LUCA TURILLI is the Italian guitar player and composer who in 1993, together with the keyboard player ALEX STAROPOLI, founded the symphonic metal band RHAPSODY. The band released their first album, LEGENDARY TALES, in 1997 and quickly followed with their sophomore release, SYMPHONY OF ENCHANTED LANDS one year later, both reaching high chart positions and establishing what became called “Hollywood Metal” at first and then some years later becoming known as “Film Score metal.” Both genres were clearly describing a new style of music based on the connection between the most epic and glorious power/speed metal of the late ‘80s with Luca and Alex’s infinite passion for the cinema and the world of soundtracks. In 2003, the band was forced to change their name to RHAPSODY OF FIRE because of legal reasons due to copyright problems.
After 15 years, 10 official albums, and more than 1,500,000 copies sold worldwide, the cycle related with the fantasy sagas (the epic tale on which all the music & lyrics of the band were based) came to an end. In that same moment, Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli decided to proceed with a friendly split and continue their artistic careers separately while both keeping the name RHAPSODY - mainly to be able to go on with the same artistic possibilities in the name of all the personal economical investment made by both parties to bring the band to the top through many years of hard & passionate work. The split was communicated officially to the press on August 2011.
Alex Staropoli agreed to continue as RHAPSODY OF FIRE while Luca Turilli moved on as RHAPSODY, adding his name on top of the logo due to the same legal reasons of the past not allowing to him to use the word RHAPSODY alone. While the original singer FABIO LIONE remained with Alex, Luca was followed by the two band members & personal friends DOMINIQUE LEURQUIN (Guitar) and PATRICE GUERS (Bass). ALEX HOLZWARTH (Drums) deciding to keep his place in both bands.
“Before starting to compose a new RHAPSODY album, we needed to find the most important member of the new family. This means: the new singer,” says Luca. “Not an easy task as he had to be versatile, able to sing in different styles and able to offer different vocal colors.” The final choice was the Italian singer ALESSANDRO CONTI, a real vocal virtuoso, able to pass with extreme easiness from crystalline high-toned vocal lines to whispered low tones, from aggressive to lyrical/operatic parts. He learned to control his vocal expression studying as a tenor at the Corale Lirica Rossini, the same school attended by the great and unforgettable maestro LUCIANO PAVAROTTI.

Always in search for a new challenge, the composer and neo-classical guitar virtuoso, now also credited as piano and keyboard player too, went another step further and brought his vision of Cinematic Metal to a new dimension: »Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus«. Seven months of composition, three months of production, over 50 days of mix, two choirs, several special guests, including Ralf Scheepers (PRIMAL FEAR), Dan Lucas (KARO) and David Readman (PINK CREAM 69). Including 70 minutes of epic, cinematic sounding music - bombastic and dramatic as never before - the new RHAPSODY masterwork will lead the listener to an emotional and memorable journey.
The album was composed and produced once again by Luca Turilli, responsible as always for all the orchestral and choral arrangements. It was recorded and mixed at the Backyard Studios of Sebastian Roeder (BONFIRE a.o.) and mastered by Christoph Stickel (Michael Schenker’s TEMPLE OF ROCK a.o.) at MSM studios.