All hail the Lord of the Last Day.
We have examined the manuscript. The information is complete, but does not conform to logical patterns. Flesh cannot be mutated into stone and remorphed back to the body once again. Continue the investigation with special attention given to one word:
Magica is the eighth solo album by Ronnie James Dio, and unique among his discography in that it is a concept album with an incredibly in-depth, epic story told throughout its length that includes detailed events and characters. It follows the story of the planet of Blessing, when a time of celebration is ended by the evil forces of Evilsyde. Led by High-Priest Shadowcast, they seek to conquer Blessing and use the souls of its inhabitants as energy to power their way of life and to summon Astaroth, Grand Duke of Hell. And only one scholar and his mystical book of Magica can stop them...
Magica was the first in what was to be a trilogy, but was ultimately cut short when Dio died of stomach cancer midway through the creation of Magica II & III in 2010. Only one finished song from the sequels, Electra, was released to the public.
Magica provides examples of:
- A Nazi by Any Other Name: The forces of Evilsyde are portrayed as a rogue nation that seek to dispose of everyone else in Blessing via assimilation chambers, though this does have a reason beyond just simple genocide.
- After the End: The plot is framed and told through the discovery of a written history of Blessing by alien explorers so far in the future that Blessing's two suns have long-since expired.
- Album Intro Track: "Discovery"
- Album Title Drop: Many times, since it is the name of the MacGuffin that Evilsyde seek to destroy, but particularly as the final word of the first track, Discovery.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Eriel is a scholarly man of peace, and the one Shadowcast fears most.
- Big Bad: Shadowcast is the high priest and leader of the forces of Evilsyde and seeks to conquer Blessing.
- Bittersweet Ending: Blessing is saved, Evilsyde is defeated, but Eriel is assimilated, Shadowcast escapes and the land is littered with the petrified bodies of the dead.
- Black Eyes of Evil Shadowcast's eyes are shown as featureless, reflective and pure black on the cover art.
- Bragging Theme Tune: Challis: "I am a rock and you are glass / Never broken, never last / And if you're in my way I'll knock you down!
- Celibate Hero: In the years before the events of the album, Eriel reluctantly rebuffed Annica - who would have been his arranged wife - in order to dedicate his life to leading the peoples of Blessing and protecting the Book of Magica.
- Subverted, however, as while this choice was sincere, the two did share one night together first, resulting in the birth of Challis, which Eriel was never told about.
- Coming of Age Story: Challis turns from impulsive and angry to calm and focused throughout the story.
- Concept Album
- Dark Reprise: Due to its placement in the story, the reprise of Lord of the Last Day manages to be a dark reprise while sounding exactly the same.
- Determinator: Shadowcast. The events of Magica are stated to be only one of many attempts on his part to conquer Blessing, which is only the tip of the iceberg compared to when his consciousness infects the alien explorers billions (bare minimum!) of years later. He simply will not die.
- Dirty Coward: Shadowcast specifically forms his plans in order to make up for the cowardice of Evilsyde in the face of the more righteous people of Blessing.
- Disappeared Dad: Challis, which is implied to be behind his hotheaded nature, especially since Eriel's mentorship is so successful.
- Dissonant Serenity: Eriel, amid the horrors in Otherworld. Also Challis when he finally understands his role.
- Epic Instrumental Opener: "Magica Theme". Imagine if Dio scored The Never-Ending Story or The Dark Crystal and you've got a good idea of how epic it is.
- Evil Plan: Shadowcast wants to overthrow Blessing, destroy Magica and resurrect his god, Astaroth.
- Fate Worse than Death: The assimilation chamber processes a person's very spirit into magical energy, intended to power Evilsyde in the absence of Magica.
- Genre Shift: The final track of the album is a fully-fledged audiobook-style telling of the story by Dio himself, complete with incidental music.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Astaroth, the evil god that Shadowcast seeks to summon.
- The Hero Dies: Shadowcast succeeds in assimilating Eriel in Otherworld.
- Karma Houdini: Every member of the invading forces of Evilsyde are obliterated by the Spell of Restoration. Except one. Guess who.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: Evilsyde and Otherworld.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Challis begins the story as a hot-blooded, impulsive youth given to solving problems with fisticuffs, though for what most would consider all the right reasons.
- Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Shadowcast is leader, high priest and executioner of Evilsyde.
- Juxtaposed Halves Shot: While most pressings of the album featured a reversible cover with Shadowcast on one side and Eriel the other, both the disc itself and a lot of promotional material combined the two to form this trope. Some early pressings also have a lenticular cover that allows you to switch from one to the other at will.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Shadowcast, and his forces of Evilsyde.
- Meaningful Name: Aside from the obvious examples of Shadowcast, Blessing and Evilsyde, we have Eriel, meaning lion of God, and Annica, meaning full of grace.
- Murder Ballad: Far from a ballad, but Feed My Head tells of the assimilation process from the viewpoint of a prisoner.
- No Name Given: The alien explorers are given no name or background, aside from hints at their society prior to "Feed My Head".
- No One Could Survive That!!: "Surely Shadowcast was also consumed by fire! But that tale would not yet be told..."
- One-Word Title
- Resurrection: Subverted. Those turned to stone can be restored to life, but only if their spirit hasn't been processed first...
- The Reveal: The Magica Story reveals Challis to be the illegitimate son of Eriel and Annica, which convinces the Council of Blessing to appoint him their leader and the protector of the Book of Magica.
- Rule of Cool: It's a heavy metal album by Ronnie James Dio about one civilisation's efforts to stop a magical high-priest executioner that looks like a demon zombie pirate from effectively murdering their ghosts in a parallel dimension. Just reading that sentence has a 35% chance of blowing your face off.
- Sanity Slippage: Losing My Insanity is either about one's mind breaking or wishing that it would so as to "escape" a terrifying reality.
- Sequel Hook: No less than three (four if you count one that is itself answered later on): Shadowcast's survival and persistence against Blessing, the teasing of The War of the Darkpeace, and, in the framing device, the alien explorers being possessed by Shadowcast.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: Eriel is about the titular elder, and explores his thoughts and resolution in the face of overwhelming odds. So why does it begin with one of the heaviest and foreboding parts of the album? Because
the bulk of the album is written and performed from Shadowcast's perspective, and he fears and abhors Eriel. - Spoken Word in Music: The album contains voice acting for the alien explorers, realised with a speech synthesizer.
- Triumphant Reprise: Magica Theme, this time complete with lyrics as opposed to instrumental. Slightly subverted, however, as there is more than a little wistfulness, representing the mourning amid the victory.
- Villain Song: Lord of the Last Day, which explores Shadowcast's dark machinations.
- Wham Line: "So spoke Annica, mother of Challis."
- Also, at the end of the Magica Theme Reprise: "Now we understand. All traces of Magica must be eliminated. Infection. Infection. Delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete delete delete delete..." followed by the reprise of Lord of the Last Day.
- What Could Have Been: At the time of his death, Dio was working on two sequels to Magica. Only one song, Electra, was completed and released just prior to his passing.
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: "Require explanation. What is love? Who is love? When is love? Where is love? Why is love?"
- Great battles would be fought. Brave heroes would rise to the occasion and legends were created. There was, of course, the unforgettable War of the Darkpeace when Challis- ...Ah. But that's another story.
