RHAPSODY - THE DARK SECRET
RHAPSODY - SYMPHONY OF ENCHANTED LANDS II - THE DARK SECRET
(SPV Records)

Full marks to Italian power metal merchants Rhapsody in the pretension stakes. If the album title alone - or their description of the music as 'film score metal' - doesn't suggest an air of pomposity, a few minutes of listening will. Not only does this album boast the presence of the Bohuslav Philharmonic Orchestra and a fifty piece choir, but also has sound effects galore and narration by none other than Christopher Lee! The Dark Secret - a five track preview of the full album - also features a remix of Goblin's Non Ho Sonno, taken from Dario Argento's Sleepless.

The album tells a sub-Tolkein tale of good and evil battling it out in some ancient land, with Lee acting as narrator, just about holding the whole thing together. It goes without saying that he does a sterling job, adding a sombre air and sense of epicness that the album otherwise doesn't deserve. It's certainly better than his last musical efforts, which saw him propping up the career of some no-hope MOR singer on some of the worst songs ever recorded...

However, the whole thing is let down by the band themselves. While the orchestral moments are suitably epic and impressive, as soon as Rhapsody kick in, it all falls apart. They represent the worst, dated elements of Euro Metal, with Fabio Lione's falsetto vocals being almost embarrassing. Frankly, this is the sort of thing people who hate metal think it sounds like.

Still, with hideous acts like The Darkness finding popularity, maybe there is a market for Rhapsody. Not in my house though.

DAVID FLINT

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