To mark 10 years since the release of their “Design your universe” album, Epica have released a “Gold edition” version of the album. So what’s new? Well its not just a remixed version of the album – instead Epica have gone back to the studio and recorded something new. As well as the album on CD, there’s a bonus CD included – “The acoustic universe” which features acoustic versions of five of the songs from Design your universe.
I’ve got to be honest – the news of acoustic versions was both exciting and slightly worrying. It’s obviously exciting to hear them doing something different, but heavy songs with growling vocals as well as clean vocals, and multiple layers of symphonic sounds are complex so I wasn’t sure if they’d work well as acoustic songs. Happily though Epica have clearly put a lot of time and effort into this and have rearranged the songs significantly to ensure they work in the acoustic format.
It’s not just acoustic guitar and vocals as you get with many acoustic versions of songs, you’ve still got drums, just not as hard and heavy as normal, there are still string instruments used to give some of the richness you expect from an Epica album, and other instruments such as the flute and clarinet are also used. The result is the music still sounds beautiful and familiar while still sounding very different from the originals. The pace has changed too and every detail has been considered. As with the originals, Simone does the lead vocals and they sound fantastic, but Mark’s growls havent been forgotten – they’re still used just a bit more sparingly.
I’m not going to say much about the “Design your universe” disc – fans are more than familiar with the songs and some are still a regular part of Epica’s live sets. It does include “Incentive” which was originally a bonus track on some versions of the album.
This is an excellent reissue – Epica really have created something special with this acoustic CD, so even if you own the original album, the gold edition is still an essential purchase for all Epica fans.
Design your universe:
1. Samadhi
2. Resign to surrender
3. Unleashed
4. Martyr of the free world
5. Our destiny
6. Kingdom of heaven
7. The price of freedom
8. Burn to a cinder
9. Deconstruct
10. Semblance of liberty
11. White waters
12. Design your universe
13. Incentive
The acoustic universe:
1. Burn to a cinder
2. Our destiny
3. Unleashed
4. Martyr of the free world
5. Design your universe
- 10.99