Rhapsody Of Fire
The Frozen Tears Of Angels

After some time, 'our' Rhapsody... pardon, Rhapsody of Fire, make themselves heard again!! Their return to the scene happens four years after the previous "Triumph or Agony", an album that wasn't very exciting, quite 'tired', and significantly suffered from the overwhelming presence of Joey De Maio as producer/supervisor of operations.

I have to admit that I have always been, personally, a great admirer of the Trieste group; I always remember their debut with "Legendary Tales" with pleasure, and I adore that album without reservations. With every release, our Rhapsody of Fire have always been able to produce great music, with some obvious dips in tension, but all in all maintaining a high-quality standard, unknown to most bands in circulation.

Someone, listening to the various CDs of the group, might be assailed by the typical feeling of déjà vu, of "I think I've heard this before...", essentially the sense of self-plagiarism might be just around the corner. Well, let's say that big revolutions have never been known in the world of R.o.F., but it's undeniable that some evolution has occurred in the compositions over the years.

But let's analyze the new 'The Frozen Tears of Angels'; the album is immediately very pleasant, with sounds worthy of our reputation, an excellent booklet (I have in my hands the limited Digipack edition) and the structure you expect from a typical R.o.F. album; Luca Turilli's guitars take center stage like never before, Holzwarth's frenzied drumming is a certainty, and without neglecting the other members, I would like to express my appreciation for Fabio Lione's vocals. Believe me, on this album, Lione has done a monstrous job, limiting the high notes and giving more 'importance' to the interpretative component; truly an excellent result.

The album starts strong with the typical instrumental intro, then flows impetuously with 'Sea of Fate', 'Raging Starfire', 'On the Way To Ainor', and the beautiful 'Lost in Cold Dreams', where the rhythms are softened to let the listener breathe. All the mentioned songs (except the last one) are offspring of that typical Power Metal so dear to R.o.F., embellished as per their style with orchestrations that seem to have been downsized compared to the past; in a nutshell, they are less present but with much better results in the opinion of the writer. Noteworthy are the performances of the superb Staropoli on keyboards and a literally exalted Patrice Guers on the 4 strings. There's still talk of the highlights of the disc in question: 'Reign of Terror' is simply extraordinary, very powerful, with horror film atmospheres and a Lione who also ventures into Black Metal-style screaming; the structure of the track is elaborate, the riffs fast and sharp, the Latin refrain immediately engaging the listener. Certainly one of the best songs ever created by R.o.F.; there's also a typical medieval-inspired ballad sung in Italian, very beautiful, which significantly recalls the melodic lines already experimented by Angelo Branduardi; the closing is entrusted to the title track, remarkable and skillfully unfolding through its almost 12 minutes duration, confirming itself as one of the best songs on the CD.

For the record, the lyrics themes continue the "Dark Secret Saga" and reach with this album the third (and final?) part; in conclusion, after several listens, I can conclude by stating that it's their best album since 'Power of the Dragonflame', powerful, fast, without dull moments, truly a nice performance by the Trieste group; probably their heaviest album ever, thanks to the compositions but also the production that prominently features Turilli's guitars.

A truly nice return to the scene, perhaps even beyond the rosiest expectations; those who have always loved them will continue to love them more and more. Those who have never been fond of them will hardly change their opinion listening to 'The Frozen Tears of Angels'; what matters, however, is knowing that we have in front a group in full form, capable of crafting a beautiful album like this; and knowing that you can always count on them.