...And horror, confusion, and fear seized me when I saw that the new EPICA album runs for 75 minutes. And it became agonizingly frightening that I would fall asleep halfway through, that I would be unable to finish this opus. With trembling fingers, I pressed play...
Having released a very decent album in 2003, the band honestly compensated for all the merits of the first with the shortcomings of the second — too calm, occasionally tedious and frankly boring, an uninteresting vocal line, and an absence of objectively strong songs. Then came a film soundtrack which was, to put it mildly, nothing outstanding. In short, there was nothing good to expect from the new album, and the 75-minute length was utterly demoralizing at the mere thought that the material might be as hollow as two years prior. One might say a miracle occurred: EPICA released a very decent disc, having wisely addressed all the shortcomings of the previous record. The disc turned out far more aggressive, swift, and dynamic. "The Divine Conspiracy" is synthesizers plus choir plus Simone's vocals, all supported by the rhythm section and male growling. I will not stoop to the level of those ignorant individuals who equate orchestral arrangements with orchestral sound. The fact that the pseudo-orchestral instruments sound utterly lifeless and emotionless can be heard by anyone with ears. Yes, it's a computer; on the other hand, for a band like this, talk of a full recording with an orchestra will likely never come to pass. EPICA is a decent band that excellently exploits others' ideas. Extreme vocals have once again taken their position in the songs. Simone's voice has grown stronger, become richer in timbre, and in terms of recording quality, this is definitely the band's best release. The only absolute hit would be "Never Enough." Around the fifty-minute mark, the disc frankly becomes tiresome — which is enormous progress, as the previous album induced deadly boredom after literally 10 minutes. The final 20 minutes are already a struggle to get through here as well, especially considering that the disc closes with a 14-minute track. Et tu, Brute — that is all one wants to say to Mark Jansen, the band's leader. Working with large-scale form in metal music is something only a chosen few can master. Credit where it's due — the result is palatable, but disgracefully trivial: a standard instrumental passage, then drums, then the finale — good grief, have all ideas truly been exhausted in this world...