siLLy puPPy LUCA TURILLI is the mastermind songwriter, keyboardist and guitarist shredding machine responsible for the symphonic folk and power prog metal band Rhapsody (Of Fire) who has been churning out epic fantastical tales for a couple decades now. This so-called solo effort is in fact deemed a band effort despite the band being named after TURILLI himself. KING OF THE NORDIC TWILIGHT is also the first album of a trilogy that utilizes the typical power metal sword bearing call to battle to defeat the darkened forces that have fallen upon the land. In that regard this album is very similar to pretty much the majority of power metal albums out there but on the compositional side its a bit more sophisticated. On the vocal front Olaf Hayer delivers an excellent vocal performance more than capable of the operatic power and prowess TURILLI demands with his high energy compositions. The trilogy revolves around three worlds and on this debut it focuses on an odyssey in the ancient Nordic lands where, and this is a direct quote from the liner notes “darkness and the magic colors of the NORDIC TWILIGHT don't identify with the expression of evil but are simply wonderful and romantic manifestations of my beloved Earth.” Expect well crafted power metal cheese but tasty cheese at least :)

Despite sounding just a couple notches different than the Rhapsody projects, TURILLI focuses less on folk and narrations and more on a recognizable power metal structure. As we all know, power metal is the modern day metal version of opera and on this release we get plenty of dragon-slaying operatic vocals and classical inspired instrumental runs with the lightning fast arpeggios and shredding that TURILLI is quite amazingly good at. The music is quite the symphonic and orchestral behemoth with a whole bunch of musicians cranking out beautiful and energetic riffs and motifs that pretty much sound consistent for the album's entirety. As well as everything is played on this album it seems to lack enough diversity in sound to keep me super-interested in it. While i'm admiring the instrumental and vocal acrobatics i'm underwhelmed by the monotonous tempos and musical feel. An excellently performed album but it just seems it lacks the inspiration and proper placement of direction to truly stand out as one of the best albums that TURILLI has mustered up. Hardcore power metal fans who love symphonic and orchestral additions will surely love this one for it delivers in that department for sure. I actually prefer the second album to this but this is by no means bad at all. A good but not outstanding release we have upon us.