Uniting neoclassical lavishness with power metal's galloping heft, Rhapsody's music is devoted to grandeur. Their earliest recordings are frenetic: “Holy Thunderforce”, from 2000's Dawn of Victory, intertwines searing guitar runs and operatic gymnastics, while “Unholy Warcry”, released four years later, finds the Italians developing a heavier reliance on melody and traditional orchestration. Though they utilise lots of epic storytelling, a piece like the seething “Aeons of Raging Darkness” shows off their talent for dense instrumental passages of breathtaking ingenuity.