DAWN OF VICTORY

What a BIG surprise!! I never thought this band would be categorized as prog. But I see the point why it is finally put in the prog basket as the music is not purely a power metal 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 . I never heard the kind of mixture of Rhapsody's music before. That's why it's prog to the corner!). I have to salute the Proagarchives team for having this band included in this page.

It was definitely 2002 when I first listened to this album from my metal folks in my home country. I still remember at that time we had the PROG FEST of Indonesian Progressive Society where our country's prog bands were demonstrating their act. One of my metal friends, Satrio, a young metal-pro man, introduced me to RHAPSODY, SYMPHONY X and NIGH WISH. I was not interested because I'm sure it's gonna be a kind of head- banging metal stuff that was not my cup of tea, I would say. Anyway, I bought the CD of this album from the CD counter in that Prog Fest. Oh mannnnn ... let me tell you the truth . this album BLEW ME COMPLETELY!!! Again, I never imagined that human being was able to create such a beautifully crafted music like this one. They call themselves a "metal warrior", but it's not really . they are purely prog met warrior!

"Lux Triumphans (2:00)" is a typical overture of any power metal band; it sounds like a church choirs but it set the overall tune of the album. It flows to heartbreaking, uplifting and energetic track "Dawn of Victory". WOW mannn .. what a dynamic song this track is! This is the kind of track you would like to hear when you just woke up in the morning to elevate your energy and emotion! It's a wonderful track in a metal vein. (Hey, don't ever imagine that RHAPSODY's music is of similar to DREAM THEATER. No! They are completely different kind!). The lyrics that I can remember on top of my head is "For Ancelot the ancient cross of war. For the wholly tons of God. Gloria! Gloria perpetua! For the dawn of victory! .. Wow ....!!!!!!!! You will be totally adrenalized man!

The rest of the songs are excellent as well. If you enjoy track 2, you would enjoy all tracks, for sure! That's the rule. Unfortunately I'm away from my city as I'm now in my clien's manufacturing facility 120 KM away from Jakarta and I don't bring my CD. Otherwise, I can review track by track in detail. But .. it's not worth it for you to read my review track by track basis, turn off your computer and go get the CD now! You would hardly regret. Believe me.

The masterminds of this album are the guitarist LUCA TURILI (I got his two excellent solo albums as well) and keyboardist ALEX STAROPOLI. These two guys are brilliant guys! But .. there are two other important guys, eg : SASCHA PAETH and MIRO as producer. I think the greatness of this album is nonsense without the hands and brains of PAETH and MIRO. In my observation, the two gentlemen have produced other quality music with the American band :KAMELOT (another great band in the vein of Rhapsody). I fell in love with KAMELOT thru their album "Karma". And .. in my opinion, once RHAPSODY is already "in" here, this page should also cover KAMELOT and NIGHTWISH. It's a MUST!

Overall, this album is a masterpiece. I have collected all the albums of the band and has no regret at all. If you can find the boxed set of this album, you should get it, because it has a book with it. Great album to have. DON'T MISS IT. (Coincidently, this morning I received an SMS from my prog friend, Agung, saying that he is totally in trance with this album while listening to the CD in his way to the office). HAIL! - Gatot Widayanto, Indonesia.