LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY Singer Unveiled

LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY has released the following statement:

"Today is a great and very important day for our band. We are finally proud to present the new singer of RHAPSODY to the world, the person who, thanks to his unique vocal talent, will contribute to the artistic perspectives of the band in the years to come.

"The secret is finally revealed: the new singer is Italian and his name is Alessandro Conti (TRICK OR TREAT)."

Commented Luca Turilli: "Alessandro is the singer of our band since many months already but we wanted to present him in the way he deserves, and this means: through his voice! We wanted to find a singer able to sing in different ways and offering different 'colors.' Such ability is fundamental for me as in every RHAPSODY album I like to compose different styles of songs, passing from the most cinematic and epic impact of some songs to the operatic majesty of other ones, from celestial voices to more aggressive tones. Alessandro was just the best choice in this sense as, in between the multitude of all his vocal colors, he has a great high tone but also an operatic approach that makes the difference. He studied at the Corale Lirica Rossini of Modena as first tenor, the same school attended by the great and unforgettable Luciano Pavarotti."

Added Alessandro: "I am very enthusiastic to be the new voice of RHAPSODY and the person the band was searching for. 'Ascending To Infinity' is just an amazing piece of art and maybe not even the word 'epic' is enough to describe its emotional power… what is sure is that I am really proud to be part of it. Now I am looking forward to meeting all the existing and new RHAPSODY fans around the world. See you soon!"

A three-and-a-half-minute YouTube clip containing audio snippets of the forthcoming album can be found below.

LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY recently finished filming a video for the song "Dark Fate Of Atlantis" in Stockholm, Sweden with director Owe Lingvall of Dream Day Media (THE RASMUS, KAMELOT's "The Great Pandemonium"). The track comes off the band's new album, "Ascending To Infinity", which will be released on June 29 via Nuclear Blast.

Commented the group: "We are impressed by the visionary style of Owe’s works. For a band willing to sound and look cinematic like RHAPSODY, there was no better choice possible. The video will be spread for free around the world in the beginning of April. Our friend Owe will also be responsible for a bonus DVD including the video, the 'making-of' documentary related with it, and exclusive interviews with all the RHAPSODY bandmembers. Nuclear Blast will release this extra DVD with a playtime of more than one hour in the limited edition of the new upcoming album, 'Ascending To Infinity', to be released worldwide on June 29. An additional gift to all our fans around the world!"

In August 2011, RHAPSODY OF FIRE guitarist Luca Turilli and keyboardist Alex Staropoli announced their decision to go their separate ways.

Due to legal reasons, Staropoli will continue under the RHAPSODY OF FIRE name. Turilli, on the other hand, will make his future efforts available under the RHAPSODY moniker (RHAPSODY OF FIRE's original name),in which he will be joined by guitarist Dominique Leurquin, bassist Patrice Guers, and drummer Alex Holzwarth.

"Ascending To Infinity" track listing:

01. Quantum X
02. Ascending To Infinity
03. Dante’s Inferno
04. Excalibur
05. Tormento E Passione
06. Dark Fate Of Atlantis
07. Fantasia Gotica
08. Clash Of The Titans
09. Of Michael The Archangel And Lucifer's Fall
I. Alma Mundi
II. Fatum Mortalis
III. Ignis Divinus

You can check out the "Ascending To Infinity" cover artwork below.

The album will have a running time of around 65 minutes.

LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY will embark on the "Ascending To Infinity" headlining tour in the fall.

In a recent interview, Turilli stated about "Ascending To Infinity", "Honestly, this album is very important for me, Alex Holzwarth, Patrice and Dominique and personally it is the one I always dreamed to record. The basic composition process lasted around five months. In this period of time I worked at the rhythm of 12-14 hours per day and, while very hard because very demanding mentally and spiritually, this was one of the most rewarding sessions of composition of my whole life. It rarely happened I had so much fun playing the guitar, the keyboards or my beloved piano and creating original classical parts, cinematic interludes, orchestrations and all the rest. Now all the songs are ready and I am actually in the process of arranging everything. As you know, I don't hire external people to orchestrate the music, but I do all by myself writing the music for each section of the orchestra, the choirs etc. and this sometimes can be a very long and hard process stealing a lot of time and energy. I cannot deny that this is a very ambitious album, because of the investment, artistic vision etc., and all the people working on it, Nuclear Blast included, are thinking the same. That's why in the upcoming months of intensive studio work I want to go on dedicating myself night and day to it, without thinking to anything else."

Regarding the change in the production team for the LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY album, Luca said, "After many years of work in Wolfsburg at the court of our friend Sascha Paeth, I decided to start this new artistic adventure with a different team of people. Sascha and the other friends of the Gate Studio (Miro, Olaf, Robert, Simon, etc.) are a winning team and their help in the past was really important for RHAPSODY. But it's since many years already that Alex and I took the productions in our hands becoming producers of our own albums, despite Sascha remaining always fundamental as engineer and mixer man. His mixes will remain legendary and our list of thanks will be never long enough for all the professional contribution he gave. All the years of work, fun and sufferance in the Gate studios of Wolfsburg will surely remain unforgettable and are carved in our heart. For LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY and the new band adventure I decided to change the studio and the main man behind the console. We are now recording the new album at the Backyard Studio of Kempten, Germany. Our new engineer and main mixer man is the same owner of the studio and his name is Sebastian Roeder, the person who worked for RHAPSODY OF FIRE in the last worldwide tour making real miracles while mixing our music live. Apart from being a talented engineer, he is a great person and he shares with us the love for this style of music. To resume, the new album will be produced by me as usual, while Sebastian will take care of the engineering, mixing and mastering process."