Happy Yuletide, all.

This is what I concider the golden age of symphonic metal. Right here, right now. It is a genre that develop well on its own as well as into other genres – Leaves’ Eyes blend it perfectly with folk music (Njord of 2009 for example) and Sonata Arctica earlier this fall released The Days of Grays which was the first album that really showed a mixture of power, prog and symphonic metal without one taking the overly control.

A certain cliff in the history of symphonic metal was released only a month ago… Epica‘s Design Your Universe is the album I will speak of today.

This phenomenal, epic, melodic, bombastic album kicks of with their best instrumental yet, the intro song Samadhi ~ Prelude ~, before entering Resign to Surrender ~ A New Age Dawns – part IV ~. DYU is the first album to continue the A New Age Dawns saga, first started on the 2005 album Consign to Oblivion. The first three parts told of the collapse of the Mayan civilization, and this 2009 release show the next three parts. To me, Resign to Surrender sounds like an amazing intro song, the perfect way to reawaken the saga in. It builds up perfectly, before finishing and leaving the scene for the next song (and the first video for the album), Unleashed. Unleashed is far from the best song of the album, but I understand they used it as a video. It is a real catchy song, and Simone sounds amazing in it. I can’t see why it’s their most popular on Last.fm, but still a great track.

The fourth song on the album is Martyr of the Free Word, and here I must speak my mind. Why, oh why, couldn’t this be the third song? I would much prefer it to be ahead of Unleashed, simply because Unleashed is a bit too grande and bombastic, whilst Martyr is more of a metal song. Resign to Surrender followed by Unleashed just doesn’t sound as good as followed by Martyr of the Free Word. This aside, it’s a really cool track, one of the more special on the album, with influences from oriental music in the vocal lines. Mark Jansen’s grunts right after the chorus really is an amazing part that does the song.

The next song is another more bombastic one – Our Destiny. I’m sad to say this is one of the weaker songs on the album, if I have to choose one. It is a great song, but compared to the rest of the album it’s kind of dull. The thing is that it’s too long… it’s only 6 minutes, not much to Epica standards, but I feel it’s a little too much. If it were to be cut down into at least 4:40, 5, it would be much higher in my ratings.

Kingdom of Heaven ~ A New Age Dawns – part V ~ is the fifth chapter of the A New Age Dawns saga, and the longest song on the album at 13:35. It is an awesome track, especially the first eight minutes, but it’s still a disappointment to me. Maybe I had too high hopes – before I heard it I saw an interview with Mark Jansen explaining how he had worked on the song for three years, and how he considered it their best by far. To me it’s pretty low on the list of top tracks on DYU, after the title track, Martyr of the Free Word, Burn to a Cinder, and Resign to Surrender. As with Our Destiny, maybe this song would be much better if it were to be cut down, maybe with as much as three or four minutes. Another remark is the spoken parts in the second half of the song… I don’t mind cheese, in fact I order a triple cheese sandwich listening to Stratovarius and Rhapsody of Fire, but these spoken parts really shift the song from epic to humorous, not a completely reparable damage I’m afraid.

After an epic song like Kingdom of Heaven, it’s often tough to hear another song right away. Many bands solve this problem with either putting an easier rock song right after (Nightwish‘s The Poet and the Pendulum was followed by Bye Bye Beautiful), or the epic song is the final track on the album. The dilemma here is how there are two epic songs, Kingdom of Heaven as well as the title track, which is put as the final song (a perfect choice, more of that later). So the choice was to have an interlude as the seventh track, entitled The Price of Freedom ~ Interlude ~, a clip of people speaking of the price of freedom being death and orchestral music in the background resembling of many horror pictures from the 1920′s.

The interlude leads elegantly into Burn to a Cinder, one of my favorites on the album. It is one of the more melodic songs, going back to the power metal territories of Consign to Oblivion and The Phantom Agony. The song ends with an epic moment leading into deep sorrow (“Why can’t I bleed with you?”) followed by the album’s first ballad, the moving Tides of Time.

