Review: Epica - The Divine Conspiracy [Metal]

Releasing a debut album, as amazing as Epica's release The Phantom Agony can be a blessing and a curse. The album brought them a mass of attention and success, but also raised them on a pedestal, and the second album Consign To Oblivion, although still succesful, was panned for being too generic, and straying too far from the sound that garnered their success. With a return to form due, is The Divine Conspiracy the album the fans expect...

The Divine Conspiracy is the first concept album by Epica. It deals with the theory that, as a test, God created all kinds of different religions and released those upon humanity to see if they would be able to find the true nature of them, realizing that in all religions it is actually the same. The main character is introduced in the prologue and can be found in the last songs.

The Divine Conspiracy opens with, as always, a slow build up. This time we are treated to the best intro yet; Indigo. Sure, it lasts a little longer than it should, but the amazing orchestra is so breathtaking, this isn't just metal, this is film music. Hans Zimmer would have been proud, that's for sure.

`The Obsessive Devotion' starts with heavy guitar riffs and orchestra. Immediatly it's clear how much Simone has grown between Consign to Oblivion and The Divine Conspiracy when she hits the first lines with her angry voice. The drums done by Ariën van Weesenbeek are great and make you want to headbang. Already a proven great life song, this song rocks just as much on the cd. The spoken segment by Amanda Somerville is very passionate and emotional, followed by amazing choirs and Marks angry grunts.

Symphonic Metal at its heaviest, describes 'Menace Of Vanity'. A surprisingly bombastic arguement between the guttural growls of Mark and the collective force of the skill of each participant. A truly strong song that has little, or no faults at all. Each portion is thought up wonderfully, ensuring everything works together to create such an exceptional song. This song on the live scene will definitly blow anyone away.


The 4th song of The Divine Conspiracy is `Chasing The Dragon'. We used to wonder, wow what's Epica got to do with dragons? But it didn't turn out to be a fantasy tale, instead this song deals with problems of drugs. The song includes an acoustic guitar, though abit drowned by Simone's powerful voice. Slowly getting heavier by adding drums and heavy orchestra, we come to the beautiful chorus. With Marks angry grunts, frantic violins, and a male choir the song comes to a heavy climax, reminding of `Run For a Fall'.

`Never Enough' is the most mainstream track on the album, and therefore a perfect candidate for lead single. Simone features promimently, showcasing her superb skills once again. Also, for a single release, this track is conciderably heavy, even including grunts towards the chorus. The final note hit by Simons is a perfect conclusion to a great song. Definitly not the best track, but by far a strong and interesting single.

`Le'petach Chatat Rovetz' is an instrumental intro for `Death of a Dream', featuring oriental instruments, with the title focusing on the Jewish religion. The score seems to have been a source for this song.

The first of the series of 'mbrace That Smother's section is `Death Of A Dream'. Perhaps one of the heaviest tracks, opening with an array of angry choral sections, talented drums courtesy of Arjen and a major guitar shredding. The vocal lines, as with most tracks, are very interesting, with Simone, as always, on fine form. The song also features a guest, in Sander from After Forever, lending his powerful grunts, to entwine with the powerful Epica sound. The song is likely to be a success on the life front also, alike `Menace Of Vanity', it's almost impossible not to bop your head with this track.

`Living a Lie (The Embrace That Smothers - Part VIII)' is probably the slowest song out of the The Embrace That Smothers series (which run back to After Forever's first album; Prisoner of Desire). A humming choir opens the song leading to the first verse by Mark, in turns verses are taken by the choir. The very slow and rather boring chorus is sung by Simone. A Latin segment featuring some religion aspects is terribly spoken without emotion or conviction. The only original and interesting part of this song is the end: Hebrew chanting leading into `Fools Of Damnation'.

The final of the Embraces is the best. `Fools of Damnation' is such a detailed, individual Epica song. Featuring a few details that make it 'Epica' but also incorporating new vocal lines, and new instrumentals such as the indian influence. The song begins, reminiscent of `Seif Al Din' from the debut, with Simone performing beautiful chants leading into a slow, mournful chorus, where she shows she can be emotional aswell as effortlessly amazing. The true hilight of this song is the astonishingly magnifiscent chorus. The way Simone serenades with the word 'Fools' is superbly catchy and will have you singing along for a while.

`Beyond Belief' is a typical Epica song, which makes it slightly boring and predictable. The chorus however is very catchy with an amazing choral segment. Heavy guitar riffs make this a great live song, the solo on the other hand is overdone. Fragments of the news aren't very original and reminds of `Beneath' by After Forever. By fading heartbeats we slowly enter the afterlife..

`Safeguard To Paradise' begins with a slow, soothing piano intro, that never quite gets anywhere. It succeeds in being a boring ballad that, despite such serene lyrics, and a very nice melody, particularly the vocal lines of Simone, Safeguard To Paradise is nowhere near as beautiful as it had the potential to be.

Another typical Epica song, `Sancta Terra' opens with orchestra and slightly strange keyboard sounds. Simone sings most of the song, only joined by the choir in the amazing and catchy chorus. Once more you can hear the enormous progress in Simone's voice. This being a heavy and catchy song I can't wait to see this song live!

The finale of the album is this 'divine' epic, 'The Divine Conspiracy' is a 13-minute track that concludes the theme of the opus. The vocal theme is very smilar to that of `Consign To Oblivion', a large amount of duty rests on Mark Jansens screams/growls and the choirs. With Simone occasionally chipping in at the perfect time. The song is a grandeur track that needs a lot of concentration to understand its true beauty. Especially the intricate details such as the serene voilins and unique fusion of grunts and organs. My only complaint of this track is the fact that the orchestral segment seems to last a little too long. But to end such a strong album, this track is wonderful.

Overall, Epica have created another masterpiece, making up for their controversial last album, Consign To Oblivion. The Divine Conspiracy is a heavy, beautiful and epic album that delivers in every imaginable way.

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