WEEK 163 – RHAPSODY OF FIRE

My HeadBangers, welcome from Trieste, Italy the Symphonic Power Metal Band:

RHAPSODY OF FIRE

“Chains of Destiny”

“Rain Of Fury”

Let’s look at some bio on these guys:

Rhapsody of Fire (formerly known as Rhapsody) is an Italian symphonic power metal band formed by Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli, widely seen as a pioneer of the symphonic power metal subgenre.

Formed in 1993 as Thundercross, the band has released twelve studio albums, two live albums, three EPs, and a live DVD.  Rhapsody of Fire is known for its conceptual lyrics that constitute a fantasy story throughout all of their albums from 1997 to 2011. After using the moniker of Rhapsody for nearly ten years, the band changed their name to Rhapsody of Fire in 2006 due to trademark issues.

In 2011, following the release of their album From Chaos to Eternity which concluded The Dark Secret Saga, and after 18 years as co-leader of the band, Turilli left Rhapsody of Fire (on good terms) to form a new Rhapsody band, Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody,  along with two other members who left with him, Dominique Leurquin and Patrice Guers. They describe their discography as a parallel continuation of Rhapsody of Fires’ discography, with their first album being their own “Rhapsody’s 11th album” and consider that they didn’t leave the band, rather that it amicably split in two.

In 2016, other long-term members Fabio Lione and Alex Holzwarth had left the band, and reunited with Turilli, Leurquin and Guers, to play again under the name Rhapsody for their 20th Anniversary Farewell Tour; in December 2018, several months after announcing that Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody was now inactive, Turilli announced the creation of a new Rhapsody band named Turilli/Lione Rhapsody, with the lineup of the 20th Anniversary Farewell Tour (recreating, minus Staropoli, the original band’s 2002–2011 lineup).

“I’ll Be Your Hero”

I love this song, and boy do we need a HERO right now.

On March 14, 2018, the band had posted a narrative extract on their Facebook page, hinting that another album was being made.

The band had later revealed the title of their twelfth album The Eighth Mountain, as the first chapter of a new saga titled The Nephilim’s Empire Saga on November 16, 2018. The album was released on February 22, 2019.

On April 6, 2020, Vocalist Giacomo Voli in an exclusive interview, had revealed that the band are currently working on their next album. Giacomo said, “This year we will record the new album and probably start already in the summer. At the end of the tour I will start working on the lyrics with Roby De Micheli because some songs are already in the pre-production phase so they can be released in the spring of next year. As for the development of the saga, we will continue to narrate the events of this strange protagonist who was able to get out of hell thanks to the Nephilim. There are many possible ways and we will see what will happen.”

On June 22, 2020, it was announced that drummer Manu Lotter had departed from the band.

Rhapsody of Fire had announced that the recording of the album had been completed on September 24, 2020, and were confirmed to be mixing the album with Sebastian “Seeb” Levermann in April 2021.

On April 23, 2021, it was announced that Rhapsody of Fire would be releasing their upcoming EP, I’ll Be Your Hero, on June 4, 2021 which contains a song recorded for the band’s thirteenth studio album, Glory for Salvation, the second chapter to The Nephilim’s Empire Saga which was released on November 26, 2021.  A second single named after the title of the next album was released on July 9, 2021.  The third single off of the album, “Magic Signs”, was released on September 2, 2021.  The fourth single, “Terial the Hawk”, was released on 15 October 2021. The fifth single, “Chains of Destiny” was released on 7 November 2021, along with a music video.

Let’s meet the band:

 

Alex Staropoli – keyboards (1993-present)

Roberto De Micheli – lead guitar (2011-present), rhythm guitar (2013-present)

Alessandro Sala – bass (2015-present)

Giacomo Voli – lead vocals (2016-present)

Paolo Marchesich – drums (2020-present)

“My Thoughts”

Well my HeadBangers what can I say.  I absolutely love their music.  This band has gone through a lot of changes, but every band does, and here they are still standing.   The music is fast and upbeat, their videos are so excellent, check out more on UTube.  Of course this was another band I just found a couple weeks ago.  Yes my HeadBangers and they have the hair, and I love it.  

Well that’s it for this week my HeadBangers.  Join me next week for another band and another song.  Until then, don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn…..