RHAPSODY OF FIRE To Release ‘Live – From Chaos To Eternity’ In May 2013
Italian symphonic metallers RHAPSODY OF FIRE will release a new live album, “Live – From Chaos To Eternity”, on May 3 in Europe and May 7 in the USA via AFM Records. It will be available as two-CD digipak and as limited three-vinyl set. The material (a mixture of old classics and newer tracks) was recorded on the band’s latest European tour in spring 2012.
Comments keyboardist Alex Staropoli: “We wanted to deliver a live album that can actually be called a live album. Not one single part was re-recorded in studio as most of bands do.
“Personally, I am always looking for perfection but in the case of this live album, I truly believe it had to sound live and maintain both live playing and feeling at 100%.”
Adds vocalist Fabio Lione: “This live album it’s the concrete proof that this band is strong and willing to keep playing and producing music for all our fans out there for the years to come.”
“Live – From Chaos To Eternity” track listing:
CD 1
01. Dark Mystic Vision
02. Ad Infinitum
03. From Chaos To Eternity
04. Triumph Or Agony
05. I Belong To The Stars
06. The Dark Secret
07. Unholy Warcry
08. Lost In Cold Dreams
09. Land Of Immortals
10. Aeons Of Raging Darkness
11. Dark Reign Of Fire
12. Drum Solo
CD 2
01. The March Of The Swordmaster
02. Dawn Of Victory
03. Toccata On Bass
04. The Village Of Dwarves
05. The Magic Of The Wizard’s Dream
06. Holy Thunderforce
07. Reign Of Terror
08. Knightrider Of Doom
09. Epicus Furor
10. Emerald Sword
11. Erian’s Lost Secrets
12. The Splendour Of Angels’ Glory (A Final Revelation)
RHAPSODY OF FIRE’s signature sound, consisting of power metal, soundtrack-like elements and classical influences, gave a new meaning to the word “epic” since the release of “Legendary Tales” in 1997.
RHAPSODY OF FIRE 2013 is:
Fabio Lione – Vocals
Alex Staropoli – Keyboards
Roberto De Micheli – Guitar
Tom Hess – Guitar
Oliver Holzwarth – Bass
Alex Holzwarth – Drums
The new RHAPSODY OF FIRE lineup made its live debut on April 6, 2012 at the PPM Fest at the Lotto Mons Expo in Mons, Belgium.
Staropoli and RHAPSODY OF FIRE guitarist Luca Turilli in 2011 announced their decision to go their separate ways.
Due to legal reasons, Staropoli is continuing under the RHAPSODY OF FIRE name. Turilli, on the other hand, is making his efforts available under the RHAPSODY moniker (RHAPSODY OF FIRE’s original name), in which he is joined by guitarist Dominique Leurquin, bassist Patrice Guers, singer Alessandro Conti (TRICK OR TREAT) and drummer Alex Landenburg (AT VANCE, ANNIHILATOR, MEKONG DELTA, STRATOVARIUS).
RHAPSODY OF FIRE’s latest album, “From Chaos To Eternity”, was released in North America on July 12, 2011 via Nuclear Blast Records. Described by the band as “the natural evolution” from 2010′s “The Frozen Tears Of Angels”, the CD marks RHAPSODY OF FIRE’s final release based on the fantasy saga started in 1997 with the group’s debut album, “Legendary Tales”.
AFM Records is proud to announce the signing of legendary Italian Symphonic Power Metal band RHAPSODY OF FIRE to a worldwide deal.
RHAPSODY OF FIRE’s signature sound, consisting of Power Metal, soundtrack-like elements and classical influences gave a new meaning to the word “epic” since the release of ‘Legendary Tales’ in 1997 and was a formula that many bands tried to copy? but never came even close.
Commented the band: “After playing the ‘From Chaos To Eternity World Tour 2012′ all around Europe, Canada, North America and Latin America, we became even more excited and motivated to continue building our career and creating new exciting music. So now we are finally proud to announce that RHAPSODY OF FIRE signed with a great label such as AFM. That’s a new great epic start and we already started working on different projects. More news to follow“.
Luca Turilli’s Italian symphonic/cinematic/orchestral metal band RHAPSODYhave just been confirmed to perform at the ProgPower 2013 Kick-Off show. They will be playing a special two hour set of music never previously performed in the U.S. including selections from Luca’s solo material.
ProgPower XIV will be taking place at Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia on September 4 – 7, 2013. Tickets go on sale this November 17th.
