Rhapsody Of Fire - Into The Legend review
| Band: | Rhapsody Of Fire |
| Album: | Into The Legend |
| Style: | Symphonic power metal |
| Release date: | January 15, 2016 |
| A review by: | Belegûr |
01. In Principio
02. Distant Sky
03. Into The Legend
04. Winter's Rain
05. A Voice In The Cold Wind
06. Valley Of Shadows
07. Shining Star
08. Realms Of Light
09. Rage Of Darkness
10. The Kiss Of Life
11. Volar Sin Dolor [Digipak bonus]
12. Speranze E Amor [Japanese bonus]
+ Video: Into The Legend [Digipak bonus]
After the confusing mess that was Prometheus, Symphonia Ignus Divinus, Luca Turilli's Rhapsody return?wait, this is the other one. After the travesty that was Dark Wings Of Steel, Rhapsody Of Fire return with Into The Legend. Have things improved? It certainly wouldn't be hard to improve on their last effort, but I am glad to say that this is far more impressive. The energy and strength of the performances have returned. However, this improvement comes at the price of some originality. We all know Rhapsody Of Fire were well set in their ways for many years, but the truly great moments on this album definitely come from raiding their back catalogue and attempting to recreate the glorious sound of the first four albums from the "Emerald Sword Saga". So perhaps Into The Legend is a bit of a double-edged emerald sword in that regard.
Into The Legend was created over seven years in four different studios. This is sort of confusing as it makes it seem like Dark Wings Of Steel was just released to pass the time before this album was finished. I don't know if that is the case, but it would certainly explain why it was so forgettable and boring. Into The Legend is the album you would have expected to be released instead. We have the drawn out orchestral intro - minus over the top narration, leading into an energetic and rapid "Distant Sky". What I found interesting about this track was how much it sounded like track written by former guitarist Luca Turilli. It sort of jumps out as a track similar to one you would find on Power Of the Dragonflame, complete with guitar sweeps and grandiose chorus. It is certainly a great opener and this focus on memorable choruses and energy is what has been missing from the band in recent years. "Rage Of Darkness" could have also been an amazing opener for the album and is such an enjoyable song with a chorus that would blow your testes off If they decide to play it live. Again though, the greatness of these tracks comes from the work that the band has already released. The brilliant chorus of "Rage Of Darkness" really reminded me of "Eternal Glory" from Symphony Of Enchanted Lands.
"A Voice In The Cold Wind" sounds like it's been lifted straight off of Dawn Of Victory, being a mix of "Trolls In The Dark" and "The Village Of Dwarves". I'm probably getting fans of classic Rhapsody Of Fire all excited by comparing tracks from Into The Legend with some of their best work, but none of the tracks are necessarily better than the older tracks. They are excellent, but it's disappointing if you are looking for some new and interesting song ideas. Thankfully there are some surprises and "Winter's Rain" is one of them. It doesn't sound like a typical Rhapsody Of Fire track. It is mid tempo, but with a nice build up to the chorus and an interesting mid-section that was rather unexpected. It's great to hear this sort of track and it's far more interesting than the likes of "Shining Star", which is just another typical ballad.
The biggest positive on the album could be the orchestration. You can instantly hear the benefit of a real orchestra and the use of multiple choirs just add something extra to the overall sound. It sounds enormous! This is what makes Into The Legend stand out when compared to the early albums that it sometimes tries to recreate. The 17 minute closer "The Kiss Of Light" highlights this completely. An acoustic section with some great backing vocals, leading into a great solo section where both keyboard and guitar have their moment to shine, but in a surprisingly tasteful way. The long song to close the album does really work here and doesn't seem as generic as it ordinarily would.
Rhapsody Of Fire seem to be back on track and it's definitely not hard to recommend Into The Legend. Some of the best moments from the album do borrow heavily from older material, but that is a small price to pay to avoid another Dark Wings Of Steel. With the departure of Luca Turilli, Alex Staropoli is definitely more present than he has ever been and this means guitarist Roby De Micheli still hasn't done anything particularly memorable in the band since joining. This is disappointing as even with the excellent orchestration on Into The Legend, I would still kill for some amazing guitar work. These are perhaps improvements for future albums. Now if only Luca Turilli's Rhapsody would sort themselves out, the classic "Rhapsody" split could be considered a blessing.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 5 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written by Belegûr | 15.01.2016
Comments
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| CWA Posts: 285  |
Can someone please define "cheese" for me? It seems to be a popular disparaging comment people use against metal bands that have a positive, light and uplifting sound compared to typical pseudo tough guy image most bands strive for these days. I can't really take someones opinion seriously any more once i find out that word is apart of the vocabulary.
