LINE-UP:
Luca Turilli - guitars
Alex Staropoli - keyboards
Fabio Lione - vocals
Alex Holzwarth - drums
TRACK LIST:
In Tenebris
Knightrider Of Doom
Power Of The Dragonflame
The March Of The Swordmaster
When Demons Awake
Agony Is My Name
Lamento Erocio
Steelgods Of The Last Apocalypse
The Pride Of The Tyrant
Rise from the sea of flames (Bonustrack available on limited CD/DVD release only)
Gargoyles, Angels Of Darkness
1. Angeli Di Pietra Mistica
2. Warlordsī Last Challenge
3. ...And The Legend Ends...
REVIEW
Fifth album in six years. Add LUCA TURILLIīs 1999 solo album and you have an album a year. You think this high productivity would reflect on the songs, right? Wrong! "Power Of The Dragonflame" is another great album. This album is the final part in the "Emerald Sword-saga" that has taken five CDs to complete (!). It sounds kind of like a mix between "Symphony Of Enchanted Lands", with its orchestral and symphonic parts as well as mighty choirs, and "Dawn Of Victory", with that albumīs raw, fast and heavy guitar-riffing. A perfect balance between theese two albums. As is the case with the other albums, itīs impossble to pick one track and say itīs better than the rest, but the titletrack and the concluding, 19-minute epic "Gargoyles.." are two of my personal favourites. You canīt say which track is best, however you can say which track is not - "Rise From The Sea Of Flames". This track is only available on the audio CD included in the limited CD/DVD-package. It feels like this song is made up from parts of other songs that were "left over". Once again is the production handeled by Sascha Paeth and Miro, and once again they surpass themselves. This is Rhapsody at their best as we all know and love.
RATE (out of 10) ********** (10)
|
|
|
|
| The three (3) pictures above shows the full 10-track promo edition of
"Power Of The Dragonflame". It comes in a plain paper sleeve
(not jewel-case) and there was no booklet included. Front is the same as
standard commercial release. The back is, if not totally different, then
at least quite different from standard release. No pictures of the
bandmembers and also a different painting. The songs and credits are
written straight down in white and there is of course the yellow
"banner" in the top right corner, where itīs written in red
"Not for sale - For promotional use only". |
||
| XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX | ||
|
|
|
|
| The three (3) pictures above shows the special 5-track promo-only-edition officially released in Germany only by Media Markt, licenced by LMP. This was given away for free and there were no booklet released. It comes in a plain papersleeve and the front cover is slighly different with a sort of "frame" and also the Media Markt-logo. At the bottom is printed "kostenlos und vorveröffentlicht!". The back of the cover has all the previous RHAPSODY albums and singles and also the two solo releases from guitarist LUCA TURILLI. To the left of the back cover is a brown stripe where itīs written in white: "Not for sale - For promotional use only". The picture CD is also different, with a red background instead of the normal black. The tracks are "Knightrider of Doom" (complete), "The march of the Swordmaster" (excerpt), "Agony is my name" (excerpt), "Steelgods of the Last Apocalypse" (excerpt) and "Lamento Erocio" (excerpt). | ||
| XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX | ||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
These five pictures show the
Japanese first edition of "Power Of The Dragonflame". It has the
same tracks as standard European editiobs (10 tracks). A 28-page full
colour booklet with lyrics, pictures, Algalord Chronicles IV etc. is also
included. In addition, included is also a second booklet in Japanese. 16
pages in black and white. Also included in this first printing is a
special postcard (cd-size) in full colour, printed on glossy, high quality
photopaper. An obi (paperband) is also present to the left on the cover. |
| XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX | ||
|
|
|
This is how the box looks like at the top and bottom. |
|
This is the left side of the box. |
This is the right side of the box. |
|
| The six (6) pictures above shows the very limited first edition
South-Korean version of "Power Of The Dragonflame". It was
officially released by Seoul Records and is a sort of box that includes
the CD and a T-shirt! Supposed to be limited to 1000 copies, but Iīm not
sure about that. It is out of print under all circumstances, and a nice
addition to any Rhapsody collection. The box is about the same size as a
standard CD (a little bigger though), but obviously much thicker. The box
is made of paper. |
||
| XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX | ||
|
|
|
|
| The three (3) pictures above shows the combined release of "Power Of
The Dragonflame" and the "Emerald Sword"-single. Iīm not
sure what this release is though. Itīs too professional-looking to be a
bootleg with itīs full colour booklet and picture CD. On the other hand,
no real record label is stated (only something called the "AGAT
Company") and no matrix / record number is printed anywhere. Some
sources state that this is the ofiicial Russian release, but I honestly
donīt know. Probably some semi-official release. It looks great though
and is well worth tracking down. |
||
|
|
Yet another color cariation of the CD. This claims to be the German release, but Iīm pretty sure thatīs a Russian (or other East European country) release. The front and back cover are identical to the standrad European releases, but the booklet only have 8 pages. Full color, but only text and pictures - no lyrics. Donīt know what to think of this one really. | |
| XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX | ||
|
|
|
|
| The above three (3) pictures shows the limited CD/DVD edition. It includes the full standard CD + a previously UNRELEASED TRACK! This song is called "Rise from the sea of flames" is in my opinion itīs not very good (see review at top of page). Itīs an OK song, but I can understand why it is not included on the standard edition. Apart from the bonustrack the CD/DVD comes in a sort of "book" that folds out three times. To the left is the big booklet housed along with a merchandiselist. The booklet is 32 pages and contains info about all their videoclips (included on the DVD), The Algalord Chronicles IV, complete lyrics (incl. bonustrack), pictures, history, production info, personal thanks etc. In the middle of the triple gatefold cover is the audio CD housed, and to the right is the DVD. I donīt have a DVD player myself, but according to the text it includes an introduction, all five music videos released by RHAPSODY (including new video for "Power of the dragonflame") and final credits. Sounds great and probably is. As stated above, everything is housed in a sort of "book" that folds out, and this book is in turn housed in a protective paper slipcase. Available on both PAL and NSTC format, and limited to a total of 34 000 copies. | ||
| XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The above six (6) pictures shows the vinyl edition of "Power of the
dragonflame". It comes as a great and luxurious double picture vinyl
edition. The foldout (gatefold) cover has the complete design of the
artwork on the front and back, and the lyrics + some pictures on the
inside. Also included is a huge poster with the complete album cover art
(not shown in photo). Limited to 4000 copies worldwide. |
||
| XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX | ||
 |
 |
Both CD and DVD fully signed by new line-up (all six members) on
respective front cover.
NOTE: I donīt have these myself, but found the pictures on the internet and
thought they looked so great that I couldnīt resist putting them up here.
|
