Search - Rhapsody :: Power of the Dragonflame

Good but they are getting stuck

Ethereal_jinn | The Ether | 03/08/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I enjoy this CD immensly as I do with all Rhapsody cd. However I can tell that they are starting to cop their own style. Not that this is good or bad. But their music is becoming predicatble and similar. The compositions are excellent with the choir, but what would you expect from Luca. My only wish is that on his solo stuff he would use a different singer to avoid it sounding too much like Rhapsody.All in all if you like Rhapsody you will like this album. It may not become one of your favorites but it is strong non the less."

Great album

Enrique MV | Bolivia | 06/15/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album, that get the story of the previous albums to and end, is a very interesting piece to apriciate the evolution of the sound of this Italian band. For those who never listened this band before you will find a very symphonic and epic band that perfectly join the agresive and heroitic emotions of the music with the epic history here told, a very good albun to explore, but it is higly recomended that you hear the previous ones before. For the ones that have already listen to the band before I consider this albun an interesting resume of the sound of Rhapsody. With more symphonic parts a la "Symphony of Enchanted Lands" but a lot more fast and agresive like "Down of Victory" Rhapsody has riched with this album a very enjoyable intermediate point between those styles. But this havent prevent Rhapsody from exploring. To prove this When Deamonds Awake features a more Black influenced style not only with the guitar but also with Favio's way of singing(a taste of how Rhapsody in black would sound). Another interesting thing is the rol of their native lenguage in this album that include an entire song in italian and more italian parts on other lyrics that fits incredible to the Hollywood Metal Style.
The art work is incredible and the story fully related on the songbook with aditional parts that are not singed to fulfill the story. Rhapsody is simply incredible, the production of this album may be the best so far. I like Symphony of Enchanted Lands the most in terms of composition, but this albun doesnt saty back, but with a more elaborated production and a more expirienced band.Un albun que resume los etylos explorados por la banda. Una increible convinación entre la magnificencia de la música y la epicidad y herocismo que trasmite concorde a las letras. La historia continuada entre los albunes previos ahora llega a su fin. El sonido es un perfecto intermedio entre la velocidad y agresividad de Down of Victory y la instrumentalización y orquestalización de Enchanted Lands, sin embargo explora cosas nuevas aún, como cantar en Italiano e incorporar elementos black metal en algunas canciones (una probada de como podría sonar Rhapsody in Black). Altamente recomendable."

Rhapsody's last great album

Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 01/22/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rhapsody's 2002 album Power of the Dragonflame, the final installment in their Emerald Sword saga, features the masters of Italian power metal at their creative peak. The band arrived during the power metal revival of the late 1990's, and their particular blend of Helloween, Iron Maiden and Yngwie Malmsteen won over more and more fans with successive release. The band also perfected their virtuoso guitar work, dramatic vocals, symphonic arrangements, and fantasy subject matter along the way.



Power of the Dragonflame features the band pushing the limits of just how epic, ambitious, and (melo)dramatic a fantasy-themed power metal album can be. It's a furious, glorious blockbuster of an album that provides the perfect soundtrack to guitarist Luca Turilli's fantasy storyline. The band was firing on all cylinders on this album. Everything from Luca Turilli's frenetic guitar work (Dragonforce may get all the attention, but others were blazing that trail long before their arrival) to Fabio Leoni's powerful and dramatic vocals to Sascha Paeth and Miro's immaculate production to the utterly amazing cover artwork was just top notch. Even Rhapsody's flaws like cheesy lyrics and pompous narration were kept in check on this album.



Unfortunately this would be the last great album from Rhapsody (soon to become Rhapsody of Fire due to legal reasons). It seemed like they had pushed their capabilities as far as they could go, and subsequent albums just rehashed the sound and themes of the Emerald Sword albums. It was easier to look over the band's repetitive tendencies when they continued to improve with each album. There was a constant sense of "what are they going to come up with next". After this album, the answer was "more of the same", and they soon lost their appeal.



That doesn't change the fact that Power of the Dragonflame is an amazing power metal album, and is probably the band's finest offering. Power metal aficionados should not hesitate to grab this album (or any of the Rhapsody's albums prior to this one). They aren't at the same level as Blind Guardian, but up to this point there were very few power metal bands that could come close to Rhapsody.



NOTE: There is a limited edition version of Power of the Dragonflame that includes a bonus track - Rise from the Sea of Flames - and a bonus DVD that collects all of Rhapsody's promotional videos. The promotional videos are unintentionally hilarious in that they appear to be shot with a home video camera and feature the band striking dramatic poses amidst various masked characters and budget special effects that make Savatage's Hall of the Mountain King video look like Lord of the Rings. Cheesiness aside, the limited edition is worth hunting down for the bonus song and the deluxe packaging. It's housed in a DVD-sized gatefold digipack inside a slipcase that features the glorious album cover artwork.

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