RAIN OF A THOUSAND FLAMES

While the world held its breath awaiting the final part of THE CHRONICLES OF ALGALORD saga (could the Nordic Warrior of Ice save Algalord from the forces of evil?), Rhapsody prolonged the rising anticipation by releasing an interim mini-album entitled "Rain of a thousand flames". Released between "Dawn of victory" and "Power of the dragon flame", and running to over 40 minutes, the album is long enough to stand in its own right, but was marketed as an "extended EP".

The title comes from an episode in the, then still to come, fourth part of the Chronicles, when two towns were "destroyed after three moons of apocalyptic bloodshed under a rain of a thousand flames". Indeed, although this album does not form part of the saga, the songs are very much related to it. The tracks on the four albums tend to paint pictures which relate to the saga, rather that actually telling the story verbatim. The songs here appear to be ones which were written on that basis, but not used for whatever reason on the four "Emerald sword saga" albums.

As a whole, "Rain of a thousand flames" stands as an equal among the Rhapsody releases to date. The album finds the band reverting to the more symphonic influences of their first 2 albums, while venturing into more diverse territories. There are two brief instrumental tracks, " Elnor's Magic Valley" being the more interesting. This track is a traditional sounding fiddle piece, with Baroque recorder accompaniment, which might well have been performed by Fairport Convention's Dave Swarbrick.

There are two feature tracks, which together occupy well over half of the album. "Queen of the dark horizons", is a magnificent opus which weaves its way through mixed choirs, female operatic solos, anthemic choruses, lush orchestration, and superb guitar and synthesiser breaks. At almost 14 minutes long, the band have the space to develop the themes further, while incorporating a number of vocal styles. The female vocal sections have similarities with Nightwish, while the semi spoken male vocal parts are like those of Phil Lynott. "The wizard's last rhymes" takes its title from the closing section of "The emerald sword saga" as documented in the booklet accompanying the following album, "Power of the Dragonflame". This 10 minute opus has plenty of orchestration, female operatics, and choirs. There's also some fine guitar work from Lucca Turilli, and a "Wizard of Oz" like section. In fact the only slight disappointment on this particular track is the band's own vocals, which are at times sub-standard. The track, which concludes the album, is unusual for Rhapsody in that it fades rather than reaching a climax. The orchestration on the closing section paints a picture of a tall ship drifting gracefully into the sunset, over a distant horizon.

The album is completed by three standard Rhapsody songs, all of which are well up to the quality of those on the "Emerald sword saga" albums. "Tears of a Dying Angel" is probably the best of these, with brief symphonic intro leading into glorious choruses, blood curdling chants, and deep voiced (and unintentionally amusing) narrative.

While "Rain of a thousand flames" was marketed as an interim release, it should be considered to be a full length album by the band, with all the quality of the official releases. A real gem.

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