absolutely tremendous rock and roll along the lines of Labyrinth, Blind Guardian, and Nightwish; however the massiveness production of this album, following upon its predecessors, truly is placing the band into a category all its own, against which any comparison with other bands or music is clearly inappropriate and improper.

The band's correlation to film music embodied by the designation "Symphonic Epic Hollywood Metal" is well served, as the recording includes of sound effects ("Elgard's Green Valleys;" the opening of "Guardians of Destiny;" "Erian's Mystical Rhymes;" the opening of "Nightfall On The Grey Mountains," etc.), narration (Lee's recurring descriptives), isolated orchestral filigrees and vast symphonic and chorale overtures (The underscore beneath and after Lee's voice-over in "The Dark Secret" and elsewhere; the furious flute piping of "Sacred Power of Raging Winds;" the massive sweeping chorus of "Erian's Mystical Rhymes;" etc), captivating soprano voices ("Guardians of Destiny"), and powerfully dynamic synth interludes (the introduction and accompaniment to "Unholy Warcry", the intro to "Shadows of Death," etc).

But the band, and the album, is rooted in modern epic progressive metal, and this is where Rhapsody continues to shine. Turilli's speed metal guitar work is amazing, blistering across massed landscapes of choir and orchestra and thrombing metal riffing; the instrumental break in "Never Forgotten Heroes" and "Shadows of Death" are both representative, morphing from high-end lead guitar arpeggios to strutting low end rhythms, driven on by the relentlessly onrushing patterns of drummer Alex Holzwarth. Staropoli's keyboards range across the sound spectrum, as symphonically conveyed as the orchestra and choir itself, seething with a evocative musical power. Patrice Guers' bass maintains a continual presence, balancing the diverse musical forms and prompting the music into order; while lead singer Fabio Lione's tenor voice is conveyed persuasively throughout the recording, whether as a soloist or backed by group vocal or choir. The album is concluded dramatically for full orchestra, band, choir, and synths in a spectacular denouement in "Nightfall On The Grey Mountains."

The album also spawned a pair of very notable EPs. The Dark Secret preceded and preluded the album proper, containing five tracks including an English variation on "Guardians of Destiny" (the full album contained only an Italian vocal version), edited versions of album tracks "Unholy Warcry," introduced by Lee's opening narration that, on the album, preluded "The Dark Secret") and a powerful non-album Rhapsody track, "Thunder's Mighty Roar." The EP also includes is a version of Goblin's "Non Ho Sonno" from Dario Argento's film of the same name (aka SLEEPLESS), which is in a similarly epic synth/chorale style and fits very well.

And, just released this year, the 8-track, limited edition EP, The Magic of the Wizard's Dream, which proffers a stunning new take on the central track from the new album, newly recorded as a duet between Lione and the rich and expressive singing

voice Christopher Lee. The song is performed in five variations in addition to its original rendition from the main album, in English, Italian, French, and German (Lee being well versed in each of these languages and more), and an alternate English version with full orchestral accompaniment. The repetition of the same song in the same arrangement for separate languages is not at all redundant, instead it really lets the listener get into the epically styled performance, and really marvel at Lee's masterful voice, which is simply breathtaking. The duet adding a glorious new tonality and imparting a tremendous melodic power to the song. The EP also includes two unreleased tracks by the band, "Autumn Twilight" and "Lo Spechhio D'Argento."

www.mightyrhapsody.com

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhapsody_(band)