Customer Reviews

DARK SECRET

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow! These guys just make every CD just a wee bit better! This time, they get Christopher Lee involved in the fun, as well as a full piece orchestra to play behind the prog-metal giants. The result is this "teaser" EP called THE DARK SECRET...which may well be one of the best albums of the year. The highlight is the first song, UNHOLY WAR CRY. Just like their other CDs, this one starts out with a rousing heavy metal/orchestral number, except this time, Christopher Lee gives us the narration. The sound is MUCH fuller...the orchestra really lends help to the band in the places they need it. I highly recommend this CD...and if you cant get enough....then just wait until September when the full length album comes out! If this EP is any indication, then we are in for a real treat in a couple months! Welcome back, Rhapsody, we've missed you!

Certain works of art can help us to awaken from the evil dream that is the modern world. The mystical metal (if you call it metal; it's really so, so much more than that) of Rhapsody falls into this category. A few seconds after putting this cd on, the sick feeling you get from of all the subhuman noise that usually emerges from your TV or radio just disappears into the nothingness from whence it sprang. By the same token, the albums of all those "substitute Rhapsodys" that you may have been listening to in the interlude between Rhapsody albums just seems like so much hot air. All those Freedom Call cds (or whatever; Rhapsody must be the most imitated band in the world, and the least duplicated) that seemed interesting for a little while just look like coasters for your drink cup now, or maybe a frisbee for the kids or the dog to play with. The undisputed, undefeated intergalactic heavyweight champions of epic, symphonic, and fantasy metal are back -- and with a certain other King of Metal, who happens to be the guy that invented "epic", doing the executive production chores, they sound better than ever. And not only do you get a bonus dvd with this edition, you also get, free of charge, one of those incredible "Rhapsody moments", which everybody calls "cheesy", meaning, I suppose, that something totally cliched and over-the-top is delivered without a hint of irony. If that's what it means, it is that times one thousand. I'm talking about a sequence where Fabio Lione, Rhapsody's versatile, beautiful, and irreplaceable lead singer, has an operatic dialogue with the treated vocal of his "demon father". If you thought Rhapsody's old narrator had some laugh-out-loud funny lines and that with Christopher Lee doing the narration, we might have lost this aspect of Rhapsody, fear not. Luca now has Fabio himself delivering stuff like "Father, are you really wanting my soul?" To which the demon replies, "You are half-demon, never forget that!" This level of cheese cannot be described; like Manowar's "The Warrior's Prayer", it must be heard to be believed. It's worth the price of this EP, or single, or whatever it is, by itself. This is reassuring. I don't have the slightest fear that the musical brilliance of Starpoli and Turilli will let us down on the full-length album; Rhapsody is the most consistently brilliant band I, or anybody, has ever heard and they have never once faltered yet. But this little lyrical gem, contained in track 4, lets us all know that Turilli's incomparably hackneyed and bombastic lyrics will continue to provide Rhapsody fans with that little "something extra" we have come to expect, namely, tears-streaming-down-the-face hilarity such as this. How I love this band! Hail Rhapsody!

All I can say is this is amazing. The use of the real orchestra, and full choir takes Rhapsody's epic soundtrack metal power to a whole new level.It is like viewing a preview of a movie (waiting for the full Dark Secret release later this year). I cannot take this cd out of my player, which means i am stuck in the same half hour repeating loop of pure epic happiness. The special edition DVD is also very very good. The video for Unholy Warcry is by far the best Rhapsody video to date. If you already have expectations for this music video in your head (assuming that you have seen Rhapsody's previous videos) forget them now. This video is much better, and you can see Luca Turilli shredding it up (which makes me a happy person, see as i play guitar). The extra Emerald Sword Saga movie is also very good. It was inspired by Rhapsody's music and epic storylines. Very entertaining. I would have to reccomend this cd to everyone who likes metal music of anykind, if its not because they enjoy epic metal, it would show them how it is supposed to be done. I LOVE THIS CD AND I LOVE RHAPSODY

I Quote from the first review: "...I mean come on, you don't see Helloween making Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt.3 (if they did they should be ashamed to no end), do you? Yeash..."

oh well, they did it ;) and they are Helloween.

