Their album titles just keep getting worse and worse... lol

Just as well their music continues to be consistently strong, then....

Hope there's a Kingdom of Heaven part 3 if it's about Quantum theory

Lemme guess it's another 75+ minutes album with maybe 1 or 2 distinguishable songs that don't belong to the rest of the forgettable and uninteresting stuff this band has been putting out almost a decade now. Lemme tell you something this band's been going downhill since 2007 and there is no signs of change to that.

POLL: who has fallen from grace more Nightwish or Epica? ... I say Epica, not because they're worse now (than NW), but because they were significantly better before (than NW)

Written by JOPE OF STEELE on 02.06.2016 at 21:16

Lemme guess it's another 75+ minutes album with maybe 1 or 2 distinguishable songs that don't belong to the rest of the forgettable and uninteresting stuff this band has been putting out almost a decade now. Lemme tell you something this band's been going downhill since 2007 and there is no signs of change to that.

POLL: who has fallen from grace more Nightwish or Epica? ... I say Epica, not because they're worse now (than NW), but because they were significantly better before (than NW)

I'd say Nightwish since Endless Forms Most Beautiful was a disappointment with Floor now in their ranks, where as Quantum Enigma and Design Your Universe are great Epica albums.

Epica's sound changed when Isaac joined the band but it's still great music, if you keep expecting another Divine Conspiracy, I think you'll always be disappointed.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Written by HyperDrifter on 03.06.2016 at 19:40

Written by JOPE OF STEELE on 02.06.2016 at 21:16

Lemme guess it's another 75+ minutes album with maybe 1 or 2 distinguishable songs that don't belong to the rest of the forgettable and uninteresting stuff this band has been putting out almost a decade now. Lemme tell you something this band's been going downhill since 2007 and there is no signs of change to that.

POLL: who has fallen from grace more Nightwish or Epica? ... I say Epica, not because they're worse now (than NW), but because they were significantly better before (than NW)

I'd say Nightwish since Endless Forms Most Beautiful was a disappointment with Floor now in their ranks, where as Quantum Enigma and Design Your Universe are great Epica albums.

Epica's sound changed when Isaac joined the band but it's still great music, if you keep expecting another Divine Conspiracy, I think you'll always be disappointed.

Now that you mention it, I had totally forgotten about the existence of Endless Forms Most Beautiful and haven't even heard it yet. Therefore my comparison may be a bit off since it's based only on DPP and Imaginaerum vs DYU, RftI and TQE.

The point of this comparison is not actually to decide who is better or worse, but to point out that both these bands are releasing these 70-75+ minutes lasting albums, for which I see as the only reason to add some epic or whatever value to the songs which IMO results often in many songs with lots of (unnecessary) longevity and uninteresting parts. I suppose it's a matter of opinion and probably nobody agree with the statement, that "The Divine Conspiracy" is the only great 70+ minutes album, that has enough quality material for that length, by either of these bands. Therefore I see that progression from "Once" to "DPP" to "Imaginaerum" ("EFMB" excluded) not as drastically decreasing as from "TDC" to "DYU" to "RftI" to "TQE". But that's just one point of view.

Even to me the title is cringeworthy. But I am sure that their music will not disappoint. Epica is always my go-to as it has everything: beautiful melodies, voice, lady, powerful lyrics, rhythms, Mark, catchiness, ballads, songs, etc. They're a complete-out-of-this-world package.

Can't wait

Hope it follows the line of "Quantum Enigma" and not Requiem.

If possible, hope it can surpass it.

Just got the promo copy, for a review... and after those two first singles I was really afraid and looked very suspicious in all those praising reviews. But this is the shit! Could be their best? Definitely.

Well that was disappointing. A bunch of throwaway tracks (and lyrics) amidst a few highlights that aren't anywhere near to being discography highlights. What annoys me the most is the verses and mid-sections that are clearly just uninspired bores to decorate the choruses (that aren't very effective either). Nothing new here. Did they forget they used to write varied and transporting tracks like Façade of Reality, Consign to Oblivion, Chasing the Dragon, Death of a Dream, Fools of Damnation, and Kingdom of Heaven? There's nothing that surprises me or draws me in on this album. One listen of a song reveals all that was put into it: a minimal amount of thought. Any interesting element has been done 10x better on an earlier album. This band is getting too comfortable releasing mediocrity every two years.

