Requiem for the Indifferent

First thing is that you need to listen this album a few times, my first impressions were a very promising start in the first four songs and then it went a bit down hill after that but after listening to it a good few times the brilliance of the album as a whole became obvious.Like all the previous studio albums this one has plenty of cinematic energy but in my opinion its not quite as good as design your universe, in part because the grunt vocals are not as clear and there is a slight increase in screaming.All the songs are excellent but storm the sorrow, avalanche and the title track requiem of the indifferent are particularly brilliant, overall its not their best work but an excellent album nonetheless

Apparently, 'Design Your Universe' is the most played album on my iPod, and 'Unleashed' the most played track. That's a good indication of how much I liked Epica's previous effort, so I had high expectations for this album.

IMPORTANT: the first thing to be aware of is that there was an error in the mastering of the CD which means that, on this initial batch at least, the final 'proper' track (i.e. excluding the bonus track), 'Serenade of Self-Destruction' has made it onto the album without the vocals. It doesn't appear, at present, that Nuclear Blast are offering a disc replacement scheme, which is poor. However, a download of the full track is available via the band's website, so the first thing you should do is head over there and grab it. It comes in two formats, one of which is .WAV, so it sounds great, but the whole situation is unfortunate. I suppose I might have / should have deducted a point from the score for this, but ...

Onto the album itself. On first listen I wasn't sure about it. There is so much going on that it's hard to take in at first, and it's definitely not as listener-friendly initially. On second listen I used my headphones and sat with the lyrics in front of me, and the whole album opened up into a world of wonders. Third, fourth and fifth listens have only emphasised how good it is. The production is fantastic, bringing through all the minor details. Simone's vocals are outstanding. I believe she's really been pushed on this album, and it works. There is a lot more grunting on this album, and it really serves to accentuate the light and shade of the songs. The musicianship is, as you would expect, first class. Isaac Delahaye's solos have an excellent clarity and power. The whole thing has a sense of collaboration about it, which is impressive.

The songs themselves: time will tell, but at the moment 'Storm the Sorrow', 'Requiem for the Indifferent', 'Deep Water Horizon', 'Deter the Tyrant', 'Avalanche' and 'Serenade of Self-Destruction' rank among my favourites that the band has yet recorded. And the rest of the tracks aren't far behind. It also has to be said that, even in its pseudo-instrumental form on the CD, 'Serenade ...' is simply awesome, conveying bags of atmosphere, and the full version has a marvellous, soaring chorus. I have to say that 'Delirium' is probably my favourite on the album at the moment: it's a showcase for Simone's voice and builds up slowly but steadily to a brilliant finish.

So, in short, it is another marvellous effort from the band and, for me at least, they seem to be building and improving upon what has gone before with each successive release.

Hoping for a UK date on the tour.

ETA: I notice that the Amazon page for the digibook edition is now showing 'Twin Flames' included as a bonus track. Please note that this was not on the version I received, and isn't shown on the image of the digibook's back cover either. It is, however, available to download from the usual outlets.

Here it is. Epica's eagerly awaited (by me at least) fourth studio album, Requiem for the Indifferent.

Requiem, as any existing Epica fans may expect, is very much in a similar vein to their previous two albums, The Divine Conspiracy and the absolutely untouchably fantastic Design Your Universe. They would have a hard job exceeding their past record, and in a sense, they haven't. I don't know what the band would have had to pull out of the bag to surpass Design Your Universe, but they haven't done that. Nonetheless, they have produced yet another great album of similar quality.

Requiem doesn't display an enormous amount of difference or progression from previous works. The same vocals and instrumentation are still there; typical Epica style is unchanged. Soaring operatic vocals from Simone, symphonic elements giving a touch of movie-soundtrack theatricality, mid-heaviness guitars... There are a few differences though. There are softer moments, with piano sections, whispered and softly sung vocals, more melody and less blasting guitar. Then again, there are heavier moments too: more use is made of the guttural death metal-style vocals (although the music itself never approaches death metal territory) and the guitars chug in an impressively heavy metal fashion. There are also some interesting elements woven in too, such as the Arabian rhythms of the title and final track. Most interestingly, though, and most impressive is the more progressive edge that surfaces now and then amongst the more traditional power/symphonic metal stylings. My personal favourite track - the apocalyptic Internal Warfare - other than being massively badass is also surprisingly progressive, especially towards the second half. Rhythmic shotgun guitars, soundtrack symphonics, epic, chorally backed vocals, wonderfully dramatic key changes, tempo changes and contrasting piano backing. Quite simply an excellent track which is far more in-your-face power metal-tastic than you would expect from Epica. The Dream Theater dual guitars and keyboards at the end provide yet more unexpected awesome. The title track also plays with exotic rhythms, solos and clever dual guitar melodies in a way that suggests the band have gotten a little bit cleverer since their last foray.

The album slows down a little towards the end, with softer (yet still great) tracks like Avalanche, which builds to a heavier conclusion, Chasing the Dragon style. The softer and cleaner bits are well contrasted with After Forever-esque fist-pumping power, epic orchestral drama and satisfyingly heavy crunch. The second half of Deep Water Horizon is more like listening to the orchestral soundtrack to Pirates of the Caribbean, albeit with some guitar solos, while Deter the Tyrant is pure Dream Theater (although of course with Epica's own twist on things).

Quite simply put, it's not quite as good as Design your Universe, but isn't far off.