RHAPSODY recently released a video directed by Owe Lingvall for “Clash Of The Titans (Walking Dead Remix).” The track is from Ascending To Infinity, the band’s latest album released this past July, which debuted at #44 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and #69 on the Current Hard Music chart in July. View the video on the Nuclear Blast YouTube channel.
LUCA TURILLI’S RHAPSODY have released their new video, for the song ‘Clash Of The Titans’ (Walking Dead Remix), from their Ascending To Infinity album. The video was directed, edited and filmed by Owe Lingvall (KAMELOT, etc.) , who previously did the clip for ‘Dark Fate Of Atlantis’. Animations were done by Magnus Jonsson.
Rhapsody have revealed one of the many surprises related to their upcoming Ascending To Infinity Cinematic World Tour, starting in November and December from Europe and featuring the guest acts FREEDOM CALL, ORDEN OGAN and VEXILLUM.
“We are proud to announce that the German singer, vocal coach and pianist SASSY BERNERT, who already performed some vocal parts on our new album Ascending To Infinity, will be on stage with us for some magical duets!”, states Luca Turilli, and adds: “It’s really great how Sassy and ALESSANDRO CONTI’s voices blend together. Her presence will also give us the possibility to present on stage the operatic song ‘Tormento E Passione’, one of the most requested songs of the new album and one of our favorites too.”
Ascending To Infinity Cinematic World Tour dates:
November
9 – Annecy, France – Le Brise Glace (Rhapsody only)
10 – Charleroi, Belgium – Coliseum
11 – Enschede, Netherlands – Atak
12 – London, England – O2 Islington
14 – Bilbao, Spain – Sala Santana 27
15 – Madrid, Spain – Caracol
16 – Barcelona, Spain – Sala Bikini
18 – Lyss, Switzerland – Kufa
19 – Dornbirn, Austria – Conrad Sohm
20 – Wörgl, Austria – Komma
22 – Bologna, Italy – Estragon
23 – Milan, Italy – Live Club
24 – Rome, Italy – Orion
25 – Treviso, Italy – New Age
26 – Lyon, France – Le Transbordeur
28 – Budapest, Hungary – Club 202
29 – Prague, Czech Republic – Club Matrix
30 – München, Germany – Backstage
Around two weeks ago the members of RHAPSODY lived one of the most dramatic moments of their career and they finally want to reveal to everybody the difficult moment they had to face because of what recently happened to their guitar player DOMINIQUE LEURQUIN.
“Some days ago my girlfriend Nadia received a phone call from Laurence, the wife of Dominique. I understood from Nadia’s tears that something terrible just happened…” says LUCA TURILLI. And adds: “A river of blood and then the dramatic run to the hospital with Dominique almost dying for all the blood he shed. Three hours of surgery and the risk to lose the left hand definitely. I could simply not believe it…”
Dominique injured himself with a circular saw while working at home. One wrong movement and the saw reached the center of his hand. After the complicated surgery and everyone around thinking it will be difficult for Dominique to play his beloved instrument once again, the doctors spent some more optimistic words to describe the situation, speaking about a long period of rehabilitation and some major problems eventually related to the thumb only. Therefore it seems there will be again the possibility for Dominique to play a guitar, and maybe sooner than what can be expected. What is needed is a lot of strength and mind power but everybody knows what represents the music for Dominique and so there is no doubt he will do miracles in this sense.
All the members of RHAPSODY were just shocked for all what happened and of course the last days were not that easy for anyone of them, for the stress due to the tragic fact and for the problems related with the tour preparation. Right in relation with the upcoming tour, an important decision was taken: the one of not replacing Dominique with another guitar player but instead, as Luca arranged all the RHAPSODY songs for two guitars, to simply add Dominique’s parts on the backing tracks at lower volume. Mixed on the right side, as if he would be there.
The bass player PATRICE GUERS states: “Dominique for us is more than friend. He is a real brother and everybody knows how important was for him this first tour as official member of RHAPSODY. It is just not possible to replace him and we won’t do it! When Luca communicated this to Dominique, he almost shed some tears for the happiness, so much he appreciated this decision…”. The new drummer ALEX LANDENBURG adds: “No matter if it will take six months or one year to have Dominique back with us on stage. What is sure is that we’ll wait for him as he is a fundamental member of our band. Surely won’t be the same to go on stage without him!”. The singer ALESSANDRO CONTI goes on: “Every show of this tour will be dedicated to our brother. I know Dominique since some months only but I can tell you that I already love him for his talent and for being a man of great value”.
