Rhapsody of Fire Announce Split

The members of Italian "film-score metal" band Rhapsody of Fire have split -- into two different bands, no less.

The band announced recently in a joint statement that founding members Luca Turilli and keyboardist Alex Staropoli have decided to part ways after ten albums together. A joint statement from the two musicians reads:

"10 albums released and the end of the saga represent, musically and lyrically, an important artistic goal finally reached, underlined by the success of our last release, 'From Chaos To Eternity', for which we want to thank our wonderful fans once again. Now it came the time when new artistic stimulations need to be found, in respect of both parts' visions and perspectives and of our longtime friendship,"

What's interesting is how the musicians will continue on. Starapoli will continue on with vocalist Fabio Lione under the Rhapsody of Fire name, which Turilli will form a new band to support him as Rhapsody.

You may or may not know that the band was originally forced to change their name after a legal dispute with the music streaming service Rhapsody, so we're not entirely sure how this will play out...