RHAPSODY OF FIRE INTERVIEW
There is no doubt that Rhapsody Of Fire (former Rhapsody) is an institution in the heavy metal scene as of today. Whether you are into power, progressive, melodic or other kinds of metal, you will at least have heard of the name. And whether you like the Epic and symphonic approach to creating "Film Score metal" or not, you definitely have to bow in the dust for this band that does what no one else can do as good as they can, namely create the ultimate Tolkien universe through heavy metal music. I had a chat with keyboarder and founding member Alex Staropoli about the new album "Triumph Or Agony" and what the future might hold for a band that has already reached some of the highest goals in the music scene.

Interview by Lars Larsen
How do you feel about the label "Hollywood Metal"? Isn't it a degradation of your symphonic music?

You know, to begin with it was our own idea together with our old label Limb Music, but it is definitely something for the past. We rather prefer to call the music "film score metal" as it fits the epic and symphonic touches in the music much better.

To me it sounds like you are using a lot of old Italian folk music as inspiration for this symphonic power metal. Does you Italian heritage mean a lot to you? You have composed songs like "Il Canto Del Vento" (The song of the wind) and "L'amento Eroico" (The Heroe's Lament)!

Yeah, we like to use our language for ballads as Italian is so much better to use for us to express deep feelings that we are doing in ballad. L'amento Eroico was the first and Fabio wrote the new one, so he's also a part of the songwriting. It feels strong for us. As for the music, yeah, we have strong influences as it feels good to use your own blood's heritage and have a poetic approach for these songs as we can't get from other cultures than our own.

How do you think you have managed to go from one of the young and hopeful bands that can only surprise with every album, to being one of those bands that has to deliver an even better product every time to still have the media with you?

You know, we just like to compose music. For us, it's a way of living and after having had so much success, we are finally able to deliver what we want to do, so I think we have managed fine.

I heard some rumours that you will tour with Manowar this winter?

Yes. The last Canadian/US tour was just the first leg of this tour and 2007 will be full of touring, first together with Manowar as opener for them and later on with hopefully a lot of summer festivals. At the end of 2007 we will most likely go on a headlining tour, to fulfil the spectre.

Isn't it hard not to be compared all the time to Manowar, being on their record label, management etc.? Is it hard to be considered the new Manowar clone because of this very tight correlation?

Hmm…Joey isn't actually into anything with the music. He's just our manager in the US and he is perfectly able to separate things as a business man, when it comes to Rhapsody Of Fire, whereas our European manager, Eric is managing the band in Germany and so forth, as he is doing with Manowar. But they both have the same approach, and that is to do what's best for the band. It's not like we are trying to compose the same music as Manowar, but of course there are similarities all the time, as both bands compose epic metal, with our music being a bit more symphonic and progressive.

Yeah, to me, "The Myth Of The Holy Sword" seems like a Manowar song, being re-worked to fit into a Rhapsody Of Fire song!

Haha, yeah we wanted to compose some mid tempo songs for live situations. The idea came on the tour, that we also needed some breathing space sometimes, instead of just going ahead with 190 or 195 bpm. It's also better for the fans to be able to slow down a little bit and definitely for us as well. Those songs could be comparable to Manowar's, but for us it's just to be able to catch our breath.

Is there any chance that you will soon come to Danimarca and play, to follow up on the brilliant concert together with Stratovarius 5 years ago?

It would be great! And it will also be cool for the fans up there as they will be met by a whole new band. We are so different than we were 5 years ago, and some fans will remember from the last time we were there and hopefully have some great expectations. This time, we would have our own sound engineer etc, so everything will be so much better for us. We are also different in the band now as we are all very good friends and so we are a better unity than we were back then.

Have you felt the internet downloading and filesharing on your sales around the World, and what is your opinion that people obviously have no regrets about stealing music?

Everybody has his own idea about this, be it the fans, the industry, the media etc. I do believe that it is very common for pop music and other very popular genres that downloading is a problem, but I don't feel it's a problem for Rhapsody Of Fire. In the end it doesn't feel like a big thing for us, as I believe our fans are very strong followers. They want the real deal with booklet, pictures and everything, especially when we release limited editions with lots of extra stuff in them. The market is down, but its also because of all the bands and quality releases today. There are more bands to share the fans. But I do believe that the original Cd's will sell when you give the fans a quality product.

How did it feel, when Italy kicked in that last ball in the final against France? Did you get out on the street and went crazy?

Well, I was actually already on the street, as I was out on a small restaurant, but I really don't care about football. I am no fan at all, so for me it was just funny to see all these people going crazy in the street.

Last question for tonight, which I always end the interviews with: what's your favourite beer?

Weissbeer….from München…but you have to drink it in München, or else it is not the same, hahaha.

Allright, Alex. It was a pleasure talking to you. Good luck with the album and the future.

Thanks Lars and goodnight.