Symphonic Metal heavyweights Epica have announced the release of their ninth album ‘Aspiral’. Due to be released on April the 11th by the heavy hitting Nuclear Blast Records, ‘Aspiral’ promises to be a powerful album of theatrical proportions.
As a taster for the bombast that is due to prevail we have been treated to opening single ‘Cross The Divide’; a propulsive and poignant piece of sparkling Symphonic Metal that surges forward with charging tempos, volcanic guitar riffs, tasteful double kick battery and the rousing melodious range of lead vocalist Simone Simons.
These Dutch denizens of dazzling Symphonic Metal have once again released a commercially viable, streamlined and glossy slice of Symphonic Metal that will set arenas ablaze across the globe with its glistening confluence of orchestration, chugging guitars, rip-roaring rhythms and soaring vocals.
Featuring Simone Simons on lead vocals, Mark Jansen on rhythm guitars and grunts, Coen Janssen on Synths and grand piano, Arien Van Wiesenbeek on Drums, Isaac Delahaye on acoustic & rhythm guitars and Rob Van Der Loo on Bass, this sextet are adepts at conjuring forth music of the most sensual, scintillating and scorching nature.
The glistening music video for ‘Cross The Divide’ draws upon a plethora of iconography to inform its aesthetic with metaphor. Imagery that would not be out of place in movies such as ‘Dark City’, ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Dune’ thread its visual tapestry together whilst lead vocalist Simone Simons is the focal point of the pantomime that occurs.
Beginning with a infectious lead melody and progressing into a pummeling exercise in sparkling Symphonic Metal that is captivating and catchy, ‘Cross The Divide’ is a poignant, superbly executed piece of lustrous Metal that will hold you captive in its silken embrace.
-Asher Locketz-