Rhapsody of fire, Dark wings of steel

I was a bit worried about the band splitting in half, but apparently both Rhapsody of fire and Luca Turilli's Rhapsody are doing just fine. There's just more Rhapsody in the world under two different titles and what's not to like about that?

It's an album that's epic and grand and has tons of choirs like all self-respecting Rhapsody albums and I love that. Even though the main song writer is gone, the style is still pretty much the same (maybe the die-hard fans can tell the differences, but as a casual fan I can't. I guess it's more on the side of symphonic then on the side of power, but this is something that started before Luca left).  Fabio is great as always, I love his voice and it fits the feel of the music perfectly. He's definitely the best thing that Rhapsody of fire kept (I have to say that Luca Turilli found a marvellous replacement for Fabio, though, the thing that stayed with me the most after listening to Ascending to infinity was how insanely good Alessandro Conti is).

It's not a brilliant album by any means, but then again I have never considered Rhapsody brilliant. They are really good in their genre and this one makes no exception. It's a good solid album, that's pleasant to listen to and has everything a power metal fan could ask for – very melodious songs, guitar solos, high vocals, epicness and yes, there is also cheese. In an endearing way, however, and that's why Rhapsody are in the top: they are able to get away with cheesy (although there's certainly less cheese this time).

I must say that I was positively surprised by the presence of a few heavier blunter moments, most notably in Tears of pain. What I wasn't very thrilled with was the presence of the Kamelot syndrome (the Kamelot syndrome = starting a song with a heavy instrumental and then abruptly and incohesively toning it down to accommodate the vocals). Also, by the middle the album I'm starting to think it lacks the kick a bit, it's a bit too ballady for me and the long notes are slightly overdone. Thankfully, they get it together near the end, especially with Dark wings of steel, which is one of the best songs of the album, along with Rising from tragic flames. I don't know what's with these albums lately, so many of them start so well, then fade away in the middle, only to save the appearances at the end.

Overall all it's a consistent album, but it kinda lacks the spark. Considering what they've been through, they have attenuating circumstances, so I'm not giving up on them just yet and I have hopes the next one will be better.