THE SCORE - AN EPIC JOURNEY (OST)

Epica’s 3rd studio album is something that completely different from their previous work. This album, which actually a soundtrack for a Dutch movie called ‘Joyride’ described as Epica music without singing, guitar, bass, and drums by the guitarist Mark Jansen. Yes, except the 3 tracks (actually 4, but one is also instrumental) that actually a remixed version from their previous album, ‘Consign to Oblivion’, all the tracks here are fully orchestrated. There’s absolutely no metal sound in this album at all. Like an epic movie soundtrack, the tracks here are relatively short; most of them only last for 2-3 minutes, but each song has a good compositions, and beautiful orchestration. Check out tracks like ‘Unholy Trinity’, ‘The Valley’, or ‘The Ultimate Return’ for example. The remixed tracks here are ‘Trois Vierges’ (2 versions), ‘Solitary Ground’ and ‘Quietus’. The solo version of ‘Trois Vierges’ and ‘Solitary Ground’ have a beautiful and stunning vocal performance from Simone Simons. Overall, this is a great album. I don’t think you need to be a prog metal fan to like this album. If you like epic movie soundtracks, you’d probably want to check this one out. Highly recommended.