Worlds Beyond – Rhapsody Of Life

Founded in 2017, the symphonic metal band Worlds Beyond from Ghent (Belgium), returns with their sophomore full-length entitled Rhapsody Of Life. It comes three years after the release of their highly acclaimed and enthusiasticly praised 2020 debut album, Symphony Of Dawn. Line-up remains the same and as such comprised of; Valerie De Kempe (vocals), Tijmen Matthys (guitars), Jakob Declercq (violin), Robbe Adriaens (keyboards), Ewoud Dekoninck (bass) & Wout Debacker (drums). Read our 2023 interview with Tijmen & Valerie here.

Back to the new album, almost 54 minutes long, Rhapsody of Life is a concept album ‘celebrating human existence’. Every of the eleven songs narrates a particular experience that’s part of our collective lives. They culminate in the closing title track, which poses the ultimate question. More on that later in this review.

Rhapsody of Life features a diverse range of tracks, which all have their unique build-up and strong storytelling, but I will grab an opportunity and say a few words on three of my highlights of the album. First one worth of your attention is the adventurously constructed epic metal hymn ,,Beyond Reality’’, mainly due to the bold musical prowess and lyrical depth showen here. Another wonderful song is the one called, ,,Enchantment” with its powerful time changes with massive hooks following sharp guitar melodies. In this song Valerie pitches her soft, warm and angelic clean soprano vocals over the spawning melodies, something you can can never get tired of. Meanwhile, the best is saved for the end (to maximize its impact of the whole record!?), I’m talking of the title track “Rhapsody Of Life”. It serves as an outstanding song to close this adventurous and exciting sonic journey in company with Worlds Beyond. The song is an epic monumental work with a playing time of over ten minutes! It is characterised by several melody and rhythm changes, some epic and bombastic choruses, and an outstanding and extremely melodic guitar solo, are just some of the things one can hear in this lengthy album closure.

In the beginning of this review I called Worlds Beyond to be a symphonic metal band, but after three spins of Rhapsody of Life I must say that I find this classification too limiting, as their sound is really a blend of genres switching between soft, intimate, powerful, lyrical, or even groovy. They draw influences from film music, opera, classical music, pop, rock, folk, musicals, and even hip-hop, and I think you can clearly hear that on this new record.

The production quality of Rhapsody of Life is top-notch, with each instrument given space to shine while contributing to the overall pleasant listening experience. A few words on the album cover; in my opinion its a wonderful piece of art illustrating a woman’s head opened with an abstract and technological approach of memories and experiences gathered in her life. It also shows that the band has thought of every single detail, in order to deliver another not only eagerly awaited, but also very strong, varied conceptual and coherent opus.

My final conclusoon and assumption is that Rhapsody Of Life showcases the band’s evolution as musicians and storytellers, featuring eleven well-crafted songs in the best symphonic metal manner with a nice blend of powerful instrumentation, varied arrangements, paired with compelling storytelling.

Further info on this powerful independent release from Worlds Beyond visit sextet’s bandcamp.