The full title of this album is ‘Prometheus - The Dolby Atmos Experience + Cinematic And Live’, and is actually two distinctly different pieces of work. The first is an audio blu-ray of the last album, remixed and remastered in Dolby Atmos, and this is accompanied by a two CD live set recorded in 2012 and 2016, and this is what I am currently listening to. This band has a lot of history behind it, although it can be a little confusing. They initially started as Rhapsody, releasing six albums, and that was when I first came across them at the time of the ‘Symphony of Enchanted Lands II’ album in 2004. That was the last release under the name Rhapsody, as they changed to Rhapsody of Fire and released another four. In August 2011, after fifteen years, the two founding members Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli decided to exercise a friendly split and continue their artistic careers separately. Staropoli agreed to continue as Rhapsody of Fire while Luca Turilli moved on as Rhapsody, adding his name on top of the logo due to legal reasons.
This is choral charismatic power metal that has some of the largest sounds one can ever imagine – it’s Savatage on steroids, Wagnerian opera brought to the current stage, Nightwish on a whole new level, TSO but with more drama. Get the idea? This feels much more like an all-encompassing musical event than a gig, and calling it such demeans the whole thing, as this is over the top that it meets itself coming back as it spins consistently. The one issue with this is that there are times when it feels just too encompassing, and while a blanket can be comforting there must also be room to breathe and I can’t hear any spontaneity within this as it is just far too constructed for that to take place. In many ways, this has far more in common with bombastic Germanic opera than it does than rock, and possibly that is what Luca is aiming for. This won’t be for everyone, and I’m not sure it’s for me, but is certainly quite an achievement.
