Album Review: "Legendary Tales" by the Band Once Known as Rhapsody

The Italian band Rhapsody of Fire was once known by the name Rhapsody. They are a fast, thundering drum type of power metal band that released their first album called Legendary Tales in 1997. The lyrical themes center on fantasy type concepts such as warriors, knights, and dragons. This may turn off some music fans because they may think that such concepts for a power metal band are silly. But in any case, let's enjoy this album shall we?

Warrior of Ice is one of the band’s earliest classics made even better by the powerful vocals of Fabio Lione. The chorus is the best part of the song as Fabio shows the power and sort of thunder of his voice as it really stands out when he says: “mighty warrior, for the legend ride again from the hills, for peace and love to the sea of gold, my land must be free," (Turilli, 1997) The song is about a chosen warrior trying to rid the land of evil forces. The lyrical themes of the album are similar to Blind Guardian’s Nightfall in Middle Earth album or the Fairyland album I reviewed what seems like a long time ago. Daniele Carbonera provides the drums for the album.

Rage of the Winter is a song about how the cold winter makes the snow fall down. Then the snow covers the forests, mountains, and lakes. In spite of his heavy accent, Fabio does a fine job in the chorus of this song. The song Forest of Unicorns is the first ballad song of the band’s career. The song is about forests having a special secret and the unicorns are a kind of treasure of the valleys. When I was a kid, the unicorn was in the game called Ghosts N’ Goblins so that’s an interesting side note. The song Flames of Revenge once again show the power of the vocals as Fabio lets out an interesting scream. The chorus of the song is trying to say that fire and steel may follow a warrior through the land but that force will eventually lose due to the power and might of that brave warrior. The ride to victory is ready to begin so that the warrior can assist his comrades so that they can become victorious.

Fabio at this time made his presence felt as a young 24 year-old and he does one heck of a job here! The only other notable Italian power metal bands that I know of are Skylark, Labyrinth, and Power Symphony. Nonetheless, Fabio got this band off to a very good start. Of the band’s first three releases I would say that Dawn of Victory is probably my favorite one. But Legendary Tales is a good way to start a career.

The lyrical theme of bravery is introduced in this album and I hope that we can all be brave to endure life’s challenges. Lord of the Thunder is the last very good song on the album and it is about a warrior seeking help from the God of thunder as he fights to serve the light of heaven and love. He will forever be a proud warrior. This writer is proud that he has been able to inform people of the greatness of Fabio Lione as a vocalist. The strongest songs in this album are Warrior of Ice, Flames of Revenge, Land of Immortals, and Lord of the Thunder.

Bibliography

Turilli, L. a. (1997). Warrior of Ice [Recorded by Rhapsody]. Trieste, Italy.