It’s hard to believe an album like this actually exists. Or maybe not. It’s actually the group’s second album and it’s not like rock musicians haven't flirted with orchestral musicians for a long time now. DEEP PURPLE’s earliest recordings with the MKII lineup in 1970 had an orchestra present. MORBID ANGEL ’s “Domination” had death metal with slight hints of classical. CRADLE OF FILTH has a somewhat orchestrated sound. But what makes EPICA so special is that even though it classifies itself as a metal act, it’s hard to distinguish audio-wise what the band actually is. Every little nook and cranny of this music is filled with orchestral musicians. Periodically these musicians dominate the audio spectrum.

The six-piece band itself is rather large for a rock ensemble in the first place. “Mezzo-Soprano” vocalist Simoe Simons is joined by an 8-person vocal choir. The EPICA orchestra consists of the same amount of people. The results are nothing short of stunning. The listener is constantly pummeled with a bombast that only a band of this magnitude can accomplish. One slight shortcoming is Simons’s similarity in vocal to the ever-annoying whiny wench from EVANESCENCE on some of these tracks. She fares way better when employing the straight-up opera soprano that compliments this music oh so well. Another drawback is that guitarist Mark Jansen’s death metal/black metal vocal stylings are only featured on 3 of the album’s 11 songs. To hear this music with these vocals is downright unfuckingbelievable. With the exception of the opening track “Dance of Fate” the best music on this disc features these extreme vocals. The last of which (the album’s closing composition) “Consign to Oblivion” is a masterpiece and its ten-minute length still left me wanting more. Sometimes I have played it twice in a row. Sometimes I have to play the whole album twice. It’s that good. Really.

- Herring

OFFICIAL SITE: www.epica.nl

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