Epica – The Quantum Enigma (2014)

As one of the most anticipated Nuclear Blast releases of 2014, Epica returns with their sixth studio album titled “The Quantum Enigma”. Led by the charismatic Simone Simmons and the very active Mark Jansen, the band delivers another outstanding release filled with bombastic and explosive tracks that takes the band to new musical heights. With over 69 minutes of music, this is one release that no fan of the genre will want to miss.

Opening with the lush arrangements of “Originem”, the album slowly transitions in to the very heavy “The Second Stone”. In this song we have the traditional catchy vocal melodies, but the band added an extra level of aggression with more powerful guitars and blistering solos, elements that greatly complement the band’s signature sound. The band’s excellent choir arrangements are perfectly complemented in tracks that have more teeth and will surely take fans by surprise, like the groovy “The Essence of Silence”.

As the album progresses, we have very typical Epica tracks with “Victimes of Contingency”, the very ‘retro sounding’ “Sense Without Sanity – The Impervious Code” that reminds us of the band’s earlier release, and the super catchy single “Unchain Utopia”, a song that makes us think of Sabaton-meets-Epica. The intensity never goes down as tracks like “Chemical Insomnia” and “Reverence – Living in the Heart” nicely keep the album flowing. The new production team behind this release gives the band certain freshness and allows every element of their music to greatly shine.

Out of all the excellent songs in this release, we greatly identify with the pace of “Omen – The Ghoulish Malady”, making it one of our favorite songs from the band. For the fans of the power ballad that showcase Simone’s excellent vocals, “Canvas of Life” is one for the ages. As the album closes with “Natural Corruption” and the nearly 12-minute epic “The Quantum Enigma – Kingdom of Heave part II” (with the first part found on “Design Your Universe”), the band definitely shows off the extra effort spent on crafting this release.

With every piece perfectly in motion and every single element fined-tuned, “The Quantum Enigma” is Epica’s best release to date, no doubt about it. The Mark Jansen and company have kept refining their sound over the year and they come very strong with this one. If you like their Symphonic/Progressive elements, you will find them here, if you also like the harsh and heavy elements in their music, you will also find a lot more of this in this one. Being great fans of the genre (and the band), we are truly impressed with the quality and level of entertainment (high replay-value) that this release presents the listener with.

Label: Nuclear Blast Records

Release: May 6th, 2014

Genre: Symphonic/Gothic Metal

Country: Netherlands