I'll be honest to start this review off; I can't actually remember the last time I dove into an Epica album. There's something about their classical-tinged, beauty and the beast metal that never had a strong appeal for me. I have kept an ear to the ground, but the stampede of their ever-growing fan base hasn't gotten close enough to trample me just yet. Still, I'm always interested to hear if things have changed, if my perspective might be coming at things from a different angle now, so it feels like a good time to see what Epica has in store for us today.
Epica is, as always, an exercise in excess. "Omega" clocks in at 70 minutes of dense, symphonic music. It is not easy listening, nor for the impatient among us. I tend to say the same things, and I'll repeat myself again; if you're making either a song or album that is longer than average, you have to use your time wisely and justify every second. With this long album starting out with 100 seconds of orchestral introductions, that philosophy is shunned before we even get going. The band is asking for a good chunk of our time, and then proceeds to essentially waste some of it before getting to the damn point. If you can't tell, I am beyond sick to death of pointless introductory tracks.
Once we get into the meat of the album, Epica is even more frustrating than ever. On the one hand, their melodic and symphonic metal is the best it's ever been. Simone Simmons sounds great singing these melodies, which are strong and rousing. As a dramatic band, Epica is really good at pulling off a tricky feat. On the other hand, I don't find their death metal particularly interesting, or in any way necessary. I know it's part of their DNA, but it adds a flimsy veneer of fake anger atop a deeper and richer existence. Simone is capable of sining over their heavier moments, so the band doesn't gain any power by pushing her aside for growling.
I'll draw an easy comparison to the band Illumishade, who released their first album last year. They are composed of the same basic framework, but that band focused on beautiful vocals and a tight presentation, while Epica has no focus and a bloated album. It's not hard to decide which is the better path; Epica's decisions have always made it hard for me to get excited about their music, even when I should be, and this album shows not much has changed in the way I interact with the band. I'm impressed by their capabilities, I'm swept up by their beautiful moments, and I'm deeply annoyed when they drift off into more boring territory.
I'm not trying to tell you what to enjoy, so if the two sides of Epica sound great together to your ears, that's great. I can only be honest about my experience, which was a pendulum swinging between frustration and relief. The question I have to ask is whether the good outweighs the bad, and by how much. The answer is yes, there is certainly more good here than the bits I have issues with, but no, those don't outweigh my issues enough to make the album worth investing that much time in, repeatedly.
To ask me to listen to your album for over an hour, it needs to conquer my attention. "Omega" doesn't do that. The best moments here are fantastic, but they don't carry through for the entire running time, and I don't want to have to justify to myself listening to something I don't fully enjoy.
Once again, Epica is a very good, albeit flawed, band. You may, but I don't have the patience to look past those flaws, so "Omega" is an album I will only revisit in bits and pieces.
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