Rhapsody
Live in Canada 2005 - The Dark Secret

THE REVIEW

The classic roar of the audience that precedes every live show is suddenly interrupted by a musical background: violins, choirs, a Latin chant: the "Mighty Warriors of Metal" are back, in all their splendor, presented by the baritone voice of Christopher Lee.

The concert opens with “Unholy Warcry”: Lione indulges in the intro with a series of excellently executed vocalizations: the execution is perfect by everyone, gritty, more "aggressive" compared to the album version. The only thing missing is Turilli's complete solo. The song flows quickly [rating 8], then moves on to “Wisdom of the Kings”, one of the best of the entire live. Powerful like never before, Turilli’s guitar can often be heard in parts where we had forgotten it (or rather, where we had never heard it), making the track much more "metal" [rating: 9]
Moving on: very good is also “The Village of Dwarves”, with its rhythms very similar to those of a ballad or a Scottish song, in which Lione interacts a lot with the Montreal audience [rating 7]. The true centerpiece of the entire album is most likely “Erian's Mystical Rhymes”, greatly extended, allowing the individual band members to perform excellent solos (Guers' is exceptional, often and unfortunately forgotten) [rating 9]. “Dawn of Victory” is perhaps the track that inspired me the least… heavy, the least lively… not bad, of course, but still inferior to the other songs (apart from Turilli's solo) [rating 6/7]
We must pause on “Lamento Eroico”... Lione brings out the "guts" with a voice he has never shown us before, almost exclusively lyrical… managing to deliver very strong emotions, especially in the final moments... it really feels like seeing the "ice warrior" (the protagonist of the “Emerald Sword Saga”) on the verge of death, at the end of his life… goosebumps, folks... [rating 10].
Also interesting is “Nightfall on the Grey Mountains”, of which only a part is reported, given the length of the original track [rating 7].
The last two songs are almost "classics" of Rhapsody: “The March of the Swordmaster” is introduced by the classic medieval tune, then moves to a voice almost in growl by Lione. [rating 8 and a half].
“Emerald Sword”, the last song apart from the "Grand Finale" (a kind of standing ovation that could have been avoided) is imbued with strong emotions from the audience, singing along with Lione throughout the song. [rating 8 and a half]
 
In conclusion, an excellent live performance [noting that Rhapsody recorded it during a SUPPORTING concert for Manowar] that deserves the purchase, in which our beloved (hated by many) Italian boys show us that they can also perform live.