Symphony of Enchanted Lands (Album)

## Symphony of Enchanted Lands

Album cover of Symphony of Enchanted Lands, featuring Tharos the Dragon and an unknown character

### Producer

Sascha Paeth and Michael Rodenberg

***Symphony of Enchanted Lands*** is the second studio album released by the band Rhapsody of Fire. It was released in October of 1998 by the label Limb Music, and it is the second album in the Emerald Sword Saga. All lyrics were written by Luca Turilli, and all the music was composed by Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli.

## Excerpt from Algalord Chronicles Part II

What is told between these pages destined to memories was written by the wise old hand of Aresius of Elgard, witness before God of another incredible epic deed. I will tell you about the brave warrior of Loregard, the Son of holy Ice, and his search for the legendary Emerald Sword, the powerful weapon of positive force, the decider of destinies of wars and ensurer of peace, the last hope for the salvation of the Enchanted Lands... As most of you all already know, this fantastic weapon is hidden beyond the Ivory Gates located somewhere in the Lands of Chaos, and to open these magic portals the hero needs first to find the three magic Keys of Wisdom...

### The Three Keys of Wisdom

And time had come... at the first light of dawn we were already far from the green Elgard and soon the dusty Argon’s Glade and the hills, where the old dwarf lived together with the secret of the Keys, made their appearance. The challenge soon began... the challenge between the warrior and his deepest fears, reflected in the magic Mirror of Shadows. But in the end, thanks to his moral integrity, he was able to defeat the risk of madness, thus obtaining the desired price: the first Key of Wisdom and with it all the clues to continue on this incredible quest.

In fact, now, a second, more demanding challenge awaited the warrior: the one with Tharos, the bloody dragon, keeper of the second key, hidden somewhere amongst the Marshes of Chaos. The fight was terrifying, but in the end the power of the Northern Lands’ hero prevailed over the agility of the enemy. The warrior had the chance of mortally wounding the fallen dragon but he didn’t do, so sparing his life... in that moment the incredible happened... and suddenly all was clear! Tharos was under a spell and finally it was broken.

For a long time he was condemned to fight against valorous knights searching for the second key... sometimes he killed them, a few times he had himself been killed by the strongest ones... but this time all was different. The warrior he had before him had spared his life and so Tharos understood he was the chosen one... the prophecy had spoken the truth, and Tharos was finally able to spread his wings wide to reach the furthest horizon. But before doing so he gave the second key to the Son of Ice and told him how to reach the mystical altar which held the secret of Ikaren and which was located on the border between the Middle Forests and the southern side of the Lands of Chaos. There he could find the last key necessary to open the Ivory Gates...

### The Legend of Ikaren

The legend of Ikaren was known by all in the Enchanted Lands: it was a magic object that, when inserted in a chink of the altar, would show the direction for reaching the holy Gates... After crossing the Forgotten Valleys we finally reached the Middle Forests and then the Desert of Chaos... soon also the dusty altar made its appearance. But when we were there, we didn’t find the answers we were searching for immediately... and when all seemed lost, the skies helped us...

The two Keys of Wisdom fell from the hand of the warrior and landed in a particular position... and he finally understood: one of the Keys could be connected to the other and the resulting object was just the mystical Ikaren: my God, the secret of the Ancients was finally revealed. The warrior immediately inserted the object into the chink in the altar and soon, with the help of morning light, the miracle happened...

Another part of the story was ready to be written... and this time, we hope, not with the blood of another hero...

## Line-up

### Band members

* Luca Turilli - Guitars, vocals, lyrics, songwriting
* Alex Staropoli - Keyboards, harpsichord, piano, vocals (Sacred choir), songwriting
* Daniele Carbonera - Drums
* Fabio Lione - Vocals (lead, Sacred choir)
* Alessandro Lotta - Bass

### Guest / Session Musicians

* Michael Rodenberg / Miro - Vocals (Sacred choir)
* Søren Leupold - Baroque lute
* Helmstedter Kammerchor - Choirs
* Ricky Rizzo - Vocals (Sacred choir)
* Ulrike Wildenhof - Violin
* Almut Schlicker - Violin
* Stefanie Hölk - Violin
* Friedrike Bauer - Violin
* Constanze Backes - Female backing voice (Track 10)
* (Sir) Jay Lansford - Narration
* Erik Steenbock - Marching Drums
* Marie-Theres Strumpf - Viola
* Cosima Bergk - Viola
* Jan Larsen - Viola
* Manuel Staropoli - Baroque recorders, Baroque oboe, vocals (sacred choir)
* Matthias Brommann - Violin (lead)
* Claas Harders - Viola da gamba
* Hagen Kuhr - Cello
* André Neygenfind - Contrabass
* Don Kosaken - Russian Choirs
* Stefan Horz - Harpsichord
* Thomas Rettke - Vocals (choirs)
* Cinzia Rizzo - Vocals (backing, sacred choir)
* Robert Hunecke-Rizzo - Vocals (Sacred choir)
* Sascha Paeth - Acoustic guitars, Mandolin, Balalaika (acoustic)
* Tatiana Bloch - Vocals (Sacred choir)
* Michele Mayer - Vocals (Sacred choir)
* Giuliano Tarlon - Vocals (Sacred choir)

## Other staff

* R. Limb Schnoor - Executive producer
* Michael Rodenberg / Miro - Producer, engineering, mixing
* Sascha Paeth - Producer, engineering, mixing
* Eric Philippe - Logo, cover art
* Karsten Koch - Photography
* Andreas Lamken - Choir conductor

## References

1. ↑ Epic Fury
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Rhapsody\_of\_Fire/Symphony\_of\_Enchanted\_Lands/109