01	The Dark Secret - Ira Divina						04:12
	02	Unholy Warcry						05:53
	03	Never Forgotten Heroes						05:32
	04	Elgard's Green Valleys						02:19
	05	The Magic of the Wizards Dream						04:30
	06	Erian's Mystical Rhymes - The White Dragon's Order						10:31
	07	The Last Angels' Call						04:36
	08	Dragonland's Rivers						03:44
	09	Sacred Power of Raging Winds						10:06
	10	Guardiani Del Destino						05:50
	11	Shadows of Death						08:13
	12	Nightfall on the Grey Mountains						07:20

Rhapsody - Symphony of Enchanted Lands II
The Dark Secret Country of Origin: Italy
Format: CD
Record Label: SPV
Catalogue #: SPV80000742
Year of Release: 2004
Time: 72:52
Info: Rhapsody
Samples: Click here


Tracklist: The Dark Secret (4:13), Unholy Warcry (5:54), Never Forgotten Heroes (5:33), Elgard's Green Valleys (2:20), The Magic Of the Wizard's Dream (4:30), Erian's Mystical Rhymes (10:32), The Last Angel's Call (4:37), Dragonland's River (3:45), Sacred Power Of Raging Winds (10:07), Guardiani (5:51), Shadows Of Death (8:13), Nightfall On The Grey Mountains (7:20)

For the past seven years or, to be more precise, since the opening tones of their sensational debut album Legendary Tales, Rhapsody have been one of the most unusual and interesting phenomena of the current power metal scene. After the release of their spectacular mini-album The Dark Secret the true Italian power metal kings now reach the climax with their new album. A new saga has been born one that takes the listener on a musical adventure like never before, featuring epic, fast power metal tracks and amazing sonic landscapes with stirring narrative parts of Mr Christopher Lee. This is an album that you really have to listen to several times to fully appreciate and enjoy it. This is mainly due to the fact that the music is so complex and bombastic and the story so intriguing that you need a certain period to marvel about this new film score metal album.

Rhapsody used a complete orchestra and a rather huge choir to turn this CD into a classical rock opera like you have never heard before. Fans of the band who already enjoyed their previous albums will truly be amazed and start to cherish this fantastic release. And if you thought that Symphony Of Enchanted Lands Part I was bombastic and overwhelming then you ain't heard nothing yet. To give this album a surplus dimension, Rhapsody asked Christopher Lee to be the narrator of the fantasy story, and he will take the listener to a land that reminds me of Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings-saga. Lee's beautiful dark voice opens the album and right from the start you are "into" the story and you want to hear more and more :

The three epic songs: Erian's Mystical Rhymes, Sacred Power Of Raging Winds and Nightfall On The Grey Mountains are without any doubt The highlights of this album. These tracks feature bombastic classical musical parts, speedy guitar riffs and solos, Lee's "spooky" voice, heavenly keyboard passages and last but not least the fabulous voice of Fabio Lione. If you like opera (like me) then you should check out The Magic Of The Wizard's Dream, an almost Puccini-like song, really dramatic, with Fabio singing at his best and the choir and the female voice doing the rest. After listening to the album every day (yes, I am crazy) I wonder how the hell these guys are going to top this one... Some critics will call this CD pure kitsch; I however consider this to be one of the best power metal albums I have ever heard. So buy or die and play it as loud as you can !!

Try to get the limited edition digibook with parchment pages inclusive a 50 minutes bonus DVD. On the DVD you can see: 3 video clips of Unholy Warcry, a documentary about the recordings in the Czech Republic, the building of the dragon, an extended interview with Christopher Lee, a documentary about the recordings in Germany, the making of the videos and the recording with the orchestra. Also watch out for Rhapsody on tour in 2005.