To me, both Deconstruct and Semblance of Liberty are pretty standard symph metal songs – no big surprises, catchy choruses, nothing really special except for the speaking part in Semblance of Liberty (“Read… my… lips”).

The second ballad of the album is also the weakest song Epica has ever made. I was glad when they announced that Tony Kakko of Sonata Arctica would guest feature on the song White Waters, but this doesn’t feel like Tony at all. All Tony touches turns to gold, but this is as far from gold as you could get. White Waters is not beautiful, it is boring and weird, and the only thing that saves it is that Semblance of Liberty leading into the final track of the album would be very weird. And the final track is gold.

Design Your Universe ~ A New Age Dawns – part VI ~ is the best song Epica has ever written, and that’s final. It is just perfect, from it’s epic chorus (“We can’t undo what we have done, so show us now what we’ve become”) to its final, heartbreaking, whispering verse that always makes me weep.

This is Epica’s best release to date, and I’m really excited if they will ever top it, because let’s face it…. this is the latest chapter in the history of awesome music.

The thing is, that IF this is a truth and not just a bunch of stories – why do so many people believe it? How did they find out? What are the odds that EVERYONE writing the Bible told truths and not fairy tales, or for that matter rumours? The Bible was not written by God, I try to tell believers, it was written by men. I believe in science, but if I found a 2000 year old book telling me 1 + 1 = 5 I wouldn’t believe it just because. Nor would I if it said in the book that it was Albert Einstein who had said it, because he was born 1900 years later and it wouldn’t make any sense.

To finish off by quoting Epica: “Follow your common sense, you cannot hide yourself behind a fairy tale forever”.

See you in Norje, Sölvesborg on the third.

I read in an interview with Tuomas Holopainen (keyboardist and composer of symphonic metal band Nightwish) that he concider their songs Wish I Had an Angel (from 2004 album Once) and Bye Bye Beautiful (Dark Passion Play, 2007) as part of the same story lyrics-wise.It has also been rumoured that Master Holopainen had a crush, which was verified in an interview – even if he wasn’t deeply in love with her, he at least had a mere crush on her, “as did almost everyone as she was a very beautiful woman”. My theory: Wish I Had an Angel is about his platonic love towards Tarja, the “angel” which he cannot have. The subject of Bye Bye Beautiful is obvious as well as verified – it’s about firing Tarja from Nightwish. In other words, the story can be like this:Part 1 (Wish I Had an Angel):Tuomas has a crush about Tarja, yet isn’t loved back.Part 2 (Bye Bye Beautiful):Tarja is fired from Nightwish in 2005 partly due to her lack of interest in the band, and her changed attitude making her a complete bitch (my interpretation of the words in the letter (see the sources)). This doesn’t have to have anything to do with Tuomas’ crush on Tarja, but still this is a way of making the clear statement that he doesn’t want to be with the one he loves. Also, as is conspired among many fans and tabloids, the real reason of firing Tarja was because he couldn’t stand not having her. Either way, I do think this was a part. It seems like it, if Wish I Had an Angel and Bye Bye Beautiful really are parts of the same story.Sources:* Tuomas’ Nightmail – http://www.nightwish.com/en/community/nightmail* Tuomas talks about Dark Passion Play – http://www.tuomasholopainen.net/darkpassionplay.html* Open letter to Tarja in which she is fired – http://nightwish.com/en/article/6

Comments: (taken from the Last.fm article)

Rozen-rot:

Hey, very interesting, I didn’t know he had said that. Here’s my possible explanation. Its hard to infere meaning because the lyrics of WIHAA don’t actually make that much sense, but lets have a go at analyzing them anyway. “Deep into a dying day”. Here, ‘dying day’ could represent the end of the old era, meaning that the decision to fire Tarja is on his mind, and he is ‘deep into’ it [perhaps he is refering to the infamous letter, 'deep into writing it']. “I took a step outside an innocent heart”. This could refer to the realization by Tuomas that as the boss he has to do something which will not go down well with the fans. He won’t be seen as innocent, in many cases he will be singled out and hated. Or perhaps Tuomas already feels guilty for what he will do, and thus his heart is no longer innocent. Or maybe this is reference to Tarja, that greed has made her heart loose its innocence.

