Epica - Requiem For The Indifferent review
| Band: | Epica |
| Album: | Requiem For The Indifferent |
| Style: | Symphonic metal |
| Release date: | March 09, 2012 |
| Guest review by: | TheJester |
01. Karma
02. Monopoly On Truth
03. Storm The Sorrow
04. Delirium
05. Internal Warfare
06. Requiem For The Indifferent
07. Anima
08. Guilty Demeanor
09. Deep Water Horizon
10. Stay The Course
11. Deter The Tyrant
12. Avalanche
13. Serenade Of Self-Destruction
14. Nostalgia [bonus]
15. Twin Flames [bonus]
The previous Epica album, I can freely say, was a masterpiece. I read a lot of negative reviews on this album so I decided to write a review myself. Is this the weakest Epica album? Yes. Is this a bad album? No!
With this album, Epica decided to change a few things that were significant in previous ones. The album is mostly guitar-oriented; the riffs are good and heavy, but we can sense the absence of symphonic orchestra elements. Also Simone was singing mostly with a clean, non-falsetto voice, which also was one of significant factors, so I can understand why people rage over this album so much. However, Simone did heavenly good vocal melodies even without falsetto. Mark's growls were also on point.
As I said, the album is guitar-oriented and the factor I liked the most were the really good guitar tapping harmonies in "Requiem For The Indifferent" and "Avalanche", and those melodic hard rock guitar solos. On this album, you can notice how much influence Thomas Youngblood of Kamelot had on Mark Jansen. Riffs were totally like the ones from The Black Halo album from Kamelot.
Of course there were bland and flat moments on the album, for example "Delirium". This is a ballad that lasted 6 minutes and had weak culmination, somewhat like "White Waters" from the previous record. The title song, "Requiem For The Indifferent", was also one of the weakest ones; a catchy falsetto chorus and cool guitar harmonies in the middle but that's it.
All in all this IS their weakest album (so far), but I feel it would get less criticism if it was shorter. Bands rarely release albums of 60+ minutes that are masterpieces like Design Your Universe.
Highlights of the album: "Storm The Sorrow", "Internal Warfare", "Deep Water Horizon", "Stay The Course", "Deter The Tyrant", "Avalanche", "Serenade Of Self-Destruction"
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 6 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by TheJester | 28.04.2020
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Rating:
8.0
8.0
|
Rating: 8.0 |
Epica is back with a new album, trying to continue their success over the past years and to satisfy their many fans, even though they're not experimenting with a whole new approach this time; the result is something different from Design Your Universe. Requiem for the Indifferent is less aggressive and more accessible, but at the end of the day it's just as enjoyable. The album has its flaws like every other Epica album, but almost every song has enough interesting moments to look forward to. It can be the professional choirs, some good riffs and solos, some well timed growls or Simone's amazing vocals. But you also have to endure the average done-to-death stuff that keep appearing throughout your lengthy listen. Read more ›› |
Rating:
7.0
7.0
|
Rating: 7.0 |
So I've finally marshaled my thoughts on Requiem for the Indifferent. I love Epica, they are my third favorite band, but when I heard this album I didn't fanboy out, I just sat there in confusion unsure of what to think. What's really different about this album is that's it's not as inherently catchy as their previous material, it's slower as well and a lot more progressive. Ultimately this album really doesn't stack up to the rest of their discography and especially not Design Your Universe which is literally one song away from being perfect; they clearly decided to experiment with this album which I have no problem with, but in music one must be careful with experimentation because while in this case it's not completely disastrous it could have been so much worse. In some cases that experimentation on this album works well and it was somewhat refreshing. Read more ›› |
Comments
| TheJester Posts: 11  |
Written by Irritable Ted on 28.04.2020 at 20:13 I think they can't make bad album honestly. "Serenade of Self-Destruction" is a classic in my opinion and of course "Storm the Sorrow" ; one of my first Epica songs. Review of The Quantum Enigma should be published soon.
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| mariano Posts: 372 |
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