Into The Legend‘ – a title raising expectations but also fitting perfectly with the new masterpiece by Italy’s epic symphonic metal masters, RHAPSODY OF FIRE. Their unique blend of epic power metal, orchestra and baroque/soundtrack-like elements has been the yardstick for a whole genre since the inception of the band and their very first releases. It’s pure delight to see RHAPSODY OF FIRE motivated and more inspired than ever before with ‘Into The Legend’ now, following 2013’s ‘Dark Wings Of Steel’ (and the preceding spilt with Luca Turilli). It marks the return to the roots of the band in a way, as the new album stylistically reminds of their early works, especially their first four albums.
Anthems such as ‚Distant Sky‘, ‚Into The Legend‘ or ‚Realms Of Light“ will soon be hailed as classic tracks of the band’s catalogue while the almost 17 minutes long ‘The Kiss Of Life’ is a display of what RHAPSODY OF FIRE are capable of; fathoming the whole spectrum of their unique sound.
First class musicianship is one part of their huge success for sure, but just as important is the unmistakable voice of Fabio Lione, who carries the compositions and brings them to life. A good example is his soulful delivery on the beautiful ballad ‘Shining Star’.
‘Into The Legend’is the result of true efforts. It took seven years of recordings in four different studios to finally create their most extensive and ambitious piece of work. A big classic orchestra, several choirs and exclusive use of original instruments were the things Alex Staropoli emphasized on.
Mix was handled by Alberto Bravin (Echoes studios; Trieste, Italy), while
Grammy-nominated Maor Appelbaum (Halford, Faith No More, Dokken) was responsible for mastering. RHAPSODY OF FIRE’s ‚Into The Legend‘ brings to perfection what the band started in 1997 with‚Legendary Tales‘. It’s an almost 70 minutes long movie for the mind – an adventure for the senses.
This band set standards for a whole genre: Italian symphonic metal gods RHAPSODY OF FIRE started their career in the mid 90’s (releasing their first albums under the banner of “Rhapsody”), the debut ‘Legendary Tales’ (1997) made a huge impact on the scene with a unique mixture of classic power metal, baroque/classical elements, choirs and orchestrations. A huge worldwide fanbase was built very quickly and the first four albums (which sold combined way over 1.000.000 copies) put Rhapsody on top of the best-selling and most popular metal artists worldwide. Due to legal issues the band had to rename from Rhapsody to RHAPSODY OF FIRE in 2003 but this had no effect on the creative output. In 2012, band leaders and main composers Alex Staropoli and Luca Turilli decided to go separate ways: while Luca founded “Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody” to start a new endeavor – Staropoli, Fabio Lione, Alex Holzwarth, Oliver Holzwarth and new guitarist Roby De Micheli continued with RHAPSODY OF FIRE, and in the more classic and heavy direction that the fans loved so much. After the ‘Live – From Chaos To Eternity’ live album, released in early 2013, only six months later ‘Dark Wings Of Steel’ was unleashed. Most of the songs had been written by Alex Staropoli and his brother Manuel, lyrics were penned by Fabio. It marked a first step back to the band’s roots, which now continues consequently with ‘Into The Legend’ – another legendary and possibly THE most legendary masterpiece this forceful band has ever produced.