EPICA – “Aspiral” (2025)
Personally, EPICA stand proudly at the top of the Symphonic Metal genre. In terms of just music every opinion is valid, noone can argue if you prefer NIGHTWISH’s “Yesterwynde” for instance. But EPICA have been trully restless. After “Omega” they created the collaboration EP “The Alchemy Project” that featured some very stand-out tracks. They have been throwing at us many live videos of their performances and even the promotional material for “Aspiral” is vast. We have the usual video clips, alternative live versions of the singles and an a capella performance of ‘T.I.M.E.’ among other things. To put it simply, if you are their fan you are very lucky.
Even from “The Quantum Enigma”, the band adopted a new sound that allowed them to reach the levels they are today. I find that sound to have peaked with “The holographic principle”, their magnum opus, even if we have to aknowledge how burdened it was in terms of everything. “Omega” had songs with more room to breathe, it was a great record, but it also created the question of what is next for the band since it contained one or two fillers as well. In “Aspiral” the group opts for some sort of reinvention without moving away from their DNA of course. It is clearly an EPICA album at its core but it does things differently.
If you paid attention to the tracklist you will also see some glaring changes. Firstly, there is no intro this time. If you said no big deal, we are talking about the composers of magical intros such as ‘Eidola’. Then again, starting immediately with ‘Cross the divide’ is not a problem either. It goes straight to the point and I like it when artists go out of the beaten path to try something new. The other observation is the lower duration of songs in general, capping at eight minutes in one situation. We do not have something as huge as ‘Kingdom of heaven Pt.III’, but in ‘Darkness dies in light’ and ‘Metanoia’ we come accross some complex parts. In those two we also meet some very heavy outbursts, even more than the ones we had in “Omega” and I can safely say that they are among my favorites moments off “Aspiral”. Again, hats off for trying a new approach.
The cloack each track wears is so different across the record, that makes each one unique and brimming with individuality. There is ‘Arcana’, a magical compisition whose main strength are the vocal melodies and the choir. My two cents go to the prediction that ‘The grand saga of existence’ will make many people jump if encountered live, similar to ‘Beyond the matrix’, I wouldn’t be suprised if it ended up as a staple addition in the setlist for the next couple of years. The title track that closes this work is a ballad that you do not want to skip. Even the choirs are not flat or reused, they come in many different combinations from children only, to female only, to a combo of male and female, they can be encountered in the frontlines or discreetly accompanying Simone, there is surely a step up in that department.
Due to its diversity, the album will be most enjoyed if experienced in its entirety. If you listen only to individuals and depending on what you will choose, you will either say that the band has gone softer, or heavier, or more symphonic, you get the point. I was not sold when I listened to ‘T.I.M.E.’ at the time of its release, I thought it was too basic for EPICA. As part of the whole? I have no problem at all with it, somehow every part complements each other.
If there is something that could put you off, that would be the elimination, or better limitation, of the progressive element. The band embraces more its existence within the Symphonic genre spectrum, so if you expect something similar to ‘Universal death squad’ you will not find it. Moreover, do not expect everything to be in the same level as ‘Darkness dies in the light’. The more adventurous themes are explored earlier in the tracklist with the later half housing more direct moments. They bring the high standard we are trained to expect, but are simpler in comparison nonetheless. I believe trading either ‘Apparition’ or ‘Eye of the storm’ with something else would improve the flow a bit but it is something minor.
All in all “Aspiral” is filled with musical excellency. Everything screams high loads of quality, its lows would be a distant dream for many bands of the genre, while the high points cannot be contained within the atmospheric level. As a major fan of EPICA (they are in my top 3 for the last 18 years) I was positively impressed to see new elements added to the music. They differentiate the band somewhat from the phase started with the “Quantum enigma” keeping things fresh, while maintaining the spice that elevated them to a leading position. For the objectivity of it, I will have to substract a few points out of the score just because the first half impressed me more than the second half. For the same objectivity, I would rank “Aspiral” above “Omega” and below “The holographic principle” as a point of reference with the recent discography. Taking objectivity out the picture and throwing it in the trash can, nothing will dethrone it from my best albums of the year. An album worthy of being crafted by the leaders of an entire scene.
85/100
Pavlos Pavlakis
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