“Prepare to hate me fall when I may, This night will hurt you like never before”. Tuomas seems to be saying this might be the worse mistake of my career – ‘fall when I may’, and at same time preparing Tarja, acknowledging that this will likely end their friendship. But a link to BBB – did you ever listened to what we played?”Old loves they die hard.” Love doesn’t have to mean “in love”. Tuomas has stated many times that he has loved her voice, and that she was beautiful, but call me crazy but that doesn’t sound like anything more then admiration. Tarja was his muse, and he loved her. But I don’t believe he was ever “in love” with her. [He has a girlfriend].”I wish I had an Angel for one moment of love. I wish I had your Angel, your Virgin Mary undone”. Tuomas wants an Angel? In the first line that doesn’t have to mean Tarja. Following the first versus if Tuomas is considering firing Tarja, maybe angel is symbolic of a female vocalist whom he can love [not in the dirty way] and be inspired by, as is no longer the case with Tarja. In the second part, that might refer to Tarja, he wants her angel, as the way she was before the change in her character.”I’m in love with my lust”. Lust is a sin. Like greed. “Burning angel wings to dust”. What I infere from these two lines is, its not working out. 1. These could be representative of Tarja, she is saying I’m in love with my sin and its causing destruction, literally turning the band relationships to dust, or 2. Tuomas is saying because he is allowing the problem to remain, he is causing the destruction. “I wish I had your angel tonight” – Tuomas really wants the old Tarja back.’Drunken disguise changes all the rule’ – Tuomas admitting he has an drink problem.Okay not going to do anymore because I’ve run out of time. Might tomorrow if this sparks up a quarrel ;P. But anyway I would agree with Tuomas that they follow the same story but I don’t seen WIHAA as an unrequired love song for Tarja, seems more like a warning to me Of course I have the gift of hindsight on my side.Also note that it ends on ‘I wish I had an Angel’ four times, rather then ‘Your angel’. Suggesting Tuomas wants an angel [new vocalist] really badly.The problem of course with lyrics is that they are completely open to intrepretation. For all we know Tuomas put them together because they were pretty.

Quispiam (me):

