Epica – We Will Take You With Us
Transmission Records / The End Records – TM3020-2 – October 4th, 2004
By Jason Jordan
Epica – a group that trots hand in hand with fellow Netherlanders
After Forever – graced the metal world just recently with
Consign to Oblivion.
We Will Take You With Us, the album I’m listening to at this exact moment, preceded the aforesaid and features songs the band performed on a Dutch TV show named
2 Meter Sessies. Who cares about the background, right? I know I don’t, so let’s move on to the actual material.
Anyone familiar with
Epica knows what seeps out of the stereo when the former are being played. It’s a sound not unlike
After Forever,
Lacuna Coil, and other female-fronted troupes that aren’t afraid to wander into edgy territory saturated with distortion. Here, though, various forms of growling do enter the picture as a result of Mark Jansen’s input, and I think his style (at times old
Amorphis; at times BM-influenced) is invaluable. In short, without him,
We Will Take You With Us would be way more boring…which implies that this record is kind of boring from the get-go, eh? Well, yes, if you aren’t swayed by symphonic metal with high-class, female vocals. The first six numbers won’t blindside you in any way, shape, or form, because they’ve been borrowed from the sextet’s 2003 debut, namely
The Phantom Agony. More interesting, perchance, is the acoustic reworking of “Feint” and “Run for a Fall,” which again were both lifted from their previous effort. Not content to let sleeping cats lie,
Epica also included “Memory” (from the musical
Cats) on this compilation.
Despite minor cosmetic changes, and the inclusion of rarer versions of songs,
We Will Take You With Us is not that alluring. If I were an
Epica fan, I’d stick with the full-lengths and leave it at that. There are some awe-inspiring moments to be uncovered, but I’m positive that
The Phantom Agony is a more sensible investment. Either way, this is kind of good, but kind of redundant, which makes it kind of unnecessary.
7/10
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Official The End Records Website
