It will be done!! Thanks buddy.

Pretty good ranking Willie 👍

Album Rating: 4.5

Naaah





The Divine Conspiracy > Holographic > Phantom > Design > Consign > quantum > Requiem > Omega.



:p

Album Rating: 4.0

ngl I'm probably one of the few people that...doesn't really like Design Your Universe all that much

Album Rating: 3.6 | Sound Off

@Dewinged: Really? Divine and Holographic that high? Clearly we look for different things in the band. Especially with Omega so low. Nothing in their discography is worse than Requiem, so it kind of hurts to it beating out Omega.



@Everybody: If you've never heard the "Gold Edition" version of Design Your Universe, give it a shot. It elevates that album so much.

Hey I'm with you XD I think you're referring to Dream's ranking. Omega is probably my favorite.

Album Rating: 4.0

I have never met a bad Epica album

Album Rating: 3.6 | Sound Off

@Dewinged: Yep, you are right. Ha ha. Damn phone screen.



@Pizza: I think Requiem for the Indifferent is terrible, and Consign to Oblivion is below average.

Album Rating: 4.5

This is the thing, while Divine and Phantom may lack in the technical and vocal department (especially the latter) when compared to their latest stuff, the songwritting was just phenomenal.



Omega while not being a bad album ofc, to me it just feels like more the same. Nothing really exciting other than the Code of Life and Rivers, and damn I really tried to like it, trust me. Even bought the vinyl.



I partly agree with you about Requiem. Everything up to the title track is pretty great. After that it's just a giant mess. So much they released the whole thing without adding vocals to Serenade of self destruction. :D

Album Rating: 4.5

"@Everybody: If you've never heard the "Gold Edition" version of Design Your Universe, give it a shot. It elevates that album so much.'



Interesting. Will check.

"I have never met a bad Epica album"

Me neither. They always deliver. I can't help to compare them to Nightwish cause it used to be a big debate back in the day and I always thought Epica was so much better that it wasn't even a contest in my mind. I must admit I never got Nightwish...

"I think Requiem for the Indifferent is terrible"

What?! C'mon Willie, it's not even their worst. Not among their best but it's not a terrible album

Album Rating: 4.0

gonna be real, none of the Epica albums pre-Quantum Enigma interest me. I find them all pretty boring.



Once they went to Joost van den Broek as their producer, that's when they really wowed me.

Album Rating: 3.6 | Sound Off

Funny you say that:



We are celebrating the 10th anniversary of our milestone album ‘Design Your Universe”. To mark this special occasion, we will be re-releasing this fan-favorite album as a Gold Edition on October 4th through Nuclear Blast. This edition will contain the album remixed and remastered by Joost van den Broek with updated artwork.

Album Rating: 4.0

oh neat, I'll listen to it lmao



I dug this btw, definitely more of a streamlined album from them which is pretty refreshing.

Album Rating: 3.6 | Sound Off

This is the thing, while Divine and Phantom may lack in the technical and vocal department (especially the latter) when compared to their latest stuff, the songwritting was just phenomenal.

I think the songwriting was different on those albums (especially Phantom). It was more folky and the choirs take an actual vocal role instead of a supporting role. It's probably one of the reasons I'm not the biggest fan of those two releases.

Omega while not being a bad album ofc, to me it just feels like more the same

Omega, to me, felt like a transition album. It was the first one that kind of went a little more simple and a little less extreme. I still didn't expect them to take it as far as they did on this release, but it started there and so it felt very different to me. Songs like Skeleton Key and Abyss of Time felt very new. On the other hand, Code of Life felt like a homage to their debut album.

So much they released the whole thing without adding vocals to Serenade of self destruction. :D

Ha ha. I never heard anything about that.

I can't help to compare them to Nightwish cause it used to be a big debate back in the day and I always thought Epica was so much better that it wasn't even a contest in my mind. I must admit I never got Nightwish...

The Nightwish comparison is just because they're one of the top symphonic bands, but stylistically they share very little in common. I think Nightwish was the undisputed champs of symphonic metal for the longest time just by sheer popularity and the shows they put on and the creativity (I say this even though I'm not a big fan of Nightwish either... especially pre-Floor). At some point though, Epica's songs and live shows and output started to surpass Nightwish. Especially by the time of Human:Nature.

Album Rating: 4.0

This album is scratching the itch I had after being underwhelmed by the current Nightwish album. Easily a 4 for me.

Album Rating: 4.5

@willie: your take on the differences between the first and the latest albums does make a lot of sense. Didn't see it that way before tbh.



For sure Simone's evolution has been granting her a more predominant role in the band when compared to the first releases.

Album Rating: 3.6 | Sound Off

Yeah. I saw Omega as the first step towards the change in their sound. They still retainined enough of their previous extreme metal influences but it seemed clear they wanted to streamline their sound.

Album Rating: 3.6 | Sound Off

I just got my pre-order, and saw another reason this album might be so different. Just saw Rob (their bass player) wrote alot of the songs and pretty much most the poppy, simplistic, songs. He's brining that simple Delain shit to Epica ;)



History lesson boys and girls... On The Quantum Enigma, he didn't write any songs. On The Holographic Principle he wrote "Ascension - Dream State Armageddon" (one song out of twelve). It's good, but one of the weaker songs on the album. On Omega he was up to two songs (out of twelve): "The Skeleton Key" and "Rivers". Skeleton is one of the poppier songs on the album and Rivers is the ballad (a good ballad, but still the ballad). On this one he is responsible for four (out of eleven songs). He wrote both ballads ("Obsidian Heart" and "Aspiral"), "Cross the Divide" (Easily the poppiest song on the album), and "Arcana" (another poppy song until basically the end).

Great review Willie. Don’t listen to these guys much but they were a blast live. Will have to sample this tomorrow.