Search - Rhapsody :: Dawn of Victory

Makes me want to live again

02/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rhapsody comes on like Spinal Tap, with their silly outfits and hyperbole. They're the worst band in the world, right until you push the play button. At that moment they become the best band ever. I know, I know, every music fan in the world thinks his own little momentary favorite is the best band ever. No, but seriously, Rhapsody makes the best popular music in the history of the human race so far. I don't even like much rock music, especially this diseased garbage the kids listen to nowadays. I'm a Sinatra and big band fan. But I've waited my whole life to hear a band like this. They restore hope. They represent everything holy and decent in the universe, and the willingness to take up arms to defend it. They not only respect the great tradition of European classical music, they have mastered it. Beethoven and Wagner and Bach and Tchaikovsky themselves couldn't write motifs more stirring, more noble, more beautiful. At the same time, Metallica couldn't match these guys in terms of raw power and speed and virtuosity. And these two styles of music are blended with such utter naturalness, it makes you wonder why we haven't been doing this all along. And the singer is a marvel, expressive, beautiful, unabashedly dramatic. Who cares if he has an Italian accent? Italy is the cradle of classical music, and he still speaks better English than any of those soul-destroying creatures called "rappers", who have no respect for heritage or any regard for anyone who does. Hail Rhapsody! They aren't just the best of the so-called "power metal" bands, they are a unique phenomenon in the history of pop music, a band that will be remembered for a hundred years after all the vile nonsense that tops the American charts has been wiped from time and memory. If you have one ounce of taste and don't buy every album they have made and listen to them, and nothing else, until you have memorized every note, you might as well go deaf, because you're wasting your ears."

(3.5 stars) Not as good as Power of Dragonflame

S. Morales | Levittown, NY United States | 01/12/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I absolutly had to pick this record up after purchasing Power of the Dragonflame (the bands 4th album). After a few listens to this one though I must say that even though I did enjoy it, it wasn't anywhere close to the near perfection of the later record. Dawn of Victory is Rhapsody's 3rd album and a good one too. There are 10 tracks on this one and I would say about 6 are worth listening to. The album starts off pretty weak with more of the bland dialogue that I disliked about the 4th album and the first 2 tracks were pretty good at best(the musicianship just wasn't as inspired as the 4th album). As soon as track 3 hit though I was blown away, what a wonderful melodic and enchanting piece of music! This is undoubtably the best off the album. The next few tracks aren't quite as good but still worth hearing because they are good songs. The "Trolls in the Dark" instrumental is one of the coolest power metal instrumentals I've heard in the genre, its fast guitar riffs and choir chorus easily take your imagination away from the riggers of daily life; unfortunately, like a lot of metal instrumentals from progressive bands, it's cut too short (a mere 2 and a half minutes). After this i felt that although track 9 was good, it dragged itself out towards the end and track 10 on top of being dragged out too long, wasn't a good song to begin with.
Overall, this is a good CD that rhapsody fans will enjoy but if you want to get into them or epic power metal as a whole I'd highly recommend the 4th album. This one's lacking some inspiration."

Symphonic Epic Power Metal. Just gets to 4 stars.

Paul Lawrence | Australia | 08/09/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Where to begin. Rhapsody took their success to a new level with this release, part of an ongoingseries of albums that tell a story entitled the 'Emerald Sword Saga'. Armed with a pompous self importance more in keeping with Germanic and Scandinavian true metallers, Rhapsody bring to the table their quite obvious fire and passion for overwrought and histrionic metal and along with the quite different Lacuna Coil have opened the doors for a number of other Italian bands such as Ueickap, Wonderland, The Dogma, Biderben and Luca Turillis' (Rhapsody head honcho) solo output.



Putting aside the derision such a project inevitably incurs - they include a story synopsis and a map of the fictional land the story takes place in for heavens sake - there is plenty to like here. The band attack these tunes, the constant orchestral interludes are painfully intrusive in the best possible way and the band keep a straight face in the cover photos where they are holding swords. And that can't be easy! Yet this is not prissy hard rock but instead is a full bodied rock assault with wailing solos and decent vocals, Rhapsody seeing no reason to use a string section just for the ballads but instead hitting the listener with plenty of life and fire all the way through. Fans of simplistic, heads down 12 bar hard rock will hate this, but Rhapsody don't care as they play their melodic metal for the sort of audience who lap up songs with titles like Trolls in the Dark; Dargon, Shadowlord of the Black Mountain and The Mighty Ride of the Firelord.



Musically this is a confident, painfully Euro product. The band rarely shows restraint but doesn't deliver every song at double time instead realising that use of textures is necessary to get their story across. But when they do let go, it's all the better for the pacing of the other tunes. The fiery Holy Thunderforce and Dawn of Victory in particular are delivered with such missionary zeal you find yourself mouthing the quite ludicrous lyrics almost without realising it and that's a pretty cool effect to have on a listener!



If you like your metal committed, fiercely and well played and don't mind orchestral sections and choirs thrown in like so much confetti then check out Rhapsody for a band whose music, while epic in feel is also optimistic where many similar bands from more northern climes might come across as somewhat grim."