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Luca Turilli is the inspirer and guitarist of the successful
‘symphonic metal” band Rhapsody.
The
band was formed in 1995 out of the ashes of Thundercross. Parallel
to the success of his former band, Turelli proves on this second
solo CD (after ‘King of the Nordic twilight in 1999) to be a
talented guitarist and composer, mixing metal with classical
influences. As a child from a musical family, he chose to play the
guitar at 16. His main influences are Vivaldi, Paganini and Bach,
but, also, composers as Goldsmith, Elfman and Poledouris which he
calls temporary classicals. With this base, he created an own
style, the typical ‘tarantella’ style, mainly based on ‘arpeggio’
rather than staves. As a composer one is too often restrained by
the scales. He tried to give the whole a slightly spacey sound,
which one can notice in the lyrics; often about cosmic love and life
on a planet from another milky way.
The
trend is set with medeival choirs at the start, but the space-ship
is shifted to a higher gear and we find ourselves in the Italian’s
own space rock opera. Repeatedly, I notice resemblances with Arjen
Lucassen’s work. The voice of german Olaf Hayer is echoed every
time by the choir in ‘War of the Universe’. The tempo is usually
very quick, with only 2 breathing spaces.
‘Zaephyr skies’ theme’ is a cinematic track where images of a
sundown on a far, hot beach bubble up spontaneously. ‘Timeless
oceans’ is a slow with vocals in higher regions.
Energetic guitar sounds smile through an almost droll waltz-rhythm
in ‘Rider of the astral fire’. The speed metal is thickened
super-bombastically with elements from the classical music and, yes,
I even like the tear-jerker music. This refers especially to the
‘sing-along-refrains’ that sound out of many throats. ‘Demon heart’
is a strong track that opened the EP, preceding this release. ‘New
century’s tarantella’ opens with pan-pipe sounds and even an
accordion follows the choral singing. The cherry on the fancy cake
is the more than 11 minutes title track, where the choirs compete
again with almost chaotic rhythms. The song has several atmospheres
and marks the versatility of this talented musician.
‘Prophet of the last eclipse’ will be available in 3 versions :
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As
a normal CD with 10 new tracks
-
As
a double picture disc (LP) with extra poster and 4 bonus tracks
-
As
a digipack CD with 2 bonus tracks
The
fans can choose. The only thing left for me to say is that I find
the back side of the CD (with the half tattooed faces and a cosmic
supernova in the background) much prettier than the front, but that
is merely a personal objection. |
