Rhapsody Of Fire - The Frozen Tears Of Angels review
| Band: | Rhapsody Of Fire |
| Album: | The Frozen Tears Of Angels |
| Style: | Symphonic power metal |
| Release date: | April 2010 |
01. Dark Frozen World
02. Sea Of Fate
03. Crystal Moonlight
04. Reign Of Terror
05. Danza Di Fuoco E Ghiaccio
06. Raging Starfire
07. Lost In Cold Dreams
08. On The Way To Ainor
09. The Frozen Tears Of Angels
10. Labyrinth Of Madness [bonus]
11. Sea Of Fate [orchestral version] [bonus]
12. Immortal New Reign [Japanese bonus]
The mighty Rhapsody are back with a new label after years of legal battles. The question is; have the past years exhausted the band, or is The Frozen Tears Of Angels the masterpiece they claim it is?
There's no doubt that The Frozen Tears Of Angels is a Rhapsody album; flamboyant, colourful, cheesy and theatrical, the kings are back. This isn't the absolute masterpiece you might have been waiting for however, but neither is it a disappointment. Opening "Sea Of Fate" might show us that Luca Turilli's fingers haven't ceased up, and the silky smooth "Crystal Moonlight" might be mildly catchy, but these songs fall short of the wild energy and pomposity you might have experienced on the Dawn Of Victory or Power Of The Dragonflame albums for example.
Fear not mighty warriors; The Frozen Tears Of Angels has life in it yet. The following trio of songs act as backbone for the album and are pure vintage Rhapsody gems. "Reign Of Terror" frightfully opens with a scream and blasting drums, and leads into arguably the fruitiest, most dynamic piece of symphonic power metal this side of Power Of The Dragonflame. "Danza Di Fuoco E Ghiaccio" provides the mandatory folk number, and "Raging Starfire" is another top power metal classic that we'd have expected from Rhapsody in their prime years ago.
The grand and epic "On The Way To Ainor" also deserves one last honourable mention, at the end of this wonderful album. The Frozen Tears Of Angels is perhaps the band's best album since Power Of The Dragonflame. It is a good length and doesn't get bogged down with narrated interludes and other time-wasting tracks we saw with Symphony Of Enchanted Lands II, this album goes straight to the point and delivers it. With that said, The Frozen Tears Of Angels doesn't quite have the consistency or the overall solidarity of their finest days, and with a couple of exceptions aside, the album doesn't quite reach the same highs as some of the band's vast past glories.
The Frozen Tears Of Angels is a fantastic album of bombastic, flamboyant and vibrant symphonic power metal that oozes with over-the-top orchestrations and cheese - enough to satisfy anyone of the power-persuasion. Rhapsody have provided an album worth the wait; it might not be the best album they have put out over the years, but it certainly has its moments. Not perfect, not a masterpiece, but it is still a very welcome return from Rhapsody and a very fitting addition to their ranks.
Symphonic Power metal
Nuclear Blast
Italy
Length: 53:48
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 10 |
Rating:
9.3
9.3
|
Rating: 9.3 |
Rhapsody Of Fire is a name synonymous with power metal. Anyone who has ever delved even the smallest bit into this genre undoubtedly has heard of this band. This fact is with good reason: Rhapsody Of Fire is a freaking powerhouse of talent and epic ability. Unlike their last couple albums, The Frozen Tears of Angels satisfies every bit of the unicorn riding, dragon slaying fantasies of Rhapsody Of Fire nerds, while maintaining super solid, well written metal songs. Read more ›› |
Comments
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Comments: 45
Visited by: 521 users
| wrathchild Staff Posts: 14090  |
Haven't listened to them since the Power Of The Dragonflame album but I'm quite interested in listening to this one, at least to celebrate the end of their contract with that Magic Circle label...
---- La belleza no reside en lo que puedas crear, sino en lo que eres capaz de transmitir Beauty resides not in what you're able to create, but in what you're able to communicate Txus, Mägo De Oz
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| Fat & Sassy! Elite Posts: 3857  |
Great! I needed some new cool jams to listen to as I ride my red dragon across the holy epic skies of wisdom and fiery power! >:[
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| JÄY Metal slave Posts: 1567  |
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| warrior_of_ice Posts: 169  |
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18274  |
Written by Fat & Sassy! on 08.05.2010 at 16:00 Where red Dragon = Walking or in a bike Holy epic skies of wisdom and fiery Power = School/University/something
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| munson Posts: 117  |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 08.05.2010 at 23:52 Good news is this album is great for both! Whether conquesting to slay dragons or free an enslaved people or simply making chicken nuggets in the microwave at 3am after a day-long session of World of Warcraft, this album is perfect!
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| Darkside Momo Retired Elite Posts: 9087  |
Quote: Exactly what I think of it. A great Rhapsody album alweays makes want to master some epic D&D. This one does - at times 
---- My Author's Blog (in French)  "You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you" "I've lost too many years now I'm stealing back my soul I am awake"
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| Clintagräm Shrinebuilder Posts: 5772  |
Good review. I've never been a big fan of Rhapsody but I've always wanted to listen to more. From this review and what I've heard of the album I'll definitely have to check it out in full when and if I can.
---- The force will be with you, always.
