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The Eighth Mountain è il dodicesimo album della symphonic power metal band Italiana Rhapsody of Fire, pubblicato il 22 febbraio 2019 da AFM Records.
L’album rappresenta il primo capitolo dalla saga The Nephilim's Empire Saga, scritta da Alex Staropoli e Roby de Micheli. È il primo studio album con il nuovo cantante Giacomo Voli e il nuovo batterista Manu Lotter, che hanno preso il posto, rispettivamente, di Fabio Lione e Alex Holzwarth.
In questo lavoro troviamo cavalcate eroiche, orchestrazioni in primo piano, un mood che torna ad essere positivo e ottimista ed una band affamata e pronta al riscatto dove sono presenti tutti gli elementi che hanno reso celebre in passato il sound Rhapsody. Una nuova saga, ‘Nephilim’s Empire Saga’, scritta da Alex e Roberto, che ci accompagnerà da questo disco per continuare ad essere raccontata nelle prossime uscite della band. Inoltre questo nuovo full-length è impreziosito dalla presenza della Bulgarian National Symphony Orchestra di Sofia, conosciuta per aver contribuito alle colonne sonore di oltre seicento pellicole. Questi sono gli elementi che caratterizzano “The Eighth Mountain” disco che parte subito deciso con le spedite “Seven Heroic Deeds” e “Master Of Peace”, tutte in doppia cassa con dei cori epici e potenti ad accompagnare l’ugola acuta di Giacomo, che entra in campo con un approccio piuttosto aggressivo.
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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