Versailles - "Rhapsody of the Darkness" Single

 The firt thing I did this morning was roll over in bed and grab my phone to buy the new Versailles single, "Rhapsody of the Darkness" off iTunes. I had moderately high expectations for the song - this being the single and all, I wasn't expecting that it was going to be one of the best songs on the album, but since we were told that this new song would have harpsichord and organ in it, which are like my favorite sounds EVER, I expected greater things from this than the average single. (Also I think the fact that the song title sounds like a rip-off of Rhapsody of Fire's band name subconsciously raised my expectations too, my being a huge Rhapsody fan and all ^_^). The release contains two songs, "Rhapsody of the Darkness" and "Illusion."


The single "Rhapsody of the Darkness" starts out with a baroque harpsichord intro with church organ behind it. Surprisingly, the use of those keyboard patches did not make them sound like a Malice Mizer rip-off (even though I would be secretly happy if it did XD), their use of harpsichord was much more baroque and rococo sounding, with more trills and flourishes, also more upbeat and less dark sounding than Malice Mizer and Moi Dix Mois. Actually, the harpsichord parts in this song remind me of Rhapsody's harpsichord parts on Symphony of Enchanted Lands, funny coincidence there... The harpsichord intro then transitions by means of a cascade of dual guitar runs into the main song. This song is very varied! It seems like Versailles has been in the mood recently for writing more experimental, epicly long songs with lots of different "movements" so to speak, and this is alongside those lines stylistically, even though it is only a 5 minute song. It alternates between an epic symphonic part with ominous vocals, a verse with heavy riffing behind it, and a straightforward chorus, with segments of neoclassical/progressive instrumental guitar harmonies strewn in between all those sections. Stylistically, it's nothing that Versailles hasn't done before, just some more of the same good stuff. I'd say the biggest difference from their old stuff is the harpsichord. In relation to their other songs, I'd say it's along the same lines of "Masquerade," not quite as epic, but still very much a symphonic progressive metal song. I thought "Masquerade" was just average when I first heard it, and then it eventually grew on me to be one of my favorite songs off Holy Grail - I think this song will grow on me as well, I'm already liking it more the more I listen to it!

"Illusion" was actually my favorite out of the two songs upon first listen. It's one of their more mellow pop-ish sounding songs, and it always cracks me up whenever Versailles writes songs like this since they're usually a metal band, but man, they're pretty good at this! It starts out with ambient electronic percussion, then goes into a rocking guitar riff, and they bring back the same electronic percussion again when the vocals come in. This song really showcases Hizaki and Teru's good guitar phrasing. Even though it is basically a pop/rock song, there is still intricate guitar work (as always, with Versailles), interesting bass lines, and some tasteful drum fills in here. I just think it has good composition and cohesion, everything just seems to work together really well in this song. I like it! We'll see if it stands the test of time though, sometimes I like these pop-ish songs better at first but then they get old and I like the more experimental ones better later... we'll see!

Overall, I am very pleased, I like these songs better than a lot of their last singles, so this is promising for their next album! The thing I am most displeased with, however, is the fact that this was a digital single. I mean, yes, it is cheaper than a physical single, and yes, I do actually get to hear it on the release date rather than having to wait for it to ship from Japan, but I just paid $3 for songs (or at least one song) that will be on the album anyways, basically I just bought it so I could hear it now. Oh well, seems like it'll be a while before their next album anyways, plus, for $3 I'd say it's worth it!