Epica - The Score 2.0 (An Epic Journey) (2017)

When the soundtrack album The Score was released in 2005, Epica proved once and for all that they were more than just another female fronted rock band . Their trailblazing debut The Phantom Agony (2003) and the sophomore album Consign to Oblivion (2005) were both deeply influenced by classical movie scores and The Score was the logical next step. Epica frontman Mark Jansen has always had ambitions towards scoring a movie. If there is one thing about the Joyride movie that has stood the test of time, it s the music. The Score fully holds up as a body of work in its own right and consists of an exciting melting pot of styles. The orchestral bombast on the album contrasts perfectly with the subdued violins and the ambient-like sounds with indigenous influences: Typically Epica, states Mark Jansen, who was responsible for the greater part of the music, together with Epica keyboard- and piano player Coen Janssen and former bass payer Yves Huts: Only without the singing, without the guitars, no bass and no drums. More than a decade later producer Miro Rodenberg has written additional arrangements, added keyboard parts, remixed and expanded the material. Like the original version, The Score 2.0 is a stunning soundtrack that stirs the imagination whilst succeeding in being an epic trip, even without any accompanying pictures. It's the nuances that make the difference on The Score 2.0. The already timeless piece of music sounds refreshed, and listening truly feels like revisiting a memorable trip. Years later, the place still looks and feels the same, but while travelling it gradually becomes clear that the landscape is even more beautiful than you remembered it.