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| Divine Conspiracy | 
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| Artist: Epica
Label: Nuclear Blast Americ
Category: Music
List Price: $15.98
Buy New: $9.99
You Save: $5.99 (37%)
New (37) Used (7) Collectible (1) from $9.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  31 reviews
Sales Rank: 3392
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 11956
UPC: 727361195625
EAN: 0727361195625
ASIN: B000TGQDZQ
Release Date: August 28, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new, factory sealed. Fast shipping!
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| Tracks:
| • | Indigo-Prologue | | • | The Obsessive Devotion | | • | Menace Of Vanity | | • | Chasing the Dragon | | • | Never Enough | | • | The Last Embrace | | • | The Embrace That Smothers-Part VII | | • | The Embrace That Smothers-Part VIII | | • | The Embrace That Smothers-Part IX | | • | Beyond Belief | | • | Safeguard To Paradise | | • | Saneta Terra | | • | The Divine Conspiracy |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...
 Derivative, noisy, and a massive disappointment. I'm bummed October 9, 2007
14 out of 27 found this review helpful
I agree with Steele. The music is immaculate, and Simone just keeps getting better, but the growls simply RUIN this album. I loved Consign to Oblivion, but this one turned me off right from the second track.
It is simply too formulaic, and even worse, totally derivative of so many other bands in this genre. Having just returned from ProgPower in Atlanta this past weekend, I have certainly had enough growling and maniacal double bass drum pounding to last until next year.
Mark Jansen, the leader of Epica, is the brother of Floor Jansen of After Forever, as well as one of the former leaders of that band. Epica could go its own way and become a unique entity, but instead, he feels compelled to take them in the direction of follower, instead of leader in its own right.
What a huge waste of talent
 Stunning Siren Simone Simons Scintillates October 4, 2007
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
If I were reviewing only Simone Simons, the vocalist, this would be a five-star album. The young mezzo-soprano is flawless in her performance with a voice as shatteringly beautiful as her appearance on the masterpiece of an album cover. Unfortunately, she is under-utilized, and this excellent album is marred by over-used "death grunt" gutterals, and musical composition that at times tempts one to rename the band "Frantica" and the album "The Digressive Cacophony." Buy this album, certainly, but be aware that it is an acquired taste unless you're already an Epica fan, or into gutturals and manic double-bassing. However, it's a taste you'll grow to like, and a spoonful of Simone Simons' singing will make just about anything go down smoothly.
1. Indigo--A beautiful classical/choral intro worthy of any good symphony or soundtrack.
2. The Obsessive Devotion--This piece is down-right schizophrenic, combining some extraordinary vocals by Simons with a great bouncing bass-line, classical composition and excellent choir parts. However, there are too many abrupt transitions. Sudden bursts of frantic double-bassing really add nothing, and often drown out Mark Jansen's "grunts" which would be better used more sparingly and in call-and-response fashion to Simons' operatic parts. An inserted voice-over spoken by a female guest vocalist is also abrupt and its import is lost for being unable to understand half of Jansen's vocals beforehand. A unique feature of this song is Simons' uncharacteristic snarl on the lyric "Don't ever trick my mind" in which for a split second she captures the sound of a she-wolf in bad temper with fascinating fidelity. Despite its flaws, this piece actually works as a sort of multi-part mini-opera. It's just not smooth.
3. Menace of Vanity--This piece is forgettable, with too much of Jansen's grunts, the choir and double-bassing. As you listen to this album you will begin tuning this song out and wondering what happened to the time between tracks 2 and 4.
4. Chasing the Dragon--A tour de force for Simons, this piece starts slow and lovely and then lets Simons roam about her vocal range most impressively. The transitions are much more smooth than TOD, and the bouncing bass-line returns momentarily. The choir and orchestra are once again excellent. Jansen's grunts and whispered snarls, and the rapid double-bassing only come in near the end as the piece spirals to a climax. This is how these devices should be used.
5. Never Enough--Another showcase for Simons, with a more "commercial" sound--at least in the opinion of some fans that seem to think a band has jumped its stylistic shark if anyone but their narrow sub-genre might enjoy a song by them. In fact, this piece is thoroughly metal enough for any real fan. The bass-line is fantastic; Simons soars; Jansen provides just the right guttural vocal insertions; the keyboard and guitar work are superb. The only thing missing is an overwhelming choir part, but they're there if you listen closely. Simons' ten-second closing note will shame you out of singing in the shower for at least a week.
6. La'petach Chatat Rovetz--A superb classical and choral interlude misused as an intro to track 7.
7. Death of a Dream--Crashes in upon the heels of the preceding track too abruptly and shares a number of the flaws of TOD as far as musical composition and transitions. What saves it is that it does flow more smoothly, shares the recurring bouncing bass-line, and as always Simons performs superbly. Her parts are uniquely sinuous and even saucy at points, and always beautiful. The double-bassing is over-done, and occasionally Jansen's and guest "grunter" Sander Gommans' gutturals depart intelligibility. Still, it's a powerful piece, another mini-opera, and superior as a whole to TOD. It also starts a lyrical arc that continues in tracks 8 and 9.
