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"Indispensable complement to "The Holographic Principle", "The Solace System" reveals us a band still capable of a certain sobriety."
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4/5
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One year after "The Holographic Principle", Epica is already back not with a real new album but with an EP, the first one of his career. Accustomed to pantagruelic creations, it may seem surprising that the Dutch are rubbing up against this exercise in which we can imagine them cramped. Composed of tracks from the recording sessions of their seventh opus, which the band had to leave aside due to lack of space, we could have feared that "The Solace System" would be a mere filler delivered for mercantile reasons. This is not the case.
We can measure how much the inspiration of Mark Jansen and his band seems inexhaustible, giving birth every two years to long paving stones of more than an hour without ever suffering a slowdown. Better still, this narrow format, by forcing it to contain its symphonic budding, sees the band renew on this occasion with a welcome, though relative, simplicity. The eponymous front door and 'Fight Your Demons' show that the Dutch can express themselves perfectly in four minutes.
Logically, this EP follows in the wake of its predecessor, whose chapter it closes, completing it with these pieces to create a whole that impresses by its breadth and coherence. More than ever masters of an art in which they (no longer) have any rivals, the musicians offer compositions that are certainly without surprise ('Decoded Poetry') but which remain true jewels of writing and arrangements ('Architect Of Light'), a symbiosis that belongs only to them, between orchestral majesty and furious hardness that draws its ferocity from Mark Jansen's sharp guitars ('Wheel Of Destiny').
Of course, the attraction of Simone Simons' bewitching voice is obvious, but the acoustics of 'Immortal Melancholy' confirm that it is when she is coupled with the organ of her acolyte's afterlife against the back of unleashed storms that the beauty takes on its full scope.
For Epica, "The Solace System" is a way of closing the era opened by "The Holographic Principle" while giving a gift to their numerous fans who are delighted to be able to savour what is more a half album than a simple aggregate of B-sides. Those who are annoyed by its pompous character will (re)discover a band still capable of a certain sobriety. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. The Solace System
02. Fight Your Demons
03. Architect Of Light
04. Wheel Of Destiny
05. Immortal Melancholy
06. Decoded Poetry
LINEUP:
Ariën Van Weesenbeek: Batterie
Coen Jansen: Claviers
Isaac Delahaye: Guitares
Mark Jansen: Guitares
Rob Van Der Loo: Basse
Simone Simons: Chant
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(0) MIND(S) FROM OUR READERS
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(0) COMMENT(S)
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READERS
5/5 (1 view(s))
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STAFF:
3/5 (4 view(s))
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IN RELATION WITH EPICA
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OTHER REVIEWS
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OTHER(S) REVIEWS ABOUT EPICA
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