Symphonic Metal maestros Epica always put a bit of extra effort into their EPs. There’s usually something special to entice their fans into making a purchase and to make the EP almost as much of an event as a full album. “The Alchemy Project” is no exception as it’s packed full of new songs and bursting at the seams with a very varied assortment of special guests – members of Fleshgod Apocalypse, Insomnium and God Dethroned happily rub shoulders with members of Uriah Heep, Kamelot and Powerwolf – sometimes it feels like only a band such as Epica could pull this off.
Opener ‘The Great Tribulation’ kicks things off with plenty to represent the Technical Death Metal stylings of guests Fleshgod Apocalypse, dipping in and out of the extremity effortlessly, as Epica do so seamlessly, cementing this as a classic Epica track even if you didn’t know there were guests on it. ‘Wake the World’ is a rather different beast however, a more commercial, almost Ayreon-esque mid-paced groover, with the Hammond organ of Phil Lanzon (Uriah Heep) pushed to the fore, which is certainly a nice surprise on an Epica track. Simone Simons shines brightly, as she always does the more space she is given in a song, ably supported by a Seven Wishes (rather than his Kamelot alter-ego) style vocal performance from the excellent Tommy Karevik.
It becomes gradually clearer as these seven tracks unfurl, that this EP is Epica’s excuse to explore all the styles they enjoy and are influenced by, without taking total responsibility for the eventual outcome or denoting them as purely Epica. Take the avant-garde rock edge to ‘The Final Lullaby’ for instance featuring Norway’s Shining – not the Swedish Black Metal band Shining (slightly disappointingly), though I’d have liked to have heard that – it probably would have still worked, but maybe without the short jazz saxophone part in the middle! The vocally mouth-watering song on this release is probably ‘Sirens – Of Blood and Water’ where Simone teams up with former Delain singer Charlotte Wessels and Danish born American songstress Myrkur for an orchestral Symphonic Metal journey of vocal melody and harmony, each vocalist showing their accumulated years of experience in crafting a haunting, sometimes ethereal, but always powerful gem.
The tempo shifts up a gear once more on ‘Death is not the End’ where Mark Jansen draughts in his Mayan guitarist buddy Frank Schiphorst to lend even more six-string weight to Epica at their almost heaviest (almost – there’s heavier to come next track!), where Björn “Speed” Strid (Soilwork etc) trades vocal lines with Jansen and Simons to bring even more of an edge to an already edgy Epica classic. The extreme vibe continues on ‘Human Devastation’, but then it would when you have Henri Sattler of God Dethroned and Sven de Caluwé from Aborted lending their talents to a three minute Death Metal marauder that certainly gives Simone Simons a break and stands out for being…well, not really what you would associate with Epica at all, other than to highlight that this aggressive, full-on, raw side of Epica is always there, bubbling away under the surface, beneath the soaring orchestration and layered vocal choirs.
The whole thing is wrapped up by what is probably the most progressive track on offer here – ‘The Miner’. This seven minute mini-epic features the varied vocal trappings of Asim Searah (Damnation Plan), Niilo Sevänen (Insomnium) and Roel van Helden (who is actually Powerwolf’s drummer!), all being corralled together and linked by Simons, whose silky performance gives the track a continuity and that all important Epica identity. This brings to a close another striking group of songs by this Symphonic Metal behemoth, which although some could see as the band being deservedly a little self-indulgent, is also an enticing, interesting and diverse selection of Epica tracks that their existing fans will love and might even gain them a few more fans from further afield.
(8/10 Andy Barker)
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