Rhapsody of Fire | |
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Rhapsody of Fire in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2010.
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Background information | |
Also known as | Thundercross (1993-1995) Rhapsody (1995-2006) |
Origin | Trieste, Italy |
Genres | |
Years active | 1993–present |
Labels | Limb Music, Magic Circle Music, SPV, Nuclear Blast, AFM |
Associated acts | Luca Turilli's Rhapsody, Luca Turilli Band, Luca Turilli's Dreamquest, Vision Divine, Labyrinth, Manowar, Angra, Kamelot, Christopher Lee |
Website | www |
Members | Giacomo Voli Alex Staropoli Roby De Micheli Alessandro Sala Manu Lotter |
Past members | Cristiano Adacher Alex Holzwarth Andrea Furlan Daniele Carbonera Luca Turilli Alessandro Lotta Patrice Guers Tom Hess Oliver Holzwarth Fabio Lione |
Rhapsody of Fire (formerly known as Rhapsody) is an Italian symphonic power metal band created by Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli, widely seen as a pioneer of the symphonic power metal subgenre.
Since forming in 1993 as Thundercross, the band has released twelve studio albums, two live albums, two EPs, and a live DVD. Rhapsody of Fire is known for its conceptual lyrics that constitute a fantasy story throughout all of their albums from 1997 to 2011. After using the moniker of Rhapsody for nearly ten years, the band changed their name to Rhapsody of Fire in 2006 due to trademark issues.
In 2011, following the release of their album From Chaos to Eternity which concluded The Dark Secret Saga, and after 18 years as co-leader of the band, Turilli left Rhapsody of Fire (on good terms) to form a new Rhapsody band, Luca Turilli's Rhapsody, along with two other members who left with him, Patrice Guers and Dominique Leurquin. They describe their discography as a parallel continuation of Rhapsody of Fire's discography, with their first album being their own "Rhapsody's 11th album" and consider that they didn't leave the band, rather that it amicably split in two.
In 1993, Luca Turilli decided to create a symphonic metal band with the vision of integrating classical music elements with metal. The first to join him were Alex Staropoli and Daniele Carbonera. These three formed a band that became known as Thundercross. Turilli has said in interviews that both Thundercross and the early Rhapsody material were heavily influenced by Manowar's style of heavy metal, and that Yngwie Malmsteen was a big influence from a guitar playing perspective.