Dark Wings of Steel

Dark Wings of Steel is the tenth studio album by Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody of Fire. It was released on November 22, 2013, in Europe and December 3, 2013, in the United States via AFM Records. Following the various line-up changes since the previous album From Chaos to Eternity in 2011, Dark Wings of Steel is the first album by the band to not feature guitarist and founding member Luca Turilli, the first with guitarist Roberto De Micheli, and the only album with bassist Oliver Holzwarth.

Dark Wings of Steel
Studio album by Rhapsody of Fire
Released	November 22, 2013 (Europe); December 3, 2013 (America)
Recorded	August–October 2013
Genre	Symphonic power metal
Length	59:27 66:23 (Digipak version)
Label	AFM Records, Roadrunner Records
Producer	Alex Staropoli
Rhapsody of Fire studio album chronology
From Chaos to Eternity (2011) Dark Wings of Steel (2013) Into the Legend (2016)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com
MetalTraveller
Nightfall in Metal Earth

Background

Due to Turilli writing the lyrics and co-composing the songs with keyboardist Alex Staropoli in the previous albums, the lyrics are written by singer Fabio Lione, with Staropoli now composing the music with his brother Manuel. Following the departure of other guitarist Tom Hess earlier in the year, the album also marks the return to one full-time guitarist only.

Alex Staropoli stated: "Fabio from now on will be in charge of writing the lyrics and I think this is really important for a singer to be able to write and sing its own lyrics". He also noted about his brother Manuel: "I knew my brother had lots of talent and he proved himself by submitting me with many great songs, which some of them I had to arrange and to use. I am so proud of him and there is a lot more to come".

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Fabio Lione; all music is composed by Roberto de Micheli, Alex Staropoli and Manuel Staropoli

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Vis Divina" ("Divine Strength")	1:28
2.	"Rising from Tragic Flames"	6:16
3.	"Angel of Light"	7:05
4.	"Tears of Pain"	6:27
5.	"Fly to Crystal Skies"	5:13
6.	"My Sacrifice"	8:05
7.	"Silver Lake of Tears"	5:00
8.	"Custode di pace" ("Keeper of Peace")	5:07
9.	"A Tale of Magic"	4:18
10.	"Dark Wings of Steel"	5:51
11.	"Sad Mystic Moon"	4:37
Total length:		59:27

Digipak & vinyl edition bonus track

No.	Title	Length
12.	"A Candle to Light" (English version of Custode di Pace)	6:56
Total length:		66:23

Japanese edition bonus track

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Voler Vers Toi" (French version of Custode di Pace)	5:07
Total length:		64:34

Personnel

Credits for Dark Wings of Steel adapted from liner notes.

Rhapsody of Fire

• Fabio Lione – lead vocals
• Roberto De Micheli – guitars
• Oliver Holzwarth – bass
• Alex Staropoli – keyboards, production, engineering, editing, cover and booklet concept
• Alex Holzwarth – drums

Additional musicians

• Manuel Staropoli – baroque flute, baroque oboe, recorder, duduk
• Macedonian Radio Symphonic Orchestra – orchestra
• Vito Lo Ré – orchestra and choir conductor, scoring

Choir

• Hao Wang, Matjaž Zobec, Noémi Boros, Paola Marra

Production

• Sebastian Roeder – engineering, mixing, editing
• Giorgi Hristovski – engineering
• Boban Apostolov – engineering
• Alberto Bravin – engineering, editing
• Christoph Stickel – mastering
• Luca Balbo – choir contractor
• Severin Schweiger – photography
• Karsten vom Wege – logo
• Felipe Machado Franco – cover art, layout, cover concept

Charts

Chart (2013)	Peak position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)	125