8. Living a Lie--Initially this seems like it will be weak, like MOV, until Simons comes in on vocals, at which point it focuses your attention nicely. A good balance is struck between Simons and Jansen in this song, and although the choir can be over-powering, its contributions are short. The Latin voice-over of the priest's part makes sense and is easier to fit into one's comprehension of the song than the voice-over in TOD. A good, if lesser track compared to 4, 5, 9, 10 and 12.
9. Fools of Damnation--Wow! Simons is why Odysseus had to be lashed to the mast. Any Nightwish fans in deep mourning for Tarja Turunen's departure from the scene can listen to Epica for their opera fix. Simons simply soars! Beyond her blistering belting, this piece is everything TOD and DOAD were trying so hard to be. The transitions, the double-bassing, the voice-over, the choirs, the gutturals and Simons' operatic perfection all gel in a superb work that is also a perfect lyrical take-down of the shared hypocrisy of the world's major religions. The one verse of snarled gutturals observes: "Believing is the cure/Religion is an opium/You'd better feed them all/Before they start eating you." It's a warning religious demagogues everywhere ought to heed.
10. Beyond Belief--This track begins an arc of three in which Simons is the star and relatively undisturbed by gutturals, although the choir gets quite loud on this track. Thematically the piece sums up a large part of the clash of science and religion without necessarily coming down on either side. The background voice-over insertion and Jansen's gutturals actually compliment the piece, providing useful contrast. This one sticks with you and yanks you into the theme at the bottom of the entire problem: "We struggle with our certain death." This song is as lyrically good as FOD.
11. Safeguard to Paradise--Obviously recorded while the double-bass pedal (worn from too much use) was being replaced. A pretty ballad, this piece lyrically questions the methods of coercion and persuasion at play on the minds of suicide bombers. Not exactly the topic you would expect from what is otherwise a light, sweet little piece (at least, by this band's standards...).
12. Sancta Terra--The double-bass pedal was obviously back from the shop for this song--with an admonition not to abuse it. Instead of frantic double-bassing we get a return to the bouncy bass-line, and a nice storm-treader beat. The lyrics deal with the seduction of a false paradise. Simons and the choir are superb, with the latter getting the opportunity to show off its individual components.
13. The Divine Conspiracy--You have to wonder if Tuomas Holopainen of Nightwish, and Mark Jansen of Epica are competing to channel Hans Zimmer...and whether we should be trying to spot them both as extras in recent pirate movies... Epic in length at nearly 14 minutes, the title track opens like a pirate movie sound track and progresses into Jansen's gutturals backed by a nice galloping beat for once instead of the distracting trip-hammer of double-bassing. Simons' refrain is clear, haunting, and pointed: "Who possesses your time/Also possesses your mind." The choir is used to good effect. Sadly, some of the transitions are abrupt and the piece as a whole doesn't flow as smoothly as it perhaps should. After starting on a pirate movie note, it ends in a Bond-movie motif. Another mini-opera, like several others on this album, it is overshadowed by more polished gems.
Over-all this album gives the impression that Epica may be trying too hard. Trying to over-shadow Nightwish; trying to be classically artistic; trying to maintain its death-metal "street-cred." Turn the amp down from 11 to 10; stop slipping uppers into the drummer's Red Bull; forget about anything Tuomas Holopainen might be doing; and don't worry about some child whose self-image is overly invested in the band. You're good, already! Relax and enjoy what you do and you'll shine.
Only Simons isn't overdoing things. She is spot-on and scintillating. To my ear she combines the power of Tarja Turunen, the clarity of Liv Kristine, the technical capability of Sharon den Adel, the verve of Christina Scabbia and the honeyed smoothness of Nell Sigland. A mezzo-soprano, her vocal range permits her to rove over the aural landscape in ways that sopranos and contraltos cannot. She shares her range with the similarly extraordinary Enya, and if you've ever wondered--in one of your more perverse turns of mind, no doubt--what it would sound like if Enya sang metal, Simone Simons is your answer. Follow this young woman's career with keen interest.
 holy moly! what a great return! October 12, 2007
10 out of 17 found this review helpful
All of the negative reviews here are totally unwarranted. It's clear by these reviews that this band has (unfortunately) a lot of fair weather fans. Everyone keeps complaining about how it's not as catchy as CtO. Wow, who cares. This is metal, if you want catchy then go listen to britney spears. No one likes the death growls? They add a totally new dimension to the band, and it's a great contrast to hear the growls with the female vocals. It's just epic(a) beyond all beliefe. If you don't like the heavier approach, either vocally or musically, then once again, this is metal, and you should just go somewhere else. I loved CtO as much as the next person but it was too catchy, repetitive, and most of the songs were under 5 minutes long. Now, Epica makes the music they were born to play and all the songs are long and epic (hell, one of them is almost 15 minutes long) with many twist and turns. I'm sorry, what you rather listen to a 4 minute long catchy song or a 6 minute mini-epic that gets your blood pumping with all the different parts? That's what I thought.
