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I first became a fan of this band after their last album “Karma”. The Elizabeth Bathory Trilogy at the end of that album was absolutely brilliant, not to mention how damn good the rest of the album was. The band once again ventures forth with their latest album “Epica” and as the title would suggest, this is a very epic album. It is a concept album based on Faust by J.W. Von Goethe. Now a concept album by a melodic power/prog band isn’t exactly a new idea but one that comes close to being as good Blind Guardian’s “Nightfall in Middle Earth” sure as hell is! For those of you that are fans of this particular genre you know how much praise this really is and so let me reassure you when I say, yes, this album is that damn good.

The album has 16 tracks but 6 of these are just interludes to help advance the story and to give the listener a chance to catch their breath before the next song takes it away again. Every member of the band displays an absolute mastery of their individual instrument and I can say they have never sounded this comfortable and tight on any of their previous releases. The songs themselves run the entire spectrum of tempo with more than a few tempo changes throughout each individual song. These various tempo changes also give the feeling of a continuous storyline and along with the interludes this really gives an excellent cohesive feel to the album. All of this added with all orchestration involved makes the album seem very large and deep. You will definitely have to listen to this album more than a few times to hear everything.

Overall this album is very, very impressive that takes you on one hell of a good ride and like all good rides this is one that you will come back to again and again. Highly Highly Recommended.

Favorite Tracks – This is one of those albums that has no weak tracks. Every song is perfect for one reason or another.

Additional Information

The first edition of the album will be issued as a limited digipack featuring a bonus track, a poster, special interactive multimedia tracks and a few more surprises.