What a surprise, I expected this to be mediocre after an album like TQE but it's amazing. There are a lot of fresh ideas and it's seems they focused on being groovy rather than symphonic this time around. It also sounds a lot better than TQE production-wise.
The 5 bonus acoustic tracks are fantastic as well, they should make that aspect of the band a thing.

Wow I came on this page expecting a 7.something rating...

Written by Nicko's Nose on 01.10.2016 at 01:28

Wow I came on this page expecting a 7.something rating...

Give it time

I am an old fan of Epica and that was the only band I supported even not being a symphonic metal fan that much. I tried to listen the new release many times (over 10) and I was vastly disappointed. This is the FIRST epica release that's completely uninspired, lacking all the unique characteristics that they had, far away from the quality of the epic atmosphere, the orchestra overwhelming melodies, the smashing leads and the groovy rhythms that they used before. Their sound was mainstream and generic for many albums now (since the third album maybe) but the last one sounded like one of the billions of bad symphonic metal bands out there. So much frustrated, I hope this is not the beginning of a new bad era.

The only parts the remained from their old sound are somewhere in the mid of the album, in tracks #8 to #12 where we can listen to some up tempo groovy passages (the best is in track #12 in the middle of the track) that they already use from the second album onwards. But that could be some excellent fillers of one of their previous works and not the best and only good for a new release.

Well this one kinda failed to impress me, i really like their second half of the last album, sadly this one didn't build up on it, nor the legendary The Divine Conspiracy or Design Your Universe.

yes they tried to explore something new but ended up in a very tasteless way.

for past few release and their live performance recent years it seems Simone is having some trouble with her voice, but I'd say she did well this time so it's not her problem interpreting the music, it's the rest of the band kinda get lost finding new directions. shame they just couldn't bring their best together at a time.

This is even more tedious than "The Astonishing"

Was that a soda can at the very end of the acoustic extra "Beyond the Good, The Bad and the Ugly"? I'm amused.

Written by [user id=126528] on 01.10.2016 at 02:09

Written by Nicko's Nose on 01.10.2016 at 01:28

Wow I came on this page expecting a 7.something rating...

Give it time

True story

Written by Xyanade on 01.10.2016 at 17:58

Well this one kinda failed to impress me, i really like their second half of the last album, sadly this one didn't build up on it, nor the legendary The Divine Conspiracy or Design Your Universe.

yes they tried to explore something new but ended up in a very tasteless way.

for past few release and their live performance recent years it seems Simone is having some trouble with her voice, but I'd say she did well this time so it's not her problem interpreting the music, it's the rest of the band kinda get lost finding new directions. shame they just couldn't bring their best together at a time.

I think Simone is losing her voice (+/-) =\
its been more present the voice of mark jansen in the Epica nowadays albums, and Simone don't do the same voice in the previous albums =\

(sorry for my bad English lool difficult to explain xD)

I find the album to be a little too long, which to me it makes me loose focus and perhaps relevant songs pass by without proper attention. But I think it's good in general.

As for the slight change in style, I think there's more groove, guitars stand out a bit more over orchestration and Simone's singing performance although quite acceptable, it's definitely less ambitious compared to what she had demonstrated in Design Your Universe and prior albums.

Give it a few spins. Its gets better, in my opinion.

However im not absolutely sure yet, if this release reaches the quality and appeal of " The Quantum Enigma".

I need to listen to it a few times more.

The Funky Algorithm made me giggle. This album as a whole is definitely a grower, but I can see how it wouldn't appeal to some people. I definitely enjoy this more than RFTI, not sure about TQE yet.

I'm not sure. Overall it's a solid release, but it's not grasping me fully. Certain tracks are missing standout moments and a catchiness that makes you hit rewind; they flow well, but never reach that climax that you want.

Hopefully it'll grow on me.

I had really high hopes for this album and they weren't really met. I like it more each time I listen to it so there's that.

I think "Universal Death Squad" is so cheesy as to make me cringe every time I see the title. I skip over it every time.

But yeah, I definitely agree that this seems like another iteration of Requiem for the Indifferent.

I've given it a couple of listens... nothing memorable. Unimaginative vocals, instrumentation is ordinary. wasn't expecting to be this disappointed. Even Requiem for the Indifferent had a few moments I still remember.

This on the other hand, is totally bland. and a couple of songs seemed like a joke.

One of the best albums of 2016!

One of their best albums. It has the exactly the right balance between symphonic and heavy metal elements.

Written by Nihil Aeternum on 02.10.2016 at 14:06

This is even more tedious than "The Astonishing"

It is not Epica's best album..but to compare with a shit like the astonishing is a bit too..cruel