Track Listing

1. Samadhi (Prelude)
2. Resign to Surrender: A New Age Dawns, Part IV
3. Unleashed
4. Martyr of the Free Word
5. Our Destiny
6. Kingdom of Heaven: A New Age Dawns, Part V- Hold in Derision/Children o
7. Price of Freedom (Interlude)
8. Burn to a Cinder
9. Tides of Time
10. Deconstruct
11. Semblance of Liberty
12. White Waters
13. Design Your Universe: A New Age Dawns, Part VI

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2073 in Music
• Released on: 2009-10-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .29 pounds

Customer Reviews

Claiming the throne of symphonic metal (again)!
After the previous masterpiece under the title "The Divine Conspiracy" I was really anxious (and sceptic) about what Epica could offer next. Don't forget that Epica's main composer, Mark Jansen, has been sharing his vision and writing abilities since the glorious days of After Forever (R.I.P.) (remember Prison of Desire & Decipher anyone?). However, there is no need to worry! Mark Jansen & Co are a reliable and massively talented band and have a lot more to offer. This new brilliant album just proves that and shows how hard the band has been constantly working through the years. Honestly, "Design Your Universe" has so many things one can enjoy!

The album is epic and bombastic with amazing melodies, huge choirs, impressively tight rhythm section and on top of that it is complemented by the heavenly voice of Simone Simons (if anyone still has doubts just listen to her voice shining in the superb ballad "Tides of Time"). Even the grunts are generally better in this album. Also, I am sure that having two ex-God Dethroned members in guitars and drums has given much more flexibility in the writing process and added more value to the technical proficiency of the band's music. This explains the existence of more solos, progressive elements and many thundering double-bass parts that make you want to start learning drums yourself (yes, Ariën van Weesenbeek is that good!). I mean there are riffs and crushing songs that even the mighty Amon Amarth will wish they had written. For instance, you can hear that in one of my personal favourites "Martyr of the Free Word" (and oh my god, what a heavenly Gregorian chant comes in out of the blue in 2:45!!). "Our Destiny" is another great song with catchy melodies and blends Simone`s vocals with the choir so nicely in the end! The big epic song of the album is called "Kingdom of Heaven" and clocks at 13:35 (no comment on that!). Songs like "Unleashed" (for which they made a video), "Burn to a Cinder" or "Deconstruct" bring to mind After Forever at their best. Interestingly, in "White Waters" we can enjoy a nice duet between Tony Kakko (from Sonata Arctica) and Simone. The (over 9 minutes) title track closes the album with massive symphonic sounds and great choirs. If this is not enough for you, the limited edition offers a bonus track and of course a very nice packaging.

Overall, Epica's new album is an adventurous journey for the listener: grand, epic, cinematic, highly symphonic, emotional and very heavy. Only a few symphonic metal bands (I don't really approve the term female-fronted) can claim that they have these attributes and maintain the high quality in their compositions combined with the strong vocals which this genre requires (for whom the bell tolls?). Once again, well done Epica!

QUALITY GUARANTEED
It seems that EPICA have found a winning formula to keep the standard high in all their albums.
'Phantom'was an astonishing album and it made me a fan. They haven't returned to that symphonic sound ever since. 'Consign' was a bit more commercial with less growls but still good. 'Divine' was heavier and probably the best one of all their albums (even the new one).
In 'Design' they return to the symphonic sound they had in the first album but they maintain the 'heaviness' of 'Divine'.
The intro to the album is one of the best instrumental pieces they ever wrote. 'Resign to surrender' is one of the best songs of the album, while 'unleashed' (also the video) is not a good representative of the album. 'Martyr of the free word' is almost thrash and 'our destiny' is quite a good song. 'Kingdom of heaven' is a 13-min long epic, with death metal growls, power metal guitars and beautiful ethereal voices from Simone (who by the way sings less and less operatically with each album). a small pointless interlude follows and then comes my favourite song of the album 'burn to a cinder'. 'tides of time' is simply beautiful and 'deconstruct' reminds me a bit of AFTER FOREVER (To tell you the truth, the whole album brings a bit of AFTER FOREVER to the surface). 'semblance of liberty' and 'white waters' im not crazy about and finally 'design your universe' is another epic that reminds me of 'divine conspiracy' (the song)..
this is a very good album by EPICA. More symphonic, heavier...Maybe a bit too long and definitely not as good as the previous album but still GOOD!

Epic(a)
I was pretty late in realising quite how stunningly amazing Epica are. I'd meant to buy The Divine Conspiracy for ages but never really got round to it. When I finally did, I was blown away and became instantly obsessed by the band. I am sure if you are a fan you will know what I mean. This album had some high expectations and I was a little worried it wouldn't live up to them. It didn't... it smashed them out of the water! This album is quite literally the best thing I have heard in years.

For a start, Epica certainly haven't cut down on the epic, melodramatic and symphonic elements of their music. Epic riffs, sweeping orchestral arrangements, dramatically gothic choirs and Simone's soaring operatic vocals are here in lashings. In fact, they have simply become even more epic, even more dramatic, even more stunningly beautiful and heavy. This album has more of a "heavy metal" feel to it than before, but not compromising on symphonic beauty, don't worry! There is basically not one single element I can complain about. Heavy male growled vocals are thrown in occasionally (see the wonderfully heavy "Incentive"), Simone's vocals stun even more than usual with a lot of variety and passion.

All of the songs are amazing, but perhaps the most standout tracks are the "A New Age Dawns" trilogy. "Design your universe" and "Kingdom of Heaven" are simply mindblowing. A bit of narrative and story telling are thrown in for good measure but not enough to detract from the music at all. "Unleashed" is the single, and is undoubtedly a great song, although I'd say they would have trouble in bettering "Kingdom..." or "Design..."

Basically, if you thought "The Divine Conspiracy" was good, you will be completely amazed by this album. If you have yet to experience Epica, don't hesitate to buy this. Symphonic metal can't possibly get any better than this.