Conclusion: 9 out of 10

Martien Koolen



Rhapsody - Symphony Of Enchanted Lands II

Released: 2004
Label: Steamhammer / SPV
Cat. No.: 69612
Total Time: 72:48


Reviewed by: Duncan N Glenday, September 2004
It is seamless. The integration of pure metal with orchestras and choirs on this CD is just seamless! Rhapsody's music has always delivered the grandest and most ambitious soundscapes in all of progressive metal - and Symphony Of Enchanted Lands II outdoes everything that came before it.

This is a blending of sci-fi and fantasy themes the over the top pomposity of huge classical panoramas that melt into guitar and keyboard driven metal, and the faultless vocals of Fabio Lione - metal singer extraordinaire. There is more of a pure classical orientation to this album than any of Rhapsody's eight prior albums, and those vast vistas of sound are backdrops for the brilliant metal played in the foreground.

As with most Rhapsody albums, this one is a concept within a concept, which means the storyline on each CD stands alone, but forms part of a saga that will spread across multiple CDs. The yarn on this one revolves around a demon prince who produced seven books of evil, six have been found, only the seventh - the worst - remains, and must be found by the good guys. There are voices that sound like Gollum, a princess from the Land Of Enchanted Waterfalls, there's only one person who can find the ring - er - book … is any of this sounding familiar? No actual hobbits inhabit this story, but they may as well. There is a trek across snow covered mountains, seven immortal demons are turned to stone … the dungeons and dragons elements are all there. Suffice it to say that you probably won't buy the album for the story, but the concept does add important textures to the music.

Each component of the drama is described by a different sound, and the album is rich with traditional-style melodies, folksy ditties, power ballads, devils that sound like Disney's "Beast," and heavy metal. Wrap all of that in an operatic grandeur, call it Hollywood metal, and you have Rhapsody.

British actor Christopher (Saruman) Lee narrates parts of the story, and his rich baritone and perfect diction lend enormous credence to the project. Narrative usually gets in the way of music and you're sick of it after a few replays - but that doesn't happen here because the spoken parts are sensibly kept to a minimum. A favorite moment on the record is "The Magic Of The Wizard's Dream" ” which sounds for all the world like a duet sung between Fabio Lione and operatically-trained Christopher Lee. Fabio informed me, however, that he sang all those vocals himself including that rich baritone line - which increases our appreciation of the tremendous range in his vocals. In earlier communiques from the band we heard that Christopher and (daughter) Christina Lee would have singing parts in the new series of Rhapsody stories. Watch this space...!

I've always felt that Rhapsody's music revolves around guitarist Luca Turilli, and that legacy continues. The brilliant guitar work that is so much more than high-speed wankery carries melodies on the tips of the arpeggios and there are long passages with excellent interplays between his guitar and the keyboards and the orchestra. Very classical. Luca and Alex Staropoli (keyboards and co-composer) completed this massive production in studios in England, the Czech Republic, Belgium and Germany. The 50-piece choir sounds similar to the choirs they used in the past, and they have employed a full-strength philharmonic orchestra from the Czech Republic. The music is still based in progressive or power metal, but the choir and orchestra are far more impressive - more organic, and less a product of ProTools.

Rhapsody's recent EP The Dark Secret contained slightly different versions of several of the tracks as well as some of the narrative on this album, and you could be excused for feeling jilted by having to pay twice for what sounds like the same songs in less than a few months.

Symphony Of Enchanted Lands II just may be the most over the top piece of prog ever produced - but you have to love it. The melodies are memorable, the execution is gorgeous, and the production is faultless. If - and only if -you're into big sounds, symphonic metal, and sci-fi and fantasy, then this is a must-have. This perfectly represents the intersection of modern and classical music - and the blend is seamless!

Rating 4.75 / 5

[See also Bobo's review -ed.]



