TRIUMPH OR AGONY

Having rather embarrassingly had to change their name for copyright reasons, Rhapsody become Rhapsody of Fire in 2006 and released their first album under that name. The name may have changed, but reassuringly, the music has not. The opening symphonic, choral and operatic majesty of the two part "Dar-Kunor" immediately tell us that this is business as usual.

This album continues "The dark secret" saga which began on the previous album. This is the second epic tale told in serial format by the band, but is very much a continuation of the first. The usual combination of elves, dark forces and heroes combine to further the "Lord of the rings" type adventure. Here, our hero Khaas and various aides are embarked on a quest to locate a black book written with the blood of angels which contains "The dark secret", an evil prophesy.

For some reason, the first part of the album concentrates on a retrospective, recounting the "Legend and myth of the Emerald sword" (from the first saga), the "New saga" only starting (or continuing) at track 10!

Musically, there is no progression to speak of here, if you enjoyed the band's previous albums it is pretty much a certainty you'll enjoy this one. If like me, you have followed the band from their first album, you might be starting to think that the albums are becoming just a bit too similar to each other. That said, "Triumph or agony" is overall slightly softer and more symphonic than what has gone before. There is less of the double paced heavy drumming, and more of the slower big sounding pieces. "Silent dream", "Blood red dungeons" and "Son of pain" for example, which appear consecutively on the album, are all devoid of a frantic rhythm. In their place we have soft vocals and big ballad type sounds. These are once again embellished through the appearance of a full orchestra.

The aforementioned tenth track is the centrepiece of the album, a sixteen minute 5 part epic called "The mystic prophesy of the demon knight". Here, the band go majestically over the top, with no less than seven narrators including Christopher Lee and Susannah York. At times, you could be forgiven for thinking you have suddenly re-tuned to a radio play as the characters talk to each other:
Dargor - "Yes that is the book, I am sure of it!"
Tarish - "Let us take it and leave this godforsaken place"
Iras - "The legendary evil book is now in our hands"., etc.
Our heroes having successfully retrieved the book, the saga is apparently concluded, however the closing "Dark reign of fire" warns that the "book will soon be opened with consequences beyond any nightmare". It appears we shall have to await the next instalment of this continuing story to find out in detail what evils the book contains.

The special edition of the album contains two bonus tracks. One is simply a radio edit of a section of the centrepiece track, but the other, "Defenders of Gaia" is a sort of deleted scene. It is actually one of the best tracks on the album, if not the best, very much in the tradition of songs like "Dawn of victory".

In all, this is probably best described as simply another Rhapsody (of Fire) album. While it is generally slightly more symphonic and less metallic than previous releases, all such things are relative, and "Triumph or agony" is still very much in keeping with what has gone before.

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