I must praise EPICA for adding the death growls, the more longer songs, the more structure to them, and everything else they have done to spit in the face of commercialism.
So long Gothic Metal Hello Symphonic black prog metal August 31, 2007
9 out of 14 found this review helpful
Epica took the best of TPA and the best of CtO. The Black Metal parts come in from Mark and drums. The Symphonic parts come from Simone and choir. The Prog parts well just listen to the songs.
Epica has really found there sound here and it's not simple Gothic metal oh no it's beyond what you would find in Gothic Metal bands. They took a big risk here with this CD and in my view it has paid off big time. They can no longer be place in the the same catagore as Within Temptation, Sirenia, and other bands like them. Gone are in of the ways to make them seem like Evanescence.
Just any exmpale of how different they are from those other bands listen to Death of a Dream. They asked Sander Gommans to help out with this song. He had Mark go right to the heart of Black and Death Metal. Sander using the Death grunts Mark using the Black metal screams. If not for Simone and the chior this would have be falt out Black/Death Metal. Yeah it's that heavy.
Then there is there 14 minute long song The Divine Conspiracy. It's very different for Epica because it changes so many times in the song and not something you would really ever see out side of Prog metal. The only other femme metal band that will have a song this long is Nightwish.
So if you want a band that is playing by there rules pick up Epica's Divine Conspiarcy.
Stunning Symphonic Metal Perfection August 30, 2007
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
The first time I heard this album, I was completely blown away. The second, third, and now tenth time I have heard this album, I'm still blown away. This is symphonic rock/metal taken to astronomical heights, complete with superbly composed music, incredible production quality, and what is now one of the most gorgeous, refined voices in the genre. Simone Simons sings like a siren on this CD, and your jaw will be dropped by how good she sounds. There are also grunts performed by Mark Jansen, which are entirely effective and add that special edge to the music. The chorus is spectacular, as is the orchestra, here utilized to perfection. The whole album clocks at a healthy 75 minutes, and not a second is wasted.
1. Indigo (5/5) The best introduction Epica has ever done. A haunting, strings-driven choral piece, it perfectly sets up the tone for the rest of the album.
2. The Obsessive Devotion (5/5) This one plain-old rocks. Grunts and guitars drive it for an adrenaline-packed seven minutes, and Simone is heard for the first time. And boy, does she sound good.
3. Menace Of Vanity (4/5) A little generic and a bit similar to the previous track, but it's still quite good.
4. Chasing the Dragon (6/5) I think this might be my favorite. It maintains a spellbinding beauty for all of its seven and a half minutes, and you never do want it to end. Simone has never sounded better than she does here, with a huge range of the utmost purity and sweetness in her voice. The climax here also rocks, just for the record.
5. Never Enough (4.5/5) The first single off of the album (and if you want to check out the video, make sure that you see the vastly superior extended version). Though it's probably the most commercial song here, it lacks not in quality or catchiness. A passionately sung, vengeful piece of music, it features some fantastic Arabic flourishes and a concluding note by Simone that packs more power than a steamroller.
6. La'fetach Chataz Rovetz (4.5/5) A rare instrumental piece, and quite a nice break. It is tranquil yet engaging, exotic yet very pleasing to hear.
7. Death of a Dream (5/5) A harrowing, ferociously beautiful song. And surprise surprise, Simone sounds incredible.
8. Living a Lie (5/5) Another great one, featuring Latin and Gregorian-sounding chanting to add to the effect.
9. Fools of Damnation (6/5) I don't think Epica songs get better than this song. It's incredible, with savage grunts, heavy Arabic influences, some wicked cool organ playing, and blindingly captivating singing.
10. Beyond Belief (4.5/5) Some particularly good singing and guitar here, though the voices in the middle are a tad out of place.
11. Safeguard To Paradise (5/5) A lovely ballad, almost dripping with the beauty of Simone pouring her heart out against the strings section.
12. Sancta Terra (5/5) More Arabic influences here, with exceptional harmonies between Simone and the choir (and the men in the choir sound especially good).
13. The Divine Conspiracy (5.5/5) The title song puts the "epic" in "Epica." Yes, it's 14 minutes, which might be a little daunting, but how could it claim to be epic if it wasn't? An orchestral intro and outro frame this masterpiece, which itself is everything you could ever hope for. I'll leave it at that.
If you want to buy this CD just because Simone is au naturel on the cover, go right ahead. But I promise that you will be in for much more of a treat than just that.
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