After eight Epica records, soprano empress Simone Simons has carved out her own symphonic metal universe. The Dutch singer’s first solo album is drowning in a sea of red. Rising and diving from opulent crimson heights to blood-smeared rumbles of industrial fury, Simone unravels the horrors and joys of the world through a rouge-tinted pair of spectacles. And the results are epic.
Vermillion was written incollaboration with Arjen Lucassen, leader of symphonic Dutch prog metallers Ayreon and a specialist in sprawling rock operas. It shows: opener Aeterna is remarkable, a swelling mix of orchestral might, bold riffs and thrumming electronic pulses.
While the tech-y injections feel contemporary, the track remains timeless, a haunting battle cry unearthed from the depths of the Earth. The entire record is just as cinematic, and very in line with Epica’s signature grandeur. Yet that grandeur isn’t reserved solely for lofty symphonic prog metal anthems - it’s also channelled into sharp industrial cuts such as Cradle To The Grave, featuring Alissa White-Gluz.
Here, the guttural sting of the Arch Enemy vocalist perfectly offsets Simone’s soothing wails, a thrilling clash of menacing darkness and ethereal light. Throughout, Vermillion is perfectly balanced. It’s a playground for a musical and lyrical fight between dark and light, but it also questions innocence and the evil that corrupts and soils it - even on the cover, where Simone is depicted as Medusa, the snake-headed supposed ‘tyrant’ who was actually abused and unfairly persecuted by the gods.
From the delicate strings and mournful piano of Dark Night Of The Soul, to the dangerous riffs of R.E.D., all beauty is contrasted with equal lashings of sorrow. Vermillion is a commendable, multifaceted venture into the vocalist’s soul, and it delights at every turn. ‘Will I ever dare to spread my wings and fly?’ she muses during The Weight Of My World. Thankfully, she soars.
Vermillion is out August 23 via Nuclear Blast