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6099  |
Written by CWA on 16.01.2016 at 09:14 Urbandictionary.com explains the word quite well. And god, how much it suits Rhapsody. No other band defines "cheesy" better than them: This is an important word and nobody has it right yet. What it means is: Trying too hard, unsubtle, and inauthentic. Specifically that which is unsubtle or inauthentic in its way of trying to elicit a certain response from a viewer, listener, audience, etc. Celine Dion is cheesy because her lyrics, timbre, key changes, and swelling orchestral accompaniment telegraph 'i want you to be moved' instead of moving you. [...] Cheesiness is subjective. What seems cheesy to me, may be a legitimate and attractive hairstyle to you. What seems cheesy to me, may cause you to weep and hug your girlfriend tight.
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| Eccer Posts: 38 |
Written by Irritable Ted on 16.01.2016 at 10:48 That's what I've always said... good cheese will always be good cheese!
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365  |
Written by CWA on 16.01.2016 at 09:14 I use it as a fun term  . I couldn't care less about band image or anything like that. You will be hard pushed finding many power metal fans on this site who listen to it more than I do, so don't take the use of one word as a slur against a genre of music. I adore Rhapsody of Fire, but also adore uplifting and CHEESY power metal music.
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62002  |
To much worlds and kind worlds for this band, I think they need negative critics, don't get why ppl say old ROF ...
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365 |
Written by Bad English on 16.01.2016 at 17:33 Too many words I guess? I'm sorry that 600 words is a struggle for you 
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62002 |
Written by Belegûr on 16.01.2016 at 18:25 because seems only wizard can make it happen, 20 max for this album, if it would good band, I would like to read it ,
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die" I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365 |
Written by Bad English on 16.01.2016 at 18:27 That's nice.
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62002 |
Written by Belegûr on 16.01.2016 at 18:28 like other of you reviews, I be happy if you write more 
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die" I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365 |
Written by Bad English on 16.01.2016 at 18:30 Cool. I'll make sure I keep it under 30 words so you don't lose patience.
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| CWA Posts: 285 |
Written by Daniell on 16.01.2016 at 11:51 Thanks for sharing that, but i would have to disagree with your conclusion. Maybe they try to hard with some of the narrations, but they are just naturally very talented musicians who did not have to strain very hard too come up with the music they have made in the past. Unsubtle, on the surface yes, but they have a lot a layered subtleties and nuances. Also, if you think Rhapsody are inauthentic then you don't know much about there members quite frankly. I believe a band fits this description more accurately is a band like Gloryhammer, though they seem to be intentionally "cheesy."
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| CWA Posts: 285 |
Written by Belegûr on 16.01.2016 at 16:13 In all honesty I always like your reviews and recommendations. The term "chessy" has simply become too cliche and I abhor cliches, hence my frustration with your use of it.
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365 |
Written by CWA on 16.01.2016 at 18:41 Yeah I do understand. It's not a word I often use and I've removed it from the review  I always welcome construction criticism 
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| SoUnDs LiKe PoP Posts: 1060 |
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| D88M3R Posts: 36 |
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| D88M3R Posts: 36 |
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| D88M3R Posts: 36 |
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365 |
Written by D88M3R on 16.01.2016 at 21:37 I stand by what I said about Prometheus, it was a confusing mess. The only real memorable song was one that they have "reloaded" since the release. The rest was just an orgy of generic latin phrases and over the top orchestration. Still, I gave it a 7.2 on here. People take other peoples opinions way to heart way too often here. If you liked the album, then I'm really happy for you
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365 |
Written by SoUnDs LiKe PoP on 16.01.2016 at 21:06 I think the narration would probably be out of place now since there isn't a big story tying all the songs together. Also when Rhapsody replaced the awful Sir Jay Lansford with Sir Christopher Lee, they were never going to top him after he died . Probably best they don't have narration now.