Thanks for showing such an interest. I don’t think he was in love with her either, I guess I expressed myself unclear. Having a crush, being in love, those are two different things. I would say that either1) He was in love with her, but knew he couldn’t have her. That’s why it varies so much between (as your theory goes) that he wants to fire her, and that he says he wants her to be his (“I wish I had your angel tonight”); he knows it’s impossible, yet he cannot help to think “but maybe I can have her after all…” I know since I’ve been in the same position, and it’s quite tough on you. He also doesn’t say that he wants HER, that she IS the angel, he says he wants HER angel, i.e. what she used to be and maybe still is deep inside….or…2) He wasn’t in love with her, but Marcelo destroyed her through his greed, as described in Master Passion Greed, destroyed his old beloved friend. He didn’t want this to happen, he wanted the old Tarja back. Even though he’s not in love with her, he admires the old Tarja enough to refer to her as an angel. Think of her as a shell with the old Tarja either killed long ago, or trapped inside the shell. Desperately, Master Holopainen tries to bring her out, more and more realising that he can’t. She is long gone. He realises that he if he can’t reach the angel inside the shell, he has to destroy the shell too, metaphorically. Through firing her. I would say that the song is about dealing with those strong emotions when he has to get rid of his long lost friend. Think of it yourself; you have a friend who (choose yourself if you want to see it metaphorically or not) you love till the end, yet he is trapped inside a demon. You try to find your friend within the demon’s heart, but you slowly realises that your friend has become the demon. He is not your friend any more. He is, against his will, a demon. The angel is trapped within the demon, what is there to do but to through a burning crucifix at the demon?I’m sorry I may sound rather poetic, I’ve been working on a song text the whole day… :PEternalwanderer:@The above: I like your second theory. In addition to making sense, it’s ridiculously nicely worded.Anyways, your whole theory makes sense to me, though I can’t say as I’m nearly as familiar with every word master Holopainen has ever spoken.Solyndra:In the biography he said however that WIHAA was written (or he came up with the idea) when he went to a bar with his girlfriend at the time and that all the guys were lusting after her. And I believe it kinda pissed him off xD His girlfriend at the time couldn’t have been Tarja because she was already married, and BBB is definitely directed at her.So I think the storyline could be correct lyricwise, but I don’t think the actual facts connected to the lyrics are connected as well.And by the way – in 2004 the band and Tarja were still friends. It went wrong during the tour, not before, if my memory serves right.Quispaim (me):Solyndra: You’re right, he have said that. That’s the one con in my theory, maybe I should have mentioned it.And yes, they have said that it was during the tourings, but also that they never rehearsed Once together. The guys had one shift, Tarja another, so they barely met. Maybe Tuomas already thought of this, and the tour was what made it worse.Rozen-rot:I think tensions had been arising for a long time, I mean they didn’t just happen over night. Look at Century Child released in 2004, Tuomas doesn’t seem to be in a good mood writing that one. Then factor in he wanted to leave. Problems were brewing for a few years prior to that release.That and the lovely Mrs Turunen stating in an interview that she and Tuomas were never friends. Nice.Quispiam (me):Rozen-rot: Little is known about why he wanted to leave Nightwish after Wishmaster (or was it after Over the Hills and Far Away?), all he has said is that “they felt musical differences among the members”. That’s also why he fired Sami, who according to him didn’t have a similar goal in their musical life (they’re still friends though), and why so much changed with Century Child. I don’t think it has to do with Tarja, really.Solyndra:It wasn’t just the band. He has also said his personal life had pretty much collapsed at this point..BlackDahlia333:I did believe that there was a connection between these two songs. Even the music sounds somehow simalar. So as far as we know that BBB is about Tarja why don’t believe that WIHAA is about her too? Tuomas has said she was his muse so I think he loved her (I’m not saying he was in love with her) Tarja had express her willing for solo career before the release of Once so maybe Tuomas was thinking his options.Quispiam (me):Yeah, well, I don’t think Tuomas was (nor is) in love with Tarja; neither WIHAA nor BBB really suggest love (more than friendship, respect, passion etc.).And yes, I know that if I were Tuomas I’d want to kill all the fans discussing his deeply personal problems, but hell, I have too much free time. GreyWolf84:I found your journal wandering on lastfm..I hope it’s ok if I add my comment on the matter..Actually Tarja husband really stated Tuomas was in love with her (read Marcelo Cabuli answers, in Tarja’s wikipedia). And Tarja confirmed it.Now I’m not sure which kind of love was it..for sure it wasn’t just a random crush since Marcelo quoted Tuomas own words saying “nobody was able to stop his love for Tarja” . Maybe it was platonic, maybe it was more physical..but according to Tarja and Marcelo he was for a long time in love with her.Going back to the song..BBB is surely about Tarja . I don’t think WIHAA has a connection with her..When Tuomas talked about “sister songs” I think he meant music-wise, not lyricswise.As someone said it, the song was written after a night in a bar with his girlfriend and guys started to hit on her..and Tuomas didn’t know what to do and was kinda pissed. I’ve never understand how the lyrics are connected to the event, however this is what Tuomas said.Quispiam (me):@GreyWolf84: Ofcourse, and I haven’t “decided” for an opinion or theory of my own, I merely debate on facts and guesses. I have read Tarja’s letter, and I know that she and Marcelo over and over again has said that Tuomas did feel for her and that he did confess this, more or less threatening Marcelo to leave her. However this is word against word, and we’ll never know who’s right. Tuomas states he didn’t feel anything more than a crush for Tarja, and that was years ago, back in the late 1990′s. I would presume he more or less admired her, felt a platonic love, but that he had accepted that he could not have her. When Marcelo stepped into the picture he was pissed of, partly in jealousy, but mostly simply because he destroyed his friend. That’s my theory.Your theory on BBB and WIHAA is very possible, and I can at least somewhat relate the lyrics of WIHAA to that event, if it’s written from their point of view.