The newest addition to Epica’s music catalog isn’t really new at all. Retrospect is a tenth-anniversary live album, which was recorded in Eindhoven (Netherlands), and it showcases some of the best music the band has performed over the last ten-and-a-half years. There are twenty-six tracks on the album; many of the crowd favorites, but as we know, live performances are different each time and for fans well acquainted with Epica’s studio albums, the nuances of live performance make this recording interesting and diverse enough to warrant purchasing the live L.P.
Epica’s music is so awesome that it’s difficult to believe commercial stations haven’t picked it up. Even stations brave enough to spin alternative tracks play few to zero symphonic metal compositions, so we’re not about to be bombarded with the steamy, operatic vocals of Simone Simons anytime soon. We may not get to hear Mark Jansen’s death metal scream piped over mass media either. He may play guitar and sing like the devil on heat but that’s not enough to get him a regular on-air gig here. Rob Van Der Loo plays a thumping bass, Isaac Delahaye shreds the guitar, Coen Janssen adds a dark dimension on synth and piano, and keeping the beat together on drums is Arien Van Wesenbeek. Imagine how innovative and intriguing radio would be if stations dared to play something inspiringly left-of-center.
Despite the reluctance of mainstream media to play them, Epica made top fifty in Australia with their previous album Requiem for the Indifferent, and for that, we might thank the digital media revolution.
So, with all the talent of this sextet accompanied by the ethereal seventy-piece Extended Reme’nyi Ede Chamber Orchestra and The Miskolc National Theatre Choir, you can only imagine the breath-taking sounds to be heard on Retrospect. From the first track of the LP “Introspect” to the last “Outrospect” we are taken on a journey. It is a roller coaster ride of gentle anticipation followed by walls of sound so vibrant that they temporarily stun and need to be replayed to hear them in fullness. Delicate minuets precede violent crescendos and sunshine playing on the water is contrasted with the furnaces of Hades. Sometimes the journeys are within the songs or music and at other times balladic tracks are butted against heavy ones. After three hours or so, the album spits you out at the end and leaves you feeling like you’ve run the equivalent of an aural marathon…but wait there’s more!
There’s bonus material to assist listeners and viewers to prolong the passion. You can hear the band members interviewed and see backstage footage of the show. Thinking about the massiveness of this undertaking is exhausting, but as with anything that you’re passionate about, it leaves you feeling that exhilarating kind of tired when you know you’ve done something well worthwhile.
These three hours plus of your life spent with Epica are hours that you won’t regret.
Epica: Facebook
Release Year: 2013
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Category: Live Album
Country: Netherlands
Reviewed by Sharon Brookes
