I had very high expectations of this record. I think that every
Kamelot album is good in it's own way, especially their latest, Karma, which I found truly great.
Epica seems to me to be their most complex release. It is a concept story about finding your place in the universe, thoughts of religion, spirituality and love. The concepts and themes are connected with Goethe's Faust.
After a short atmosphere building Prologue, we get sucked right into
Center Of The Universe. Wow, what a song! classical melodic
Kamelot guitar riff combined with a fitting keyboard tune. The song is pretty fast and has a brilliant lyric and catchy vocal line. The middle section gives room for an epic part with a lot of feel. This song is a candidate for the best
Kamelot song ever.
Farewell is even faster, and also here a great huge chorus takes a central place. The changing breaks makes the song very balanced.
There are four short interludes that separate the album in five blocks; it works well in making something new start.
The Edge Of Paradise is a mid-tempo song that has a cool atmospheric feel to it. The orchestral and epic mid-section work as pure magic. The chorus is repeated many times though, and is not among the most melodic on the record. But still it has a good rhythm.
Wander is a slow and very sensitive song. I must say that Roy Khan performs his best job ever on this record, he sings beautiful all the way, and this song really shows that. The detailed keyboard elements set a great mood for this song, which is full of emotion.
I think that the production is very clear and detailed, but not as powerful as on Karma. But overall it works, and incorporates all the different elements in a fine way. The vocal has a very central place through the whole record, and there is also made space for classical instruments, female voice and a more keyboard-orientated background. All this is making it sound complex, but I think it makes the album more interesting and it fits well with the story.
A Feast For The Vain is a great dramatic song. It is very changing in character, and has once again a melodic and fantastic chorus.
On the musically level Thomas Youngblood offers lots of great riffs and fast solo's. The bass playing is very solid but also a bit hidden in the background. The drums are detailed and perfectly balanced between power and a more relaxed style, and the keyboards create a lot of atmosphere.
The classical instrument is used here and there and works well most of the album, but at times they are stretched to the limit as in
Lost And Damned. The song has a standard chorus but gains in the aggressive side it has, and the cool dramatic start that slowly builds.
The ending song
III Ways To Epica has a splendid chorus, a great melody and really sums up a lot of the great aspects of this record; It is truly epic in character and like many of the other songs it has some brilliant parts with a lot of emotion.
All in all this is an album I had to give many listenings because of its complex form, but then it also gained. I find it fantastic and highly interesting, balanced and melodic.
Written by
Tommy Sunday, December 15, 2002
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