Tag Archives: Epica

Artist: Epica Album Title: Omega Label: Nuclear Blast Date of Release: 26 February 2021 My history with Epica dates back to 2007 and the release of their third full-length album, ‘The Divine Conspiracy’. I was writing for Powerplay Magazine at the time and Epica were one of three bands to feature as part of a  Continue Reading »

  Artist: Ayreon Album Title: The Source Label: Mascot Label Group/Music Theories Recordings Date Of Release: 28 April 2017 My relationship with the music of Arjen Anthony Lucassen is a complex one. I would definitely class myself as a fan, but not one without reservation, as the back catalogue contains both the sublime and the  Continue Reading »

Welcome to day nine of my ‘Album of the Year 2016’ top 30 countdown. Are you all still with me? I certainly hope so. If you have just discovered this blog or this particular series, please feel free to check out the previous entries – my picks for 23-30 can be found via the links  Continue Reading »

Artist: Epica Album Title: The Holographic Principle Label: Nuclear Blast Records Date Of Release: 30 September 2016 I’m nothing if not honest – ‘beauty and the beast’ symphonic metal is a genre that I have lost a lot on interest in. Subsequently, I’ve not been sufficiently invested in this seemingly saturated loose sub-genre order to  Continue Reading »

Artist: Universal Mind Project Album Title: The Jaguar Priest Label: Inner Wound Recordings Date Of Release: 29 April 2016 It is one thing to be impressed by an album from a band that you’re familiar with but one of the best feelings when reviewing music is being absolutely bowled over by a band that you  Continue Reading »

Artist: Kamelot Album Title: Haven Label: Napalm Records Year Of Release: 2015 If I look back around 10-15 years, I had one go-to band for melodic metal: Kamelot. Their albums ‘Karma’ (2001) and ‘Epica’ (2003) remain firm favourites in my collection. The former was actually discovered via a trip to my favourite record store many  Continue Reading »

I received some great feedback to my original post entitled ‘Heavy metal is not just ‘shouty’ music’ but a few people criticised it for one important reason: my post only featured male vocalists. This was in no way deliberate and, to underline this point, I have decided to write a second post that puts some  Continue Reading »

Ever since I began to listen to rock and metal some twenty years ago now, I have been delighted by and frustrated by a particular phenomenon…the instrumental interlude. Most of the time, these pieces of music are used as an introduction to an album or as a closer. Often, instrumentals act as book-ends, both opening  Continue Reading »