Epica – Aspiral
Epica – Aspiral
Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 11/04/2025
Review by Rory Bentley
9/10
Symphonic Metal is a hard thing to get right. Although my EM colleagues regard me as ‘The Symphonic Metal Guy’, there are only a handful of bands that fall into this category that I actually like. The big three of Nightwish, Within Temptation and Epica are of course a shoo-in, but after that it’s more an album here and there from the likes of Visions of Atlantis and Delain and then nearly everything else is twee, unlistenable mulch to me. Heck, even Nightwish and Within Temptation have a few stinkers amongst the gold, but Epica, despite not always hitting the same peaks, are by far the most consistent.
Eight studio albums in and nothing remotely approaching a stinker is no mean feat, particularly as their ‘classic’ period is arguably far more weighted towards the back end of their career. Sure, there may have been a few missteps across the more experimental EPs they have consistently released between albums; though even then stuff like the “Attack on Titan” release they put out was spectacular, but for a big European Metal band on Nuclear Blast playing the most overblown genre of Metal to not have put out anything cringe is spectacular. I mean Nightwish are my favourite band but even I can’t defend that Folk ballad they wrote about corn. Actual corn.
With this in mind, then it should come as no shock that “Aspiral” is another slam dunk from Simone and the lads. I get a warm feeling putting on a new Epica album that few bands can conjure in me- you know you’re in safe hands with musicians that know their strengths while still showing a desire to explore and experiment. After a stunning trilogy of high-concept labyrinthine opuses- culminating in 2021’s outrageously brilliant “Omega”, the band have recalibrated focus slightly on writing more direct, punchy material, with songs that can stand alone independently of a core concept. The album is still chock full of ideas, and everyone is still playing and singing like they’re trying to be heard above a hurricane, but on listening I totally get the vibe they were going for.
The band have been known to enjoy an ornate intro to kick off a record, but this time the rapid-fire single of ‘Cross The Divide’ gets the party started full throttle, with guitars, strings, and Simone’s immaculate pipes attacking in synchronicity. They’ve always known their way round a four-minute banger, but this is perhaps the most direct straight up rocker they’ve come out with since 2016’s kick ass ‘Edge of the Blade’. For a band known for being the most complex and Progressive of the big Symphonic acts, they don’t get nearly enough credit for being able to pen a radio-ready fist pumper. This is a feat they accomplish again on the groove-laden ‘T.I.M.E.’, which has a Nu-Metal bounce to it that’s way better than it sounds on paper. Simone doesn’t start rapping or anything, and there’s no Xzibit guest spot, so we’re on safe ground.
Fortunately, the band have made no concessions when it comes to being heavy as all fuckery – a quality that once again separates them from their genre peers. The riffs are never overshadowed by the symphonic elements, ‘Fight to Survive – The Overview Effect’ in particular has a nasty Death Metal beatdown section that smacks you round the chops and is all the more impactful because the rest of the song is Epica in ultra catchy mode. ‘Arcana’, on the other hand, is a fast riffing face ripper from front to back and shows why the band attracts fans that would normally run a mile from their more corset-friendly Lloyd Webber adjacent peers.
It wouldn’t be a proper Epica album without a big old ballad to showcase Simone’s golden lungs; this time it takes the fur of the closing title track, which feels like the perfect epilogue to the hour of intensity that has preceded it. It didn’t hit me in the feels as quickly as “Omega” heartbreaker ‘The River’, but it is nonetheless a spectacular conclusion to an album that hits the target for the entirety of its runtime.
Since “The Quantum Enigma” Epica have been on the kind of hot streak that few bands in modern Metal can match. Nothing they’ve dropped has been below a 9/10 for me, and “Aspiral” is no exception. I cannot stop playing this thing, and although it’s too early to say where this ranks in their discography, I can already say that it’s definitely at the business end. These guys do not miss and this is another absolute worldy from a band that has been dialled in on Symphonic perfection for well over a decade now.
‘Fight To Survive’ Official Music Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Cross The Divide
02. Arcana
03. Darkness Dies in Light- A New Age Dawns Pt. VII
04. Obsidian Heart
05. Fight to Survive- The Overview Effect
06. Metanoia- A New Age Dawns, Pt. VIII
07. T.I.M.E.
08. Apparition
09. Eye of the Storm
10. The Grand Saga of Existence- A New Age Dawns, PT. IX
11. Aspiral
LINKS:
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