And so the RHAPSODY saga continues... At first the Italians came under pressure by online music portal Rhapsody to change their name, so they turned into RHAPSODY OF FIRE. Then main songwriters Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli decided to split amicably, but to continue as RHAPSODY OF FIRE (Staropoli) and LUCA TURILLI’S RHAPSODY (Turilli), after which Nuclear Blast dropped Staropoli’s like a hot potato and Turilli’s version now sees the release of its “Ascending To Infinity” album, which he counts as the official eleventh RHAPSODY album. The biggest difference to the “old” RHAPSODY is on the microphone, since Fabio Lione stayed with Staropoli, the new fronter is Alessandro Conti, formerly with TRICK OR TREAT.
Having been a huge fan since their demo, I was eager to hear what the first half of the double band would be putting forth and the basic parameters are the same – Power Metal, bombastic and epic, with plenty of choirs and of course Conti’s vocals. And here is where my first contact went off-kilter a little, because while Conti without a doubt is a good singer, to me he was lacking character (since I obviously had been spoiled by Lione for so many years) and was just another singer with a high voice, but firsts can be deceiving, so I did not let that deter me too much.
Let’s first have a look at the differences between RHAPSODY, RHAPSODY and RHAPSODY, shall we? “Ascending To Infinity” is not only lyrically a change from the fantasy epics by touching some other subjects and legends such as Excalibur, Atlantis or Michael the Archangel, but also musically Turilli seems to have added a little bit of a progressive tendency to his compositions that at times do not gel as much as the very smooth sound of RHAPSODY (first two incarnations) and tends to throw the listener off a bit, which is not necessarily a bad thing, since it keeps you on your toes a little more.
There is no doubt that Turilli still is a master songwriter that knows how to capture bombast in many ways and it was to be expected that he would eventually try to marry his solo project with the main band musically as well to show some progression, which he does, the one thing I am not so sure about, though, is how successful this marriage in the end is. As mentioned, one thing that is the second-most obvious is that the immediate accessibility is reduced and in my ears it hurts the effect of the songs a little, since they live off the epic ebb and flow. The second factor is Conti’s voice and while showing a good delivery and flawless technique, he does not match the character of Lione and no matter what happens, he is going to be measured against him.
That being said, “Ascending To Infinity” is by no means a bad album, the epic use of choirs is still among the best in Metal (just listen to “Dante’s Inferno” and “Of Michael The Archangel”) and when the dramatic tension is cranked to the highest (“Clash Of The Titans” is the best example here) or the bridge between baroque, super catchy chorus and soundtrack elements is set (“Excalibur”), the album shines brightly. Some of the tracks, though, fail to grip me like older songs of the Italians despite all their epic glory, and while lauding the ambition to progress, they will have to be careful not to progress themselves away from their fanbase.
While not being a disappointment, I had honestly hoped for more from LUCA TURILLI’S RHAPSODY, since their bombastic Power Metal has its great moments, but ultimately fails to captivate the listener over the whole distance. Now let’s see what Staropoli and Lione come up with as RHAPSODY OF FIRE...
01. Quantum X (2:26)
02. Ascending To Infinity (6:15)
03. Dante's Inferno (4:57)
04. Excalibur (8:06)
05. Tormento E Passione (4:52)
06. Dark Fate Of Atlantis (6:30)
07. Luna (4:16)
08. Clash Of The Titans (4:15)
09. Of Michael The Archangel And Lucifer's Fall(16:02)
10. March Of Time (Bonus Track) (5:40)
Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody – Ascending To Infinity (Japan Edition) (2012)
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