RHAPSODY: Remembering the Emerald Sword Saga

RHAPSODY can be considered many things which can end up being accurate, but behind everything they pioneered by filtering their inspirations, molding them with their incredible talent, and creating a sound that inspires many bands even today. They did not invent the wheel, for example MANOWAR played epic music way before them. QUEEN had already introduced symphonic elements and RAINBOW surely did similar stuff almost 20 years before “Legendary tales” was released. But RHAPSODY took all those things and translated them to Power Metal, while leaning as much into fantasy as possible. They wouldn’t exist probably without the bands mentioned above, same as many of today’s groups would not exist without RHAPSODY’s contribution. Behind all the cheesy stuff, hides a mountain of serious songwriting and unparalleled musicianship thanks to the genious minds of Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli. Let’s not forget the immense vocal contribution of Fabio Lione and you have a core that can break the fabric of reality, transporting you into the midst of magic valleys and fierce battles.

Apart from the music, the band was also known for creating their own stories, with the first ten albums being part of the same larger world, split between two different sagas. Those two sagas capture the true essence of the band, as after their end Luca Turilli decided to abandon ship and after that, things would never be the same for RHAPSODY. Today we will honor the first one, the “Emerald sword saga” which spans across the band’s first five albums, that cumulatively are the highest peak of the Italians, the undisputed gemstone of their creative career. I will not go into too much details regarding the story and there will be many ommissions, in this article we will mostly remember the important pieces.

CHAPTER I: “Legendary tales” (1997)

In terms of the story, the debut album mostly serves as a prologue by setting the background. It introduces us to the Enchanted Lands and its holy citadel Algalord. It speaks of the evil forces of Kron that tried to conquer the city and how they were stopped. Only for danger to resurface again… and the prophesized “warrior of ice” that will be able to locate the legendary Emerald Sword in an effort of opposing the rising forces of evil. Events that will be mostly be visited in the coming chapters.

Musically, we are dealing with the most Power Metal release of RHAPSODY. It is very straighforward, but at the same time it blends the genre with baroque and classical elements with perfection. If there is one album that non-RHAPSODY fans will listen to, it’s that one. For fans of the band though, “Legendary tales” is only but the first seed of what would grow to be an adventurous career full of fantasy and symphonic elements.

My favorite moments: ‘Lord of the thunder’, ‘Flames of revenge’, ‘Land of immortals’

CHAPTER II: “Symphony of enchanted lands Pt. I” (1998)

This chapter describes the journey of the warrior of ice, as he tries to locate the emerald sword, which in the end he succeeds of obtaining. At the same time, the leading figure of the forces of evil, Akron, already has pledged the land into a bloody war. Now our hero must travel to the capital of Algalord, before it’s too late.

The music of this chapter is much more epic than its predecessor. It houses some standout songs like ‘Emerald sword’ and ‘Wisdom of the kings’, which have become the band’s classics, though the hymnic approach of songs like ‘Eternal glory’ and the title track is unparalleled as well. Here RHAPSODY stopped being just a Power Metal band and instead transformed into amazing storytellers. Despite some cheesy spoken parts, the music was dead serious and from this moment onward, they started nailing the whole cinematic/ fantasy metal better than anyone else. Forgive me for not having ‘Emerald sword’ in my favorites, but I prefer some others more, which screams volumes about this album.

My favorite moments: ‘Eternal glory’, ‘Beyond the gates of infinity’, ‘Wisdom of the kings’

CHAPTER III: “Dawn of victory” (2000)

Things are starting to get serious. The warrior of ice, now holding the emerald sword, visited every village he could in order to raise an army worthy of standing against the black king Akron. His very first fight would be in defending the city of Ancelot, against the demonknights led by Dargor the shadowlord, prince of the Darklands. From that moment, only king chaos dominated… The forces of good prevailed but it was a bitter victory, as Airin, the beloved princess of Ancelot, was kidnapped along with other brave knights. Dargor took the prisoners to Hargor, the heart of the Darklands, where Akron waited and was ready to exchange the prisoners for the emerald sword. The warrior of ice was captured and the team of heroes was tortured in unspeakable ways, so cruel that even Dargor the shadowlord was against them. After some events unfolded, the rescue mission was declared an utter failure as everyone died except the warrior of ice who escaped, with Akron ending up in control of the emerald sword.