LT’S RHAPSODY want to add that, due to the recent events and despite all the other band plans won’t be changed, the release of the new cinematic ballad FANTASIA GOTICA will be postponed after the tour. The new video of CLASH OF THE TITANS in its WALIKING DEAD REMIX version, instead, should be released next week as planned. In any case it is a matter of days.
In the meantime, the countdown for the ASCENDING TO INFINITY CINEMATIC TOUR started. RHAPSODY, FREEDOM CALL, ORDEN OGAN and VEXILLUM are waiting for you, all around Europe, ready to offer a show full of surprises, unique and memorable. See you soon!
IMPORTANT: LT’S RHAPSODY will extend the European leg of their tour in other countries in 2013!
After a summer devoted to work, work and more work, LUCA TURILLI’S RHAPSODY are proud to announce that all is proceeding perfectly with the production of their Ascending To Infinity Cinematic World Tour. Luca Turilli and Alessandro Conti just came back from the Backyard Studios of Kempten (Germany) after having recorded a new session of epic choirs exclusively for it.
Luca explains: “As in our shows we will also play some of the very old Rhapsody songs, rarely or never played until now, we decided to re-record the choirs for those same songs in order to present them on stage with the best sound quality possible. Moreover we decided to add a great choral impact to some songs that originally were not featuring a choir”.
Alessandro adds: “A couple of days ago we met in Germany some of the singers who already performed on the new album Ascending To Infinity and, thanks to their unique vocal power, we gave new energy and new life to those glorious and legendary tracks that made the history of Rhapsody!”
The singers who performed in the new choral session are: the Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody frontman Alessandro Conti, the singer and photographer Johnny Eisprung; Matthias Stockinger, singer and actor actually performing in the musical Evita, and the AOR legend DAN LUCAS, who sold 1.4 million copies with the super single ‘Heart Of America’.
Progressive power metal troupe, VISION DIVINE, recently posted a new track, “Mermaids From Their Moons,” from their forthcoming new full-length. Titled Destination Set To Nowhere, the 11-track concept album is scheduled to drop in North America on September 18, 2012 via Eagle Rock imprint Armoury Records. Featuring founding guitarist/songwriter Olaf Thorsen (Labyrinth) and singer Fabio Lione (Rhapsody, Rhapsody Of Fire, Kamelot live), the band’s seventh studio offering delivers a melting pot of epic metal anthems with a futuristic concept that follows a man’s journey through outer space in a quest to escape the social and political injustices of Earth.
In a 4.5/5 rating Metal Underground commended the band for their “beautiful classic progressive elements blended with driving riffs,” Metal Temple applauded VISION DIVINE for offering “an accessible showcase of musical prowess and utter creativity to step into what could be in the not so far future,” and crowned the release a candidate for album of the year, while Axis Of Metal notes: “VISION DIVINE really perfect that floating, futuristic atmosphere that bands like Pagan’s Mind, Manticora and Alchemistalso feature heavily in their power metal.”
VISION DIVINE:
Fabio Lione – Vocals
Olaf Thorsen – Guitars
Federico Puleri – Guitars
Alessio Lucatti – Keyboards, Piano
Andrea “Tower” Torricini – Bass
Alessandro Bissa – Drums
Ascending To Infinity, the new album by Italian symphonic/cinematic/orchestral metal band LUCA TURILLI’S RHAPSODY, has debuted at #44 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart (which lists the best-selling albums by new & developing artists who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200) and #69 on the Current Hard Music chart.
The album also debuted on the German Media Control chart at #32 last week.
Nuclear Blast would like to thank all of the RHAPSODY fans for their support in making these achievements possible.
RHAPSODY members are currently preparing for the European leg of the ‘Ascending To Infinity Cinematic World Tour’ this fall. Guitarist Dominique Leurquin promises the outing will be “a spectacular live event, full of legendary songs, visual surprises, and unique atmospheres.”
The video for “Dark Fate Of Atlantis” can be viewed on YouTube (and below). It was directed by Owe Lingvall for Dreamday Media.
Download the free RHAPSODY SongPier app for Smartphones here.
“Clash Of The Titans,” “Tormento E Passione,” and “March Of Time,” three new tracks by Luca Turilli’s RHAPSODY, are now available for streaming in their entirety on the RHAPSODY Landing Page.
