It All Comes Together as One: The Divine Conspiracy as Told by Epica

SCORE: 98/100

'The Divine Conspiracy' continues on with the symphonic metal sound you can come to expect when listening to Epica - and their style was already deliciously fine-tuned by this point in their long-spanning career.

Released in August of 2007, 'The Divine Conspiracy' serves as the band's third full-length effort together. It continues the trend they have set for themselves and their style with long, orchestrated songs with metallic elements that make the album feel instantaneously cinematic. This album uses its time and opener to set the stage for a massive spectacle that shimmers and truly shows off exactly what you would want from a symphonic metal project, and the end result of the project is over an hour's worth of sheer power through both string instruments and thumping drums and stellar guitarwork. 

This album feels very similar in nature to Evanescence - and any fans of the band will be sure to love this album as well. There's a bit more edge and general cinematic overtones to this album that you won't find from the aforementioned band - but it's hard to compare band's that are good in different areas. What makes Epica so incredible (one of the many things) is their ability to create stunning soundscapes and grooves with seemingly infinite layers; all while making tracks that ride out and use long runtimes to their advantages. In turn, their albums turn out almost fairytale-esque in their compositions, and it's a feat that few other band's in the genre could pull off quite like this - but they all try.

Epica might not be the most well-known symphonic metal band due to the wide array of artist's present within the genre - but they are undoubtedly one of the best that the genre has to offer. Their outputs are fiercely consistent and this album changes up enough from their debut to keep their discography incredibly lively and full of outstanding content to offer up on a consistent basis. The major difference in this album isn't just in sound - but it lies within the concept, with this project acting as their first concept album. 

'The Divine Conspiracy' is based in religion like their debut, with this album following the concept that God has created many religions for man to follow, discover, and overcome through understanding and knowledge - but they are all eventually connected and interlocked with one another, meaning that they are all in truth, one religion on a greater scale; thus creating the divine conspiracy connecting the religions as one. The concept details and warns about the dangers that are held within organized religion on a more wide-scale level, and the project also finalizes "The Embrace That Smothers" that was continued by the band on their debut - making this album feel like one massive closing statement for a much longer, more biblical story. 

The album uses a lot of stringy melodies and soft vocal performances mixed with growls and yells, blending male and female vocals that are suitable for the genre, with the female vocals being soft and inviting and the male vocals being harsh and drastic. The mix of dark and light come together on this album to create a harmonious blend of soundscapes and styles - making the album feel like a melting pot of darkness and the light at the end of the tunnel - with some sounds feeling like an inviting tale of folklore ('Chasing The Dragon'), and some sounding like something much more menacing ('Menace Of Vanity'). Epica's ability to mix harsh and soft sounds is deeply impressive, and the fact that time was made for more fairytale-esque sounds (like Within Temptation has done on their second album) while still staying true to the symphonic metal genre is truly delightful in every way possible. 

It feels like one long fight of light and dark, driving the concept into what feels like a battle of the religions - they can all have harmony, but the war will continue to rage on in bursts. The heavier sounds of this album are done incredibly well and share some similarities with more extreme metal fronts like Cradle Of Filth, and the band's ability to reign in this many sounds is something truly marvelous in every way an album can possibly be. It feels like one massively epic storybook unfolding in front of you through just sound alone - and the entire album comes together into a gorgeously told tale.