Epica – Aspiral | soundsfromthedarkside

Dutch symphonic metal masters Epica have returned for their tenth platter of typical uplifting, orchestral metal and we’re ready for it.

It’s been four years since Omega, and in years since that we’ve been treated to the fantastic Omega Alive, recorded live during ye olde Covid days, and the Symphonic Synergy concerts with orchestra and choir last year in Amsterdam and Mexico City. At those concerts, they already played a number of songs from Aspiral, amongst which the title track and Arcana; now we’re finally treated to the rest of it.

As always, Epica are on a roll, with Aspiral clocking in at over an hour’s runtime being long, but not overlong. It’s good though, and over the course of eleven songs, it shows Epica doing what they do best: bring us symphonic metal with the epic-ness dialed up all the way, with probably more choirs and orchestral arrangements than strictly necessary, which is par for the course for the Dutch band. Like Omega before it, Aspiral is a big, bold statement, once again delivering in two spades: the shorter, more accessible tracks and the longer, more progressive ones. The shorter songs, like the speedy opener Cross the Divide, Fight to Survive – The Overview Effect, T.I.M.E. or the moody Arcana offer the more bite-sized experience with a more radio-friendly approach although they’ll never be played on it anyway.

On the other side of the spectrum you’ll find the longer, more elaborate tracks like the three new A New Age Dawns songs, of which The Grand Saga of Existence is the best here. On these tracks, Epica bring in the big choirs and orchestras and make everything huge, whilst still remaining metal as fuck. Where Nightwish these days go full orchestra mode and forget they’re a metal band, Epica is the opposite. Yes, it is all very symphonic and pretty, but you’ll also get Mark Jansen grunting his lungs out and Ariën’s furious blast beats. This is still a metal band first and foremost, and the way they are able to meld that with the very symphonic side of things is to be applauded.

On Aspiral, Epica still continues to grow fiercer and stronger. Back in 2009, when they released their The Classical Conspiracy live album, I lauded them for their ability to intertwine brutal metal with classical music, and called them a band at the very top of their game. Now, sixteen years later, Epica is a much better band than anyone could ever have expected them to become at the time. Aspiral is a majestic work of symphonic metal by a band that continues to raise the bar, both for themselves and for the rest of the genre.

One small niggle: I am deeply disappointed that Aspiral for some reason does not feature The Ghost in Me, the song Epica composed for the new Danse Macabre ride in Dutch theme park The Efteling. It’s a great track that channels Camille Saint-Saëns composition of the same name, metals it up all the way to eleven and churns out glorified Elfman-like cheese without becoming cheesy. It’s great and deserved a spot on the album proper in my view. Buy either the deluxe artbook version or the two disc version of Aspiral and you’ll get the Symphonic Synergy concert Blu-ray included and The Ghost in Me is on it, so there’s that.