SYMPHONY OF ENCHANTED LANDS

I think the first three albums of this band combined together is a TRILOGY masterpiece. They are: "Legendary Tales", "Symphony of Enchanted Lands" and "Dawn of Victory". I could hardly define which one is the best as all of them are great albums. This album continues the story of the Algalord Chronicles, a fantasy epic created by the band. As I put in my review of "Dawn of Victory" album, the music of this band is not purely a power metal sub-genre (the kind of music pioneered by Germany's HELLOWEEN) but it has a considerable prog elements (the use of orchestra / string arrangements, varieties of shifting tempos PLUS. Well . I never heard the kind of mixture of Rhapsody's music before).

I purchased the CD of this album after I was extremely satisfied with the third album "Dawn of Victory" that represented my first introduction to the band (that I never heard the name before). Again, I was amazed with the music offered by the band: fantastic blend of metal and symphonic orchestra. Well, honestly, first listening I got problems with "dug-u-dug-u-dug" double bass drum style which sound typical to any metal music. But once I got used to it, it worked definitely fine with my ears. For those of you who love classic prog rock like Genesis, Yes, King Crimson of ELP, you may find it difficult to accept the tagline tempo of this kind of music. But, when you pass this test .. BOOM! It's gonna blow you man ...!!! This is the kind of music you'd like to listen to in order to elevate your emotion. Believe me!

As usual, this album is opened with orchestral arrangement "Epicus Furor" that really set the overall tone of the album. It's stunning opening and you should turn your power amps volume high to reach ultimate satisfaction. It flows to higher tempo with the second track "Emerald Sword". This track is really uplifting, showing a great mixture of power metal and excellent string ensembles music. If you like violin / cello instrument in rock, you will definitely like this song. The vocal part by Fabio Lione is great, accompanied by a choirs group that accentuate the song and bring the music to the ultimate power of progressive metal. I personally like the solo guitar combined with violin / cello sounds during the interlude section. It's excellent!

The third track "Wisdom Of The Kings" is opened with nice melody instrumental classical music followed with upbeat metal music and great vocal. Yes, you are ready to the war. It's a kind of music for war, I think. The addition of orchestration in between melody has enriched the music. The interlude part with lead guitar solo is stunning and uplifting.

"Heroes Of The Lost Valley" is a short track with heavy classical music element, great clavinet melody and pan pipe (or sort of it). This track, I think, is designed to create a motivational atmosphere for warriors going to the war field. This serves to be true as the narration says clearly:

"Yes, mighty warrior... what you hear now are the suffering voices of all the heroes that crossed these lands before you. They ended their quest tragically but their thirst for victory is still alive and breathes through these ancient rocks corroded by the fury of the wind. Their pride now rides with you..."

. it continues wonderfully to the next track where the war is really started: "Eternal Glory". WOW ..!!!! What a great orchestration opening!!! It's so stunning! I don't care whether you can accept metal music or not but this opening orchestration is damn EXCELLENT!! (I'm not being generous .. but .. this is true story, no exaggeration at all, believe me .). REALLY GREAT music! The combination of pan pipe and clavinet sounds at the end of this track really blow me! Well ..friends, I'm not gonna review track by track but believe me the rest of tracks are all wonderful. And I think . you have to purchase the CD. You won't regret it! The concluding epic "Symphony of Enchanted Lands" is also top class! Honestly, I keep admiring the masterminds of this album: Luca Turili (guitar), Alex Staropoli (keyboards and orchestration) plus brilliant producers: Sascha Paeth and Miro. Great job, gentlemen! - Gatot Widayanto, Indonesia.