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| Thrasher91 Posts: 6 |
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| D88M3R Posts: 36 |
Written by Belegûr on 16.01.2016 at 22:27 To me it was his best album in a loong time, the "reloaded" version of Il Cigno Nero was mediocre, it was just a rushed attempt to compete with the videoclip of Rhapsody Of Fire, clearly a marketing strategy to get attention, and the mix of the guitar in that song was a mess, the original was better, the thing is, a lot of people complains about Rhapsody/Luca Turilli because in their minds it doesnt have "enough metal/guitars" instead of taking it as it is, and Rhapsody/Luca Turilli was never just metal, is so much more in many levels, and i loved Prometheus (also, i love film scores, i guess that helps) because of the esoteric/occult content -among other things- which were always part of what he does but never did so upfront, the lyrics were the best he has ever made, not only because he finally learned to write in english but because it talks about deep, cosmic truths about mankind in a way he never could before, by example, everybody laughed at the song Prometheus because of the lyrics, but my mind was blown when i read them and what they were talking about, now, the orchestration thing is subjetive, yes it is over the top, like always has been, and the album has so many layers upon layers of sounds that the only way to really appreciate is in a really loud and good soundspeaker, but is really fantastic what he did with the instruments, i guess that is why now we have two Rhapsodys, one is simple, direct and metal, and the other one is complex, deep, and just any kind of music Luca wants it to be, i care only that the music is good and Prometheus was amazing, i hope Into the Legend is just as good but on the other side of the spectrum agter the last dissapointing album, anyway, just wanted to say that and i wanted to say it in this page for a while now, that is the main reason (but not the only one!) i finally registered, sorry for the long answer lol, thanks for reading Peace, and Love, Forever!edit: sorry i had to edit to say this: to me, it wasnt confusing or a mess at all, not only each song is like a movie, but the whole album has a great flow when you hear it in its entirety and flows like one single huge song (which btw would also happen with Ascending to Infinity if they would care to release Fantasia Gotica once and for all) not only in music but in concept, truly a masterpiece of the genre
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365 |
Written by Thrasher91 on 17.01.2016 at 07:30 It's quite strange. The guitarist pretty much imitates Luca throughout, but the entire album does sound like an attempt to recreate those old albums. Well to me it did anyway
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| SoUnDs LiKe PoP Posts: 1060 |
Written by Belegûr on 16.01.2016 at 22:32 On SOEL2 and The Cold Embrace of Fear, they DID have some other voice actors that were very talented, though. I guess they were "characters" that don't exist now, but still, the talent is out there...
---- I lift weights and listen to metal
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365 |
Written by SoUnDs LiKe PoP on 17.01.2016 at 18:27 Well I'm not saying that no other voice actor would be capable. I'm saying that Lee worked so well with Rhapsody that I wouldn't really want anyone else.
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| CWA Posts: 285 |
Written by D88M3R on 17.01.2016 at 16:18 Wow, just wow. There are very few people who truly understand Luca and his work, and you are one of them. Your paragraph is is the most accurate thing I've ever read on a musician/album. Cheers!:thumbup:
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| Windir2010 Posts: 33 |
Written by Irritable Ted on 16.01.2016 at 10:48 Maybe some would disagree, but I find the best Power Metal to equate as cheese would be Glory Hammer. I don't think of it as disparaging either, so enjoy all that cheese because I fucking Loved the first Gloryhammer album!
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| Anunnaki_Anu Posts: 1 |
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| winchimes Posts: 8  |
ROFL!!!!!!!!!! People unironically enjoy this? This is actually quite shocking to me, I thought it was all a joke till I saw the reviews. "RAH RAH DRAGON SLAY AHHH PRINCESS" "MY SWORD IS MIGHTY BUT MY HEART IS STRONG" "AHHHHHH" "KILL DEMON DARK LORD AHHHH" you guys are tard and i would pwn you irl
---- Dividing walls of stone, Eternal heathen Throne, Beneath the cold starlight. Revealed for the purest sight.
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365 |
Written by Irritable Ted on 29.01.2016 at 11:06 Just another troll to add to the ever growing pile don't worry
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by Irritable Ted on 29.01.2016 at 11:06 and then check his favourite bands
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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