The Eighth Mountain is the twelfth studio album by the Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody of Fire. It was released on 22 February 2019 via AFM Records.
The album is the first chapter in 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, who left the band in 2011. It is also the first studio album without vocalist Fabio Lione and the first without longtime drummer Alex Holzwarth since 1998's Symphony of Enchanted Lands. They were replaced by Giacomo Voli and Manu Lotter respectively, though it would be the only studio album with drummer Manu Lotter. English actor Christopher Lee, who died in 2015, posthumously appears on the track "Tales of a Hero's Fate" as a narrator.
A music video for "Rain of Fury" was released on 11 January 2019.
Track listing
Personnel Credits for The Eighth Mountain adapted from liner notes.(2019). "The Eighth Mountain liner notes". In The Eighth Mountain [CD booklet]. AFM.
Rhapsody of Fire Alex Staropoli – keyboards, production, engineer, recording, orchestra and choir arrangements, songwriting, lyrics Roberto De Micheli – guitars, songwriting, lyrics Alessandro Sala – bass Giacomo Voli – lead vocals, lyrics Manu Lotter – drums
Additional personnel Christopher Lee – posthumous narration 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 Chart (2019) Peakposition French Albums (SNEP) 185 Italian Albums (FIMI) 88Japanese Albums (Oricon)118
References