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"The Eighth Mountain" is the twelfth studio album by the Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody of Fire. It was released on 22 February 2019 via AFM Records.
The album is the first chapter for a new saga, written by Alex Staropoli and Roby De Micheli, entitled The Nephilim's Empire Saga. It is the first saga not written by Luca Turilli, who had left the band in 2011. It is also the first studio album to not feature original vocalist Fabio Lione, and longtime drummer Alex Holzwarth since their 1998 album Symphony of Enchanted Lands, who both had left the band in 2016. They were replaced by Giacomo Voli and Manu Lotter respectively.
User Album Review
Narratively, the album is the first entry in the “Nephlins Empire Saga” (developed by Staropoli and De Micheli), which relates to “lost, corrupted souls” and choosing the right path in life. Expectedly, Rhapsody of Fire present this introductory chapter with gratifying, if also ultimately overbearing, blends of ferocity and fragility via spiraling vocals, instrumentation both bitingly grandiose and somberly modest, and perpetually epic lyricism.
For sure, The Eighth Mountain is full of exemplary metal touches. For instance, instrumental preface “Abyss of Pain” sets up the larger-than-life framework with an increasingly intense mixture of angelic female chants and panicked orchestration (horns and strings, specifically). From there, “Seven Heroic Deeds” explodes with classical aggression as blistering rhythms and riffs ornament Voli’s soaring decrees. It’s relentlessly intense, with lightning-fast keyboard trickery near the end (plus bellowing choral call-and-response moments in the middle that evoke a Greek tragedy). Of course, subsequent tracks—such as “Master of Peace,” “Rain of Fury,” “The Courage to Forgive,” and “The Legend Goes On,” to name a few and to varying degrees of melodic and structural success—continue that hyperactive turmoil.
The Eighth Mountain is a very strong addition to both Rhapsody of Fire’s canon and the world of symphonic/power metal globally. Newcomers Voli and Lottner give their all and fit in well from beginning to end, and the inclusion of so many orchestral and choral personas gives extra incentive to appreciate every detail and diversion. All in all, The Eighth Mountain may work best in small doses, but what’s here is undeniably impressive and entertaining.
Reviewed by Jordan Blum for metalinjection.net.
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