Epica – The Solace System

Label: Nuclear Blast  Playing Time: 30 Min  Release: 01st September 2017

Just one year ago, Epica released an opulent piece of music called “The Holographic Principle”. It was indeed opulent in terms of music and also playing time. As playing time of a CDs is limited and Epica still had six tracks from the songwriting sessions left over, they decided to release this EP. So here it is: “The Solace System”

Fans of bombastic Power Metal with female voices should already be familiar with Epica. All those who do not know them yet should imagine Nightwish in the Tarja era with much more bombastic orchestral arrangements. In addition to the opera vocals, there are also contrasting masculine growls, comparable to Leaves’ Eyes. This mixture creates a huge wall of sound which can not be processed easily and therefore needs multiple runs until it becomes catchy. These walls of sound also make the choruses a bit puny. Thus it needs time until they are beginning to unfold.

Erica say that the only reason to put these tracks on the EP and not on the album was time limitations, not the quality. After listening a couple of times I finally agree. Not every track is a total killer, but songs like ‘Fight Your Demon’, ‘Architect of Light’ and ‘Decoded Poetry’ are very well done. The unplugged ‘Immortal Melancholy’ also offers a nice break in-between these sound walls. All in all, ‘The Solace System’ is a nice piece to enjoy until the next full-length album will be released.

www.epica.nl