EPICA

Epica by Kamelot is almost entirely straight up power metal. Yes, it does have a concept which will often make prog lovers go nuts. Yes, it does have a couple songs that change time signatures and whatnot. However, these things are commonplace in standard power metal, which Kamelot seems to be a poster child of.

It is somewhat worth listening to once, though really once the first couple of tracks are through there's not much to say. Each track blasts through in standard quick paced tempi (though thankfully not quite as fast as other power metal contemporaries), and guitars go up and down scales at lightning speeds (though again far more tastefully than a couple of bands ever solo-ing orgies with their instruments). All in all, Epica is basically regular power metal with an extra dose or two of prog, though that doesn't necessarily help.

Of course, who can deny that the performers are bad musicians? Roy Khan of course has an exceptional voice like plenty of power singers and he can sing along with the best of them. The guitar leads by Thomas Youngblood are competent to say the least, and truthfully are excellent at best. And the drummer Casey Grillo is unsurprisingly ever present with the rapid battering of his double-bass pedals.

However, the album suffers from what plenty of power metal albums suffer with: same song syndrome. It's track after track of energetic paced music with obligatory rapid guitars and drums, and really after a while the album loses its energy because of lack of dynamics or variety. Of course, the listener is occasionally given a break with four short (though musically lacking) interludes, or the obligatory ballads, which by the mere mention of the names cause metalheads to groan by their cheesinees. Of course, once back onto one of the fast tracks, it's more of the same old same old. Even the casual Kamelot fan knows the first real song to the album "Center of the Universe", and it actually is a great track and it definetely stands out in the metal world, yet it seems that after that, the listener is subjected to "Center of the Universe" parts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, which for 16 tracks including a few slower songs and 6 tracks that don't really hold their own as musical compositions, is really too much of the same.

Epica only slightly gets off from being a horrible album because of a couple cool numbers and a decently tied together concept. However, the cliche power metal elements are completely overpowering, and the cheesiness found in its 52 minute entirety is probably too much. Kamelot as a power metal band is far from breaking new ground, and although they are able to pull a great song out of themselves from time to time, are pretty standard otherwise.