The songs of “Dawn of victory” are more bombastic than ever and at the same time more folky than ever, while sacrificing some serious tone for a more positive one. Which is in contrast with how bloody the story ended up being. A great record with enough variety as we go from the title track opus, to the folk hymn of ‘Village of dwarves’, to the epic ‘Dargor, Shadowlord of the black mountain’ with its grander than life chorus. Then we have the straight to your face ‘Holy thunderforce’. It is a more cheesy release than the two that came before, so it is understandable if some people abandoned ship with this one. However the consistent delivery of top notch fantasy music, established the band as one of the leading forces in this specific, epic symphonic sub-genre.

My favorite moments: ‘Dawn of victory’, ‘Dargor, Shadowlord of the black mountain’, ‘The bloody rage of the titans’

CHAPTER IV: “Rain of a thousand flames” (2001)

This is more of an EP than a Full Length, but it is totally worth it. In terms of both music and story, here we have the darkest chapter. The emerald weapon, now in the hands of Akron, allowed him to open the book of the dead. By chanting its cursed words, the Queen of the Dead, the ancient servant of Kron, came back to life. And with her, opened the hellish portals which allowed all kind of demons to walk the earth. As you can see from the cover, this is not good news for the people the Enchanted Lands.

For the songs, the titular opener is not something fancy, it is just a fast composision that we have heard RHAPSODY doing much better in the past. The remaining short songs are either interludes or serve as means to progress the story. The nectar of this release, lies on the two longer opuses, ‘Queen of the dark horizons’ and ‘The wizard’s last rhymes’, both with a duration longer than ten minutes. The first one has a very dark atmosphere while the second uses excerpts from Dvoraks’ ‘New world symphony’ (a very famous classical piece) in a very creative way. Both moments are amazing and make “Rain of a thousand flames” a release much worth your time.

My favorite moments: ‘Queen of the dark horizons’, ‘The wizard’s last rhymes’

CHAPTER V: “Power of the dragonflame” (2002)

The scales are totally in favor of evil. The army of the living dead laid siege to the towns of Elnor and Thorald, totally destroying them. Akron, the Queen of the Dead and Dargor, started moving towards the holy citadel of Algalord. The warrior of ice marched with an army to face them in the southern marches, and a terrible battle started. A battle where our hero’s army had to face winged demons, giant worms, vampires and undead. In the terrible aftermath Dargor the shadowlord fell from a rock, became trapped and sreamed at the warrior of ice to kill him. But the warrior sensed that Dargor was just misled by evil and was not inherently bad, so he chose to spare him. By doing so, Dargor found the opportunity and used his blade to strike the chosen one, who fell in the ground bleeding, escaping death, but ending up being captured. Next, was Akron reaching the city of Algalord with only one command to his minions: destruction! The warrior of ice was about to be thrown into the marshes below to meet his death, bloodied, tortured and humiliated, but then the miracle happened. Dargor the shadowlord, tired from all the bloody visions, turned against his brethren mortally striking the Queen of the Dead. Akron who awaited his betrayal attacked him, giving the warrior of ice a change to grab the emerald sword. His strike was true, piercing the face of Akron, but it was not enough. He knew there was no chance to escape his death, so he did the only thing left to be done. He grabbed his enemy, and they fell together into the dark waters beneath them, meeting their end. Akron the dark lord, and the prophecised hero were not more. Dargor then used his powers to awaken the Gargoyles that were petrified in the evil capital of Hargor. But instead of attacking the holy citadel, he commanded them to attack the demons. Ultimately the portals to hell were closed, evil was defeated but with the forces of good having suffered countless casualties, and the time for rebuilding had come. As for Dargor, he vanished from existence with noone hearing from him… at least for now…

The music of this album is an absolute triumph of epic proportions! Heavy, fast, epic, triumphant, I find it the band’s magnum opus. Every chorus is a true hymn, you have the aggression of ‘Agony is my name’, the amazing ballad ‘Lamento eroico’, a 19-minute masterpiece ‘Gargoyles, angels of darkness’, along with a plethora of amazing songs with zero fillers. For me this album is the ultimate crossroad where metal meets fantasy and soundtracks, one of my favorite records of all time and absolute peak of the genre it represents. If you like fantasy and Metal even a little, omitting to experience “Power of the dragonflame” is a an unforgivable sin!

My favorite moments: ‘Knightrider of doom’, ‘Agony is my name’, ‘The pride of the tyrant’

Here is a playlist with some highlights from each record of the emerald sword saga:

Pavlos Pavlakis