Rhapsody - Dawn Of Victory (2000)

Here they are again. After the wonderful SYMPHONY OF ENCHANTED LANDS, how would the next release of Luca Turilli and his boys go as we continue the saga of the emerald sword?
They don't let us down.
Dawn Of Victory starts fairly well, before building and building from one knockout piece to the next, whether it be fast, melodious power pieces like "Dargor, Shadowlord Of The Black Mountain" and "The Last Winged Unicorn", the quaint folk music of "The Village Of Dwarves", the dramatic "The Bloody Rage Of The Titans" or the inevitably epic conclusion, "The Mighty Ride Of The Firelord".  Throughout the raging guitars and dancing keyboards, Fabio warbles in his usual melodramatic manner, the choirs chant - and this listener just gets engulfed by it all.
It could be said that it's not perfect. (What is?). "Firelord" just might not get it quite right in the chorus, almost going for the 'mighty' and 'dramatic' at the cost of an entirely successful tune, but there's so much going on throughout the piece that it's not hard to forgive such a flaw. And maybe further listens will have me not seeing it as a flaw at all.
The whole style is just something that wins me over completely. It has the combination of unforgettable tunes, speedy metal and operatic might. I say this again, why did it take me so long to discover Rhapsody and their kind??
Because they're not part of the mainstream, that's why.  We hear about Pink coming to Australia every two months, and Madonna apologising every two months about not coming at all, while U2 makes the news whenever Bono sneezes.  But those European metal bands? Puh, who are they?
Now I know who they are, and I am delighted. :)
This is good versus evil, light versus darkness. It's cheesey, it's over the top.
It's Rhapsody, and I loooooove them.

*****