Ascending To Infinity is scheduled for North American release on July 3rd and features over 60 minutes of RHAPSODY’s epic, symphonic/cinematic/orchestral metal music. The album was produced by Luca Turilli and recorded in Kempten, Germany, at Sebastian Roeder’s Backyard Studios.
The video for “Dark Fate Of Atlantis” can be viewed on the landing page.
Download the free RHAPSODY SongPier app for Smartphones here.
Words and pictures by Kyle Moore, the Metal Magnus
The Gramercy – New York, NY
May 29th, 2012
RHAPSODY OF FIRE is a band that mostly passed me by. I couldn’t handle the demon-wizard dragon battles. Just couldn’t. So for years, I ignored a band that completely owns a self-created genre – “film-score metal.” Sure, I’d heard a few songs and read about their recent troubles with record labels and former bandmates, but I was busy learning the back-catalogues of MOONSORROW at the time. Then the opportunity came to see them live and even interview them, so I figured I’d better start doing my homework before I set foot into NYC’s Gramercy theater.
After seeing their fantastic live show in The Big Apple, I got the chance to sit down with RHAPSODY OF FIRE keyboardist & songwriter Alex Staropoli. We discussed their current album, difficulties with record labels, and the future of the band now that their Emerald Sword saga is complete. Happy viewing!
The below was posted to LT’s Rhapsody official page today.
“Hi to all,
today is a great and very important day for our band. We are finally proud to present the new singer of LT’S RHAPSODY to the world, the person who, thanks to his unique vocal talent, will contribute to the artistic perspectives of the band in the years to come.
The secret is finally revealed: the new singer is Italian and his name is ALESSANDRO CONTI.
LT Rhapsody: ALESSANDRO CONTI
“Alessandro is the singer of our band since many months already but we wanted to present him in the way he deserves, and this means: through his voice!” says Luca Turilli, and adds: “We wanted to find a singer able to sing in different ways and offering different “colors”. Such ability is fundamental for me as in every RHAPSODY album I like to compose different styles of songs, passing from the most cinematic and epic impact of some songs to the operatic majesty of other ones, from celestial voices to more aggressive tones. Alessandro was just the best choice in this sense as, in between the multitude of all his vocal colors, he has a great high tone but also an operatic approach that makes the difference. He studied at the “Corale Lirica Rossini” of Modena as first tenor, the same school attended by the great and unforgettable Luciano Pavarotti”.
The first official statement of Alessandro as member of LT’S RHAPSODY:
“I am very enthusiastic to be the new voice of RHAPSODY and the person the band was searching for. ASCENDING TO INFINITY is just an amazing piece of art and maybe not even the word “epic” is enough to describe its emotional power… what is sure is that I am really proud to be part of it. Now I am looking forward to meeting all the existing and new RHAPSODY fans around the world. See you soon!”.
The new album is entitled ASCENDING TO INFINITY and will be released on JUNE 22 by NUCLEAR BLAST.
LINK TO THE EXCLUSIVE TRAILER AND TO LISTEN TO SOME EXCERPTS FROM THE UPCOMING RELEASE:
This May/June Australian prog-rock heavyweights VOYAGER will be heading to the US to tour as main support for iconic Italian symphonic power metal band RHAPSODY OF FIRE. Fresh on the heels of releasing their latest album The Meaning Of I and after winning over US crowds at the prestigious Prog Power Fest USA 2011, the band are pumped to hit US shores once more to spread the ‘V’ message far and wide. The comprehensive tour will run from coast to coast and everywhere else in between.
Tour dates are as follows:
May
25 – The Trocadero – Philadelphia, PA
26 – Soundstage – Baltimore,MD
27 – The Palladium – Worcester, MA
29 – Gramercy Theatre – New York, NY
30 – Club Soda – Montreal, QC
31 – Imperial de Quebec – Quebec City, QC
June
1 – Mod Club – Toronto, CA
3 – Peabody`s – Cleveland, OH
4 – Altar Bar – Pittsburgh, PA
5 – Mojoes – Joliet, IL
6 – Station 4 – St. Paul, MN
8 – Gothic Theater – Englewood, NJ
10 – El Corazon – Seattle, WA
11 – Hawthorne Theatre – Portland, OR
12 – Slim’s – San Francisco, CA
14 – House of Blues – San Diego, CA
15 – The Grove – Anaheim, CA
