DAWN OF VICTORY

Dawn Of Victory is Rhapsody's third album. It is a great representation of their music, which they boldly call "Symphonic Epic Hollywood Metal". The music is prog/power metal with heavy orchestration and folk influences. There are a lot of choirs and really great keyboard solos. The leaders of Rhapsody, Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli both have studied classical music, and this shows in their music. Movie soundtrack composers such as Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams and Danny Elfman are also a big influence to them. One can also hear the influence of classic Italian prog bands, such as Goblin. (Rhapsody even does a Goblin cover in one of their albums, Rain Of A Thousand Flames.)

This album is the third part of Rhapsody's "Alagord Chronicles", an epic tale about the battle between good and evil. The main hero is a man called "Warrior of Ice" and his arch-nemesis is the evil shadowlord, Dargor.

The albums starts typically for Rhapsody with an exciting overture, "Lux Triumphans" which sets the mood. Next is the title song, "Dawn Of Victory", which is one of the fastest songs in the album. It starts with an excellent into, similar to "Warrior Of Ice" in Legendary Tales. One could say this is a definitive (or very typical) Rhapsody song with a sing-a-long type chorus.

The third track is "Triumph For My Magic Steel". This track has a folky intro and middle section, which remind me a bit of Russian folk music. The song has a nice build from the bridge section to the chorus. "Village Of Dwarves" reminds again a bit of "Forest Of Unicorns" in Legendary tales. It is a very folky song with nice female vocals in the choir, a lot of strings, flutes and a 'bagpipe-type' keyboard. The fifth track is "Dargor, Shadowlord Of The Black Mountain". This track has a very Goblin-type keyboard. There also exists a longer version of this track, but the version on the album is 'only' 4:48. A nice track again with a very sing-a-long sounding chorus.

My favourite track on the album is "The Bloody Rage Of Titans". It is perhaps the slowest track on the album, but the song develops really beautifully. The part "Warlords and steelgods beware! It's the rage of the titans..." is done really masterfully. Again nice strings, keyboard and strings. "Holy Thunderforce" was also released as a single, and it is a real fast ass kicking song. Next comes "Trolls In The Dark", a strange hymn which in sung by Laurence Vanryne with a ghostly childish voice. Again there comes reminders of Russian folk music.

The chorus of the ninth track "The Last Winged Unicorn" somehow reminds me of an old Finnish children's song about Mickey Mouse at the sea. Still, a beautiful song, again with a great keyboard work from Alex Staropoli. The last track on the album, the small epic "The Mighty Ride Of The Firelord" starts with a nice flute intro. The middle section has again the nice 'bagpipe' sounding keyboard, church organ, flutes and female backing vocals. A bit longer track, but otherwise a pretty typical steady Rhapsody song with suberb instrumental sections.

Dawn Of Victory may be my favourite Rhapsody album, so I don't hesitate in giving it five stars. If you like epic prog metal songs about dragons, wizards and great battles, then this album is for you.