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| SexyCat_1113 Posts: 78  |
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| Ellrohir Heaven Knight Posts: 8662  |
Yes...i think i very much agree with this review now... for the first time i was disappointed, later it improved...on the other hand for me the whole album still isnt so bombastic as older ones, so 8.5 would me more than generous rating but acceptable from me 
---- My rest seems now calm and deep Finally I got my dead man sleep 
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| Kingface Posts: 335  |
Great review Baz, it pretty much sums up my own views on the album perfectly!
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| DieH@rd Posts: 92 |
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| Jujitsu-man Ready to ROCK Posts: 39  |
I agree with the review. Not the best Rhpasody album, but not so far away from being it! And "Reign Of Terror" has surprised me a lot. It's an amazing powerful song. The powermetal kings are back in the kingdom!
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| Zhao The Arkaholic Posts: 104 |
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| Valaskjalf Account deleted |
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| Dani5050 Posts: 76  |
I fail to see the greatness in this album  , maybe its because I'm not a power metal fan. Great review though
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469  |
The album does not suck but I find it kinda bland, if you know what I mean. I also have the feeling people tend to overrate it because the band haven't released a good album in a long time and because Powermetal albums quite often suck nowadays, so as soon as something is average, people easily think it's awesome. It's decent but not great. Not a masterpiece. If you want a comparison, I think Ancient Bards' "The Alliance Of The Kings" is definitely better musically. What brings it down is the female vocals that sound weak. Fabio Lione is much better than Sara Squadrani as a PM vocalist. But put Fabio's vocals on "The Alliance of The Kings" and you would get a better album than TFTOA. Though Ancient Bards is a rip-off of old Rhapsody, so the extent of their merit is debatable. I never give ratings but, imo, a 6 or 7 (at max) would be right.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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| Fat & Sassy! Elite Posts: 3857 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 08.05.2010 at 23:52 See? It's more relative to real life than most would think! XD
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18274 |
Written by Fat & Sassy! on 09.05.2010 at 19:50 If Power Metal is relative to real life... Now I get why I listen to suicidal Black Metal.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Fat & Sassy! Elite Posts: 3857 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 09.05.2010 at 20:53 It's only relative to the ridiculous. XD Honestly dude, as much as most power metal has gotten to the point of just being tedious to me, I still think imagining flying around on dragons and shit while listening to this stuff is pretty raw. XD It's dangerous for me to listen to it when I'm out driving, because I just want to summon my car to transform into a majestic winged beast, lift off into the sky, and fight some holy warriors. Although, folk/black metal can be more dark and epic, it just doesn't have the same effect... and well, suicidal BM is just depressing (not saying that it can't be awesome though). 
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469 |
Written by Fat & Sassy! on 09.05.2010 at 21:00 Glad to know I'm not the only person on earth who thinks Black Metal can be more epic than Powermetal. People constantly refer to PM as epic while, honestly, I barely see any epicness in this genre, only cheese. On the other hand, lots of BM or melodic Black/Death bands give me an epic feeling. I mean, I believe people confuse epicness with happiness and cheese. What I think is music can be dark and very epic at the same time.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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| Fat & Sassy! Elite Posts: 3857 |
Written by Lord_Regnier on 09.05.2010 at 21:11 Yeah, I think BM, folk, and cross genre bands kinda have this more down-to-earth epicness to them (in lyrical content and mood/feeling of the music). It's a bit more realistic, I guess you could say. Although, some power metal does get it right, it's just REALLY over-the-top and like you said, cheesy.
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469 |
Written by Fat & Sassy! on 09.05.2010 at 21:16 I think I know where you're coming from. To find music epic, I need to be able to take it seriously, at least to a certain extent. Which is something I can't do with PM because it's in general too cheesy and ridiculous. Like you're saying, it's not down-to-earth. It's over-the-top to a laughable degree.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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| Fat & Sassy! Elite Posts: 3857 |
Written by Lord_Regnier on 09.05.2010 at 21:23 Yes. Yes it is. But honestly, that is what I like about it... If you couldn't tell by my previous comments. It's fun music, ESPECIALLY if you have friends you can joke around with when listening to it. XD I mean, I don't know anyone who really takes this stuff too seriously, and I don't think I want to.
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469 |
It was an interesting discussion but better end it now. We're talking about genres in general, and not about Rhapsody or the new album. And it's pretty much off-topic.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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| Redwolf Posts: 10 |
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| paulo figueiredo Account deleted |
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| BudDa Elite Posts: 887  |
This was my first outing with this band. And I gotta ask Baz. While this album is good and all, I felt Rhapsody of Fire's music overtly relied on the skills of their guitarist Luca Turilli. Is there an album of this band where this isn't so?!
---- Freeze! Step away from the hubris.
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| GT Coffee!! Staff Posts: 5101  |
A nice read and I've just listened to Sea Of Fate, which was pretty good. Looking forward to listen to the whole album
----  Dreams are made so we don't get bored when we sleep
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13237  |
Written by BudDa on 11.05.2010 at 17:46 Well I'm not much of a guitar person in general really, so when I listen to Rhapsody I don't pay any special attention to the guitars. The band haven't really changed their style over the years, so however much guitar there is here, there probably is on their others. "Dawn Of Victory" and "Power Of The Dragonflame" are my favourite Rhapsody full-lengths, but the first "Symphony Of Enchanted Lands" is popular too. Just try these and see what you think.
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