Nuclear Blast
2014
1. Originem (Intro)
2. The Second Stone
3. The Essence Of Silence
4. Victims Of Contingency
5. Sense Without Sanity - The Impervious Code
6. Unchain Utopia
7. The Fifth Guardian - Interlude
8. Chemical Insomnia
9. Reverence - Living In The Heart
10. Omen - The Ghoulish Malady
11. Canvas Of Life
12. Natural Corruption
13. The Quantum Enigma - Kingdom Of Heaven Part II
Epica is a band I generally love, but the title for Requiem For The Indifferent was on the appropriate side as it left me with a total feeling of indifference. For whatever reason the songwriting seemed to take a nosedive from the incredibly epic and heavy Design Your Universe. Going into this one I was really hoping for a rebound and it didn't seem at all out of the question. After all, I didn't like The Divine Conspiracy much either so the band has been on a bit of a hit and miss pattern. The thing is that the hits tend to be very worth it.
First listening to this I have to say that the album was making me slightly nervous. After the intro track the first few tracks are good, but also seem a bit disjointed and chaotic at times as they seem to heavily lean on the death metal side of things. Elements like the quick switches between operatic and death vocals in Victims Of Conspiracy for instance strike me as just a bit jarring. I was enjoying the material through the first four tracks, but I wasn't completely sold.
The best was yet to come however as by track 5, Sense Without Sanity, things start to get really good. From here on out the music doesn't try to be overly complex or heavy and instead finds it's groove with a good heavy beat, nice atmospheric passages, and the choral elements giving the material an epic kick. From this track on the album really doesn't let me go at all and it became increasingly hard to pick favorites. Now THIS is the Epica I love. The rest of the album just finds a better balance between heaviness and operatic/symphonic elements and delivers. At many points the music seems to alternate between heavier passages and then slower ones which allow the vocals to breathe and is a winning formula.
Highlights are many, but include Chemical Insomnia with it's alternating heaviness and more mid-paced vocal passages, Reverence - Living In The Heart with it's similarly shapeshifting tone, the epic Sense Without Sanity which is driven by a slow burn heaviness, and Omen - The Ghoulish Malady which has sort of an energized ballad feel to it and features some excellent vocals from both Simone and from the backing chorus. Perhaps the fitting crown jewel for an album like this though is the closing title epic which clocks in at 11:53 and keeps the listener's attention for the duration. This is the kind of album and band that thrives on epics with symphonic movements and this is no exception. Amusingly the title track is also subtitled The Kingdom Of Heaven Part 2 and the first one is my favorite Epica song. That's a good trend to keep going. Also worth noting are tracks like Unchain Utopia with it's level of catchiness in it's operatic mid-pace, Natural Corruption with it's high energy, and the beautiful ballad Canvas Of Life that could easily made this list as well and I only leave them off the highlights at the end of the review because I can't list Everything and had to choose favorites somehow. These could easily be singles in their own right(s) however.
To sum it up, The Quantum Enigma is pretty much a total win for Epica. The only slight mark against it is the slow start, but after the first few tracks this album is pretty much pure gold and around thirteen minutes on this huge hour+ album is pretty forgivable. Especially when those songs are still pretty good. If you like female fronted symphonic metal then you totally need to get The Quantum Enigma. This is just everything I could have hoped it would be.
Highlights: The Quantum Enigma - Kingdom Of Heaven Part II, Chemical Insomnia, Reverence - Living In The Heart, Sense Without Sanity, Omen - The Ghoulish Malady
Rating - 4.5/5
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