The Eighth Mountain
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.
Personnel
Credits for The Eighth Mountain adapted from liner notes.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
- 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
- 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
- Karsten Koch – photography
- Alex Charleux – cover art
- Sebastian "Seeb" Levermann – engineer, recording, mixing, mastering
- Marco Straccioni – recording, mixing
- Slav Slavtchev – orchestra contractor
- Maurizio Assenti – layout