Epica unleashed free mp3 full#
Sure, I would have preferred to have Simone’s vocals higher in the mix, but perhaps I’m being just a little picky? This is a symphonic metal band who concentrate on the latter more than the former, and that’s just fine with me.Yes, they slow it down here and there, but it is when they are at full gallop with the band playing hard and the choir singing their hearts out, and Simone striving to rise above it all, that they are at their very best. In many ways I actually prefer Epica, as the intensity is palpable: here is a band that are all firing on all cylinders, rushing to the end, taking no prisoners. Of course, Epica have a second singer in Mark Jansen who favours death growls as opposed to the ‘proper’ singing of Marco Hietala, so there is a very different feel between the two acts. They are also more downtuned and there is the feeling that this a guitar based-band first and foremost, as opposed to keyboard-based. This is a real shame, as the album as a whole is an incredible piece of work, much more metallic than the band to which they are most often compared, Nightwish, with the twin guitars locked in and riffing hard. Singer Simone Simons has a quite stunning voice, but to be honest she is sometimes drained out by the choir and also by the rest of the band so that she actually loses some of the impact. The production on this album seems to have brought everything together at the highest volume possible, so much so that the listener is quite drained by all of it. Here is one word to describe this 2014 album that rises clearly above all others, “Intensity”. This is essential, nothing more, nothing less. I really do hope that the guys decided to come down to this part of the world for a show one day, as they must be incredible in concert. This is not something that can be played as background music, but rather demands full attention of the listener at all times, as this is all-consuming, and not for the fainthearted. Symphonic over the top progressive metal just doesn’t get any better than this. I was playing these two albums back to back the other day, and even without looking I knew when this one had started as there is a definite lift, a step up in just about everything. The closest way I can think of describing it is like being at a version of Handel’s “Messiah” with full choir and orchestra, but with Slipknot also being involved! It is an overpowering aural assault on the senses, and I love it. It is bombastic, it is massively over the top, and the guitars have reined in just ever so slightly, although at times they still race off like bolting horses that have been given their heads. The intensity is still at the very high level, but Simone seems to be more in control on this one, as opposed to sometimes being swept away. I can’t put my finger on it, but there is definitely something that lifts this 2016 album to a higher plane than the one that came out just two years earlier. It will never be as good but it's certainly essential supplemental material, especially the tracks Architect of Light, Wheel of Destiny and Decoded Poetry, that will serve well to tide listeners over while we wait for the next Epica full-length. If you enjoyed that album then there's little reason not to also pick up The Solace System. Symphonic metal with strong progressive complexity and a bit of power metal influence. Sound wise the six songs are very similar to The Holographic Principle, for obvious reasons. Well overall I'd say that it's true that these ones didn't make the main album for a reason, but the good news is that The Holographic Principle has many claims to being Epica's best album, so the standard is so high that The Solace System's six cast-off songs are still very worthwhile additions to any Epica fan's collection and certainly still better than the work of the average symphonic metal band. After all, these are the six songs that didn't make it onto The Holographic Principle. But due to its very nature one has to wonder going into it if the music will be somehow lesser than their usual high standard. I have albums passed off as full-lengths that are shorter than this. Lasting for a little shy of a full half hour, this is still a fairly substantial new release from Epica. But rather than be regulated to the status of bonus tracks, they've been held back for The Solace System (2017), a six track EP release. Uninterested in releasing a double album, a portion of these songs got dropped from the finished product. When Dutch symphonic metal maestros Epica wrapped up recording their last full-length album The Holographic Principle (2016), they found themselves with more songs than they needed.
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