As far as the Greek metal audience is concerned Epica need no introduction. Though their fan base may have been small before 2007, their appearance at March Metal Day sharing the stage with Tiamat and boosted by the beautiful Simone Simons, rapidly raised their profile in Greece. This album, the second one since their first visit to Greece, is also their big chance.

With Nightwish and Tarja moving to more pop pastures, at least based on their recent releases, with After Forever disbanded and the rest of the female fronted metal bands still not up to playing in the ‘Premier League’ the weight falls on Epica’s shoulders to lead the symphonic metal genre.

And they accomplish this admirably. A concept album once more, this one deals with the connection between quantum physics and human thought, which is unusual subject matter for a gothic metal band. And here is where it starts to differentiate from the pack. The new Epica release has edged a lot towards the progressive edge of the scale. In fact, without Mark’s vocals we might as well be talking about a Symphony X album, that is if Russell Allen was an enchanting red-haired mezzo soprano from Holland. And since we’re on the subject of vocals, it is common knowledge that Simone has been heavily influenced by Tarja and she has often expressed her admiration for Finnish lyric soprano, since Nightwish’s “Oceanborn” was also the reason that led her to singing lessons. Of course their voices are different but there are moments on the album, especially on “Unleased” (which is also the album’s first video), where the “student” beats the “master”. A bold statement, you say? Listen to it and make up your own mind…

As far as the rest of the album goes, Isaac Delahaye from God Dethroned may have not contributed to the compositions that much but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had added one or two riffs to the mix. Also Mark Jansen’s vocals now also comprise black metal screams as well as the usual death metal grunts. Ariën van Weesenbeek, on his first album as a full-time member of the band, unleashes his talent on the drums and the keyboards happily co-exist with the guitars, other times supplementing them and other times acting as the “rails” on which the bullet-train that is Epica careens into the listener on its frantic course to the top of the symphonic metal pantheon. Undoubtedly the best album of their career so far, this is a star that does not shine brightly because of the lack of other celestial bodies in the sky but stands on its own and will keep on standing proudly next to albums such as “Oceanborn” and “The Silent Force”.