Out now
Words by Jimmy Glinster
Symphonic metal is not something that I would usually give the time of day, because synths for the most part shit me to tears. Since Simone Simons and her band EPICA have been doing this for the last 20 years or so, though, I thought that maybe I should give them a small part of my day to review their latest effort.
This time around they’ve embarked on a journey through seven extraordinary new songs co-written and performed with a diverse range of guests including extremists Fleshgod Apocalypse, Niilo Sevänen (Insomnium), Björn ‘Speed’ Strid (Soilwork), melodic masters Tommy Karevik (Kamelot), keyboard legend Phil Lanzon (Uriah Heep) and Roel van Helden (Powerwolf) as well as a literal fuck ton of others. I’ll be 100% honest here, I don’t know any of those people’s names, but I do know all of those band names. Even Uriah Heep, but don’t hold that against me.
Onto the music, and to my disgust the opening track The Great Tribulation starts with a whole heap of synth strings. But hey, I should have known what to expect, right? There is also a haunting chant occurring over the intro passage. Shit then gets surprisingly heavy really quickly as I assume Fleshgod Appocalypse jump onboard. As much as I love Simone’s voice, it’s already shitting me to tears because it always just seems a little too Epic for the moment. I guess that’s what ya get with a name like Epica right? Big, heavy track!
I think someone forgot to turn the gate off on the drums at the start of Wake The World, but they soon release it and the song starts chugging along. This time without so many synth strings. I mean, they are still there, just slightly less prominent. You’ve gotta love when a song starts with a whole heap of Woo Oo’s, or do you? This is a major shift from the pace and heaviness of the opening track. It’s a bit slow to hold my concentration for any decent amount of time.
The Final Lullaby is no lullaby, it rocks straight from the get-go. The guitar riff is rad, and when it fucks off and the bass takes over, it’s even radder! Is radder even a word, can I just claim it now anyway? Probably the catchiest song so far, even when those over epic vocals kick in again, and they actually fit in quite well this time around. This one features Shining whoever they/he/she is. Sorry, I didn’t want to assume genders. Due to the gang vocals mid song though, I will assume that there is a quite a few of them, even one cracking out a sax solo mid song. And yes, it’s about as awkward as that sax solo in The Lost Boys.
Next is Sirens – Of Blood And Water, which features a couple of sirens by the name of Charlotte Wessels and Amalie Bruun. Watch yourself boys, these two alongside Simone will sink the toughest of vessels. The track also features the rest of Myrkur too if you know who they are, I don’t. Anyway, back to the sirens, Ooft, those voices, so sweet yet still so epic. I think I’m in love, I’m just not sure who with. Oh, and the music was ok I guess.
Death Is Not The End doesn’t fuck around in the slightest. It kicks off heavy and continues to stay heavy, apart from the odd short burst of symphonic filth. This one features Frank Schiphorst of MaYaN and Bjorn ‘Speed’ Strid of Soilwork. The gospel chants all over the place are kind of shitting me, as is the synth all over the place. That’s what happens when someone who doesn’t really dig symphonic metal gets given a symphonic metal album for review, right? Apart from all that, though, it’s a solid as fuck track!
I fell a bit behind there typing smack, but when I stopped I realised I was being devastated by a track titled Human Devastation. It’s devastating, devastatingly devastating. Ok, I’ll stop now. Heavy track featuring Henri Sattler of God Dethroned and Sven de Caluwé of Aborted. With that guest list, you’d expect shit to get heavy, and it does, devastatingly.
Alright, I survived the devastation but have landed in some kind of heavy ballad titled The Miner. There is a fair few people having a crack at vocals on this one including Asim Searah of Damnation Plan, Niilo Sevänen of Insomnium and Roel van Helden of Powerwolf. No idea who does which bit or if they all even sing, but there is a lot going on within this track. Overall, it’s a slow burner, but it is generally heavy, it’s just not fast.
It’s actually a good album closer. Is 7 tracks an album though, or an EP? Anyway, I actually enjoyed that, and the synth strings were nowhere near as annoying as expected. I guess when you’ve been doing this for 20 years, you’ve probably figured out how to do it well.
Do they do it well? Fuck oath they do, and if you’re a Dungeons and Dragons fan I’m sure you’ll love the shit out of this in between re-runs of Game of Thrones and The Witcher.
I’ll probably never listen again, but I experienced it, and so should you!