Rhapsody - Symphony of Enchanted Lands II

Released: 2004
Label: Steamhammer / SPV
Cat. No.: 69612
Total Time: 72:53


Reviewed by: John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg, February 2005
Founders of what is known to be Hollywood Metal, the Italian band Rhapsody and its main members Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli have once again delivered one hell of an epic. Sounding like the most bombastic Carl Orff material, especially the impressive choir combined with tons of orchestral arrangements set the tone for what could easily become the soundtrack for an unreleased Lord Of The Rings sequel. Once again Renaissance and Celtic elements are used to illustrate the band’s fantasy themes whilst none other than the world famous actor Christopher Lee lends his incredible doomy voice for the narration. With Lee having a deep baritone voice he felt he should also have sung on this album rather than be restricted as a narrator. So in December last year both Christopher Lee and the band teamed up again and re-recorded "The Magic Of The Wizard' Dream," this time as a duet and with the help of the Cologne string orchestra. With Lee's incredible knowledge of no fewer than twelve languages, the song was recorded in English, German, French and Italian. Also director Neil Johnson shot a spectacular video featuring a 40-piece orchestra and 20-piece choir. Two brand new compositions have been recorded to add to this new recording, which will soon be released as a single.

Supported by a huge orchestra and choir needless to say the endresult is powerful and bombastic like nothing ever before. It becomes interesting when Alex's keyboards work together with the authentic nature of the orchestra whilst also playing a duel with Luca's guitars as in "Erian's Mystical Rhymes." In "The Last Angel's Call" I hear the gypsy flavoured "Otschi Tschornije." Stripping the arrangements from the power of both orchestra and choir you end up with the Celtic sounding nakedness of "Dragonland's River" highlighting subtle flute playing next to clavinet and incorporating nature sounds. In "Sacred Power Of Ranging Winds" Staropoli even sneaks in some snippets from Mike Oldfield's world famous Tubular Bells. The acoustic "Guardiani" almost sounds like vintage Angelo Branduardi with Fabio Lione stepping into the heavy shoes of the Italian folk singer, backed by lovely acoustic guitar, piano and soft singing choir. The epic "Shadows Of Death" not only includes some heavy guitar riffs but also some stunning synth leads and once again terrific singing by Fabio.

All in all the addition of the unique voice of Christopher Lee has augemnted the scope for Rhapsody. As what they deliver is seen as cinematographic rock who better than to be included than the immortal Lee? However when stripped from the huge orchestra and choir I'm afraid Rhapsody would be just another heavy metal band. But they were inventive enough to add unlogical twists and turns to their music resulting in the unique position they are in now selling well over one million copies of their albums so far. There's also a limited edition digibook available combining the audio album and a DVD. If you plan a walk to the park with your pet dragon late at night, don't forget to put this new Rhapsody album in your iPod and take that mighty sword with you just in case!

[See also Duncan's review -ed.]

More about Symphony of Enchanted Lands II:

Track Listing: The Dark Secret (4:13) / IRA DIVINA: Unholy Warcry (5:54) / Never Forgotten Heroes (5:33) / Elgard's Green Valleys (2:20) / The Magic Of The Wizard's Dream (4:30) / Erian's Mystical Rhymes (10:32) /THE WHITE DRAGON'S ORDER: The Last Angel's Call (4:37) / Dragonland's River (3:45) / Sacred Power Of Raging Winds (10:07) / Guardiani (5:51) / Shadows Of Death (8:13) / Nightfall On The Grey Mountains (7:20)

Musicians:
Fabio Lione - vocals
Luca Turilli - guitar
Alex Staropoli -keyboards
Patrice Guers - bass
Alex Holzwarth - drums

Special Guests:

Dominique Leurquin - guitar
Christopher Lee - vocals / narrative

Contact:

Website: www.mightyrhapsody.com
Note: will open new browser window

Email: ltrhapsody@aol.com

Discography

Legendary Tales (1997)
Symphony Of Enchanted Lands (1998)
Dawn Of Victory (2000)
Rain Of A Thousand Flames (2001)
Power Of The Dragonflame (2002)
The Dark Secret (2004)
Symphony Of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark Secret (2004)