Do you like epicness? Of course you do.
If you shy away from any music with the word “Metal” in the genre because you think it’s all screaming, growling and blast beats, or long hair, tight pants and alto-voiced frontmen—and somehow those are bad things in your world—it’s still worth your time to give Rhapsody of Fire a shot. If, on the other hand, you’re already a metal fan as well as being a geek and you’ve never heard of these guys, prepare to have your geeky little mind blown. You’ve probably heard of Dragonforce, but they’ve got nothing on Rhapsody of Fire. Nothing.
Rhapsody of Fire plays a sub-genre of Power Metal called “Symphonic Power Metal,” but back in high school my friends and I took to calling it “Glory Metal.” Even though my metal-aficionado girlfriend repeatedly and vehemently insists that “Glory Metal” is not a thing, I maintain it is the best and most accurate genre description ever. The genre is also sometimes called “Hollywood Metal” or “Film Score Metal” but even though Rhapsody of Fire’s own website uses these terms they still sound derisive to me. That said, a lot of Rhapsody’s music does kinda sound like the Lord of the Rings soundtrack and an Iron Maiden album had a sweet, sweet lovechild.
You should know going in that full enjoyment of this music is contingent on your ability to not take yourself or the music too seriously. It is silly and cheesy and revels in its own fantastical nerdiness, and so should you. But that doesn’t mean the music isn’t legitimately good. Take righteous, metal guitar riffs and keyboards, a classic high-voiced metal singer and back them up with orchestral strings, brass and operatic vocals, throw in fantastical thematic elements like dragons and warriors and what do you get?
This: Rhapsody of Fire – Dawn of Victory
And this: Rhapsody of Fire – Agony is my Name
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8mxd9v72aE
And this: Rhapsody of Fire – March of the Swordmaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGjyOKhVGjQ
Rhapsody has been around since the mid 1990s, but in 2006 they were forced to change their name due to trademark issues and became Rhapsody of Fire. (But they’ll always be Rhapsody in my nostalgia-brain.) They’ve released 10 studio albums between 1997 and 2011, and believe it or not the lyrics on those albums actually tell one long fantasy tale, the Emerald Sword Saga. Narration is regularly performed by Christopher Lee, who you may know better as Sarumon and Count Dooku.
There’s a kind of musical continuum throughout the albums. Heavy metal elements take prominence in Dawn of Victory (2000), Rain of a Thousand Flames (2001), and Power of the Dragonflame (2002)—my three favorite albums by far—then the orchestral and operatic aspects become more emphasized over the next three albums, Symphony of Enchanted Lands II (2004), Triumph or Agony (2006), and The Frozen Tears of Angels (2010), followed by a return to heavier, more metal style. If you’re looking for a decent sampling of the band, I recommend the compilation album Tales from the Emerald Sword Saga (2004), which includes songs from their first six albums.
Unfortunately, Rhapsody of Fire is not immune to the apparently universal Law of Metal Balladics which requires every Power Metal band in the world to embarrass themselves at least once an album with a wince-inducing ballad. On the other hand, I think they win the award for some of the most badass album covers in the world. Check these damn things out:
[What do you think, bots? Love it? Hate it? Want to hear about more nerdy metal bands in future columns? Let me know.]
[Connor Cleary is a video game columnist and critic, a freelance web and graphic designer, and an aspiring fiction writer. He is a reviewer at GameShark and an occasional opinion and analysis columnist at Gamasutra. His freelance design business is Four Stair Multimedia and Design. You can follow Connor @The_Blue_Key, or at fb/TheBlueKey, or check out his writing archive on tumblr, The Blue Key.]