''The Eighth Mountain'' is the twelfth studio album by Italian

symphonic power metal Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitar ...

band

Rhapsody of Fire Rhapsody of Fire (formerly known as Rhapsody) is an Italian symphonic power metal band formed 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 h ...

. It was released on 22 February 2019 via

AFM Records AFM Records GmbH is a music label based in Schwalmstadt, Germany. They focus on the heavy metal musical genre, signing bands such as U.D.O., Doro, Lordi, Kotipelto, Masterplan, Nostradameus, and Annihilator. In 2005, Candlelight Records si ...

. The album is the first chapter for a new saga, written by Alex Staropoli and Roberto De Micheli, entitled ''The Nephilim's Empire Saga''. It is the first saga not written by

Luca Turilli Luca Turilli (born 5 March 1972) is an Italian composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist constantly engaged in various musical projects. Having always declared to love music at 360 degrees, Turilli has dedicated himself to multip ...

, who had left the band in 2011. It is also the first studio album without vocalist

Fabio Lione Fabio Tordiglione (born 9 October 1973), known professionally as Fabio Lione, is an Italian singer and lyricist who has worked with many bands in the metal genre. He was known for being the singer of Italian power metal band Rhapsody of Fire fo ...

, and the first without longtime drummer Alex Holzwarth since 1998's ''

Symphony of Enchanted Lands ''Symphony of Enchanted Lands'' is the second studio album by Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody, released in 1998. It is the second part of the Emerald Sword Saga. Track listing Personnel Band members * Fabio Lione - lead & backing ...

''. They were replaced by Giacomo Voli and Manu Lotter respectively, though it would be the only studio album with drummer Manu Lotter. A music video for "Rain of Fury" was released on 11 January 2019.

Concept

The posthumous narration by the late

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...

at the end of the album explains the concept:

Track listing

Personnel

Credits for ''The Eighth Mountain'' adapted from liner notes.(2019). "''The Eighth Mountain'' liner notes". In ''The Eighth Mountain''

D booklet D, or d, is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''dee'' (pronounced ), plural ''dees''. History The ...

AFM. Rhapsody of Fire *

Alex Staropoli Alessandro "Alex" Staropoli (born 9 January 1970) is a keyboard player, composer, leader and co-founder (with Luca Turilli) of the Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody of Fire. He does the orchestral arrangements in all the band's songs. Fo ...

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, engineer, recording, orchestra and choir arrangements, songwriting, lyrics * Roberto De Micheli –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s, songwriting, lyrics * Alessandro Sala – bass * Giacomo Voli –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

, lyrics * Manu Lotter –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Additional personnel *

– posthumous

narration Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to storytelling, convey a narrative, story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deli ...

on track 12 * Manuel Staropoli – flute, oboe * Manuel Tomadin – harpsichord * Vito Lo Re – orchestra conductor, scoring * Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra – orchestra Choir * Alex Mari, Angelo Guidetti, Beatrice Bini, Chiara Tricarico, Enrico Correggia, Fabio Sambenini, Gabriele Gozzi, Marco Vincini, Monica Marozzi, Niccolò Porcedda, Raffaele Albanese, Stefano Ciceri, Stefano Corradini Production * Karsten Koch – photography * Alex Charleux – cover art * Sebastian "Seeb" Levermann – engineer, recording, mixing, mastering * Marco Straccioni – recording, mixing (orchestra) * Slav Slavtchev – orchestra contractor * Maurizio Assenti – layout

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eighth Mountain 2019 albums AFM Records albums Rhapsody of Fire albums