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Rating: Tracklist:
1. "Façade of Reality"
2. "Sensorium"
3. "Illusive Consensus"
4. "Cry For The Moon"
5. "The Phantom Agony"
6. "Seif Al Din"
7. "Feint"
8. "Run For A Fall"
9. "Memory"
In some people's opinion, they might have overdone it. But the final result is amazing! Making everything more majestic, besides the group (and thus the splendid voice of Simons), are three violinists, three cellists, six female singers, and two male singers.
The DVD opens with "Façade of Reality", a fantastic song not only musically but also for the depth of every single word in the lyrics. During a purely orchestral interlude, a voice recites:
"For those who lost their lives on September 11th and those who mourn them; now is the time to find the strength to build a community. Let this be their memorial monument."
"Façade of Reality" is characterized by constant changes in speed and by the usual call and response between Simons' angelic voice and Mark's powerful growl & scream. It is quite a heavy song (especially in the intro) that symphonic metal enthusiasts will surely love.
The journey continues with the philosophical "Sensorium", masterfully interpreted by Simons, and why not, made very interesting by the presence of the choir that (and it shows) works hard not just vocally, but also in terms of engagement: the continuous gestures of understanding, the smiles exchanged between Simons and some of its members, show the camaraderie and harmony that reign in that studio.
The third track is "Illusive Consensus", a song with profound lyrics, but not very significant musically speaking.
Moving on, we find "Cry For The Moon", a true pearl generated by Mark's genius. A protest song against the wrongdoings of the Church, music as never purely orchestral yet heavy at the same time, thanks to the powerful growl of the guitarist-singer-composer (a jack of all trades, in short) and made visually interesting by the headbanging of the group and the enchanting Simons, who in this track brings out the best of herself by delivering a surprising lyrical vibrato.
We pass to "The Phantom Agony", where it's almost the choir that dominates (intro, chorus, and various song parts entirely sung by this latter) along with Jansen's voice. What is noticeable is surely the length of the song (9:10 min), which however does not compromise listening, never being trivial but having, just like "Façade of Reality" constant changes in speed.
The first part titled "The Works" concludes with the devilishly heavy "Seif Al Din", a bit out of the ordinary (double pedal flurry in various points, growl as the main voice and Arabic instruments), perhaps the most interesting to listen to but surely not the best song produced by Epica.
The second part, titled "Acoustic", contains three songs played with piano and cello and sung by Simons and the two main female singers. Thanks to these three tracks, we can fully appreciate Simone's angelic voice, and, why not, relax after the emotion of live heavy metal.
The third part is the making of the DVD, which can be watched either without subtitles or with English subtitles. Nothing wrong for those who know English, but those who don't understand it well will have to limit themselves to hearing Simons and others say incomprehensible things.
We now move on to the "Extra", where we find the music videos of "The Phantom Agony", "Feint" and their respective making, which however have the same flaw as the DVD making. Continuing, we are "introduced" to the singers ("The Voices Of The Phantom Agony"), after which we can enjoy the "Slide Show", i.e., the most significant photos of the "2 Meter Sessies" and read the discography of Epica.
In conclusion, an exciting DVD, especially for those who love Symphonyc (present!) and, consequently, for those who adore Epica. The only flaws are the "Extra", not very interesting (perhaps totally useless) for those who don't know Dutch or, worse, who are ignorant of English.
Rating: ****°
Post-review considerations: It's my first review, moreover written for a DVD, be lenient and, please, give me good advice to continue writing reviews! Thank you! :P
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Sensorium (04:54)
Chance doesn't exist
But the path of life is not totally so predestined
And time and chronology show us how all should be
In the ways of existence
To find out why we are here
Being consciousness is a torment
The more we learn is the less we get
Every answer contains a new quest
A quest to non existence, a journey with no end
No one surveys the whole, focus on things so small
But life's objective is to make it meaningful
Only searching for this
That which doesn't exist
Although our ability to relativize remains unclear
I'm not afraid to die
I'm afraid to be alive without being aware of it
I'm so afraid to, I couldn't stand to
Waste all my energy on things
That do not matter anymore
Our future has already been written by us alone
But we don't grasp the meaning
Of our programmed course of life
Our future has already been wasted by us alone
And we just let it happen and do not worry at all
We only fear what comes
And smell death every day
03 Illusive Consensus (05:04)
So sweet caress, never long to last!
You entered my soul and gave hope to my life.
So sweet caress, never hope to last!
You left me behind all alone and aghast
Capured inside such an austere Elysium
Imperfect feelings, futile greef
Love a device against all solitude
As it all went on, the love became
A field in a dream that once had been real
So sweet caress, never long to last!
Destroy this illusion we need a change of fate!
Your frantic thoughts are only a condemned cry
Primo somniare videbamur
deinde veritas se praecipitavit
I secretly longed for something
which had never existed
First I thought it was a dream
but then it smashed into reality
Beautiful on the outside, decayed deeply within
I secretly longed for something
which had never existed
Devoted to a body without a soul
Numquam non tibi diffidam
04 Cry for the Moon (The Embrace That Smothers, Part IV) (06:45)
Follow your common sense
You cannot hide yourself
behind a fairytale forever and ever
Only by revealing the whole truth can we disclose
The soul of this sick bulwark forever and ever
Forever and ever
Indoctrinated minds so very often
Contain sick thoughts
And commit most of the evil they preach against
Don't try to convince me with messages from God
You accuse us of sins committed by yourselves
It's easy to condemn without looking in the mirror
Behind the scenes opens reality
Eternal silence cries out for justice
Forgiveness is not for sale
Nor is the will to forget
Virginity has been stolen at very young ages
And the extinguisher loses its immunity
Morbid abuse of power in the garden of eden
Where the apple gets a youthful face
You can't go on hiding yourself
Behind old fashioned fairytales
And keep washing your hands in innocence
05 The Phantom Agony (09:02)
[I. Impasse of Thoughts]
I can't see you, I can't hear you
Do you still exist?
I can't feel you, I can't touch you,
Do you exist?
The Phantom Agony
I can't taste you, I can't think of you,
Do we exist at all?
[II. Between hope and despair]
The future doesn't pass
And the past won't overtake the present
All that remains is an obsolete illusion
We are afraid of all the things that could not be
A phantom agony
Do we dream at night
Or do we share the same old fantasy?
I am a silhouette of the persen wandering in my dreams
Tears of unprecedented beauty
Reveal the truth of existence
We're all sadists
The age-old development of consciousness
Drives us away from the essence of life
We meditate too much,
so that our instincts will fade away
They fade away
What's the point of life
And what's the meaning if we all die in the end?
Does it make sense to learn or do we forget everything?
Tears of unprecedented beauty
Reveal the truth of existence
We're all pessimists
Teach me how to see and free the disbelief in me
What we get is what we see, the Phantom Agony
[III. Nevermore]
The lucidity of my mind has been revealde in new dreams
I am able to travel where my heart goes
In search of self-realisation
This is the way to escape from our agitation
And develop ourselves
Use your illusion and enter my dream...
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