Rhapsody is known by the incredible amount of orchestration that they use for their albums, exceding the limit (in my opinion) in this last album. although Power of the Dragon Flame ab-used as well of it, it wasn't in such a dregree as in this album.

I think Rhapsody should consider to go back to albums as heavy as Dawn of Victory, and please don't jump to my neck yet, I'm not saying that is album is bad, it's just to excesive. But they decided to go for a more pompous version of themselves, well their music is even called "Film Score Metal"... (??)

I would have liked something different, but let's see what can they do in live, I'm quite interested, as the last time I saw them it was a disastrous show.

Just to let you know, I'm a Rhapsody huge fan!

I would say that all the hype is true. The CD-single really sounds amazing. Of course it is almost the price of a full length cd but it's a lot more than just a normal CD-single. You get 5 different songs, including a 10-minute one. None of those songs sounds like a filler. If you add that to the DVD stuff, it is well worth the price of a full lenght CD.

I have to mention that for the first time, it looks like they produced a professional music video! They've also included a mini film based on the previous saga, which is short but cool.

I got disapointed by the Power of the Dragonflame DVD extras. It is much better this time.

I hope they'll make some money with their upcoming album because this album sounds expensive (!) for a metal band, considering the size of the choir and the orchestra. In the interview, they say over 150 people got somehow involved in this project.

If you already like the band, you should not hesitate to get a copy of this CD/DVD.

Before I begin my rant, I consider myself a causal fan of Rhapsody. I don't love them to some insane ends or completely despise their music. They got some good tunes, no doubt, but they also put out some real crap. In telling you this I hope to seem somewhat non baised (if at all possible).

To me Rhapsody best two albums are Rain of a Thousand Flames and Power of the Dragonflame. I feel they had gotten better with age and experience (hence those are two last albums of the Emerald Sword Saga).

I didn't go out and buy The Dark Secret when it first come out (I waited until my friend bought it to see if l liked it before I even considered purchasing it - yeah I'm a nice guy, I don't care if others waste their money if it means I can save mine). I'm glad I did, because I can live without adding this title to my metal collection.

To start, Unholy Warcry is to typical of a Rhapsody song it is flat out boring. Compare it to any of Rhapsody's other stronger single/title tracks and it's a loser.

Thunder's Mighty Roar was a surprise, as it is a little different than what we usually expect from Rhapsody (especially due to the keyboards), and it is solid song. I have one gripe with song however. Rhapsody copied themselves (yes, it's true) as this song make use of the same type of vocal effects found in the song "When Demons Awake" from Power of the Dragonflame.

Gaurdians of Destiny is another snooze fest, basically it too slow for its own good.

Sacred Power of Raging Winds is another one of those songs too long for its own good. Rhapsody is about 50/50 on these kinds of tracks. It pales compared to "Queen of the Dark Abyss" from Rain of a Thousand Flames" and "Gargolyes, Angles of Darkness" from Power of the Dragonflame.

Hon No Sonno (Remix) was another surprise, and is very good considering it's only Rhapsody's second instrumental. While it not as good as "Trolls in the Dark" from Dawn of Victory, it is strong enough to warrant attention.

I definitely loved the change in narrators, as Christopher Lee totally destroys the old narrator from the Emerald Sword Saga in every way imaginable. Sadly, the production on the Dark Secret is barely above sub par (Luca Turilli's guitar lines are still paper thin, as usual) and can't compare to the clean sounds of other bands. Oh, and what is up with the name of the new album "Symphony of Enchanted Lands II"? Talk about cashing in on an previous idea! I mean come on, you don't see Helloween making Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt.3 (if they did they should be ashamed to no end), do you? Yeash...

Most Rhapsody fans will eat this up, but those who care about actual quality of a band's music and don't buy everthing with a certain band's name on it just to have it will most likely end passing this one up.