Track Listing

1. Author and the Architect
2. Behind the Chapel Walls
3. Lithograph
4. Burden of Eternity
5. Illumination
6. Dividing the Distance
7. Of Malice and Majesty
8. Anathema: The Gate Keeper
9. Darkest Days
10. To Cast the Mourning Shadow
11. Departure

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41710 in Music
• Released on: 2008-03-04
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

A Consequence Of Design - album review
I am in love with Epicurean. A Consequence Of Design is probably the best eighteen bucks I've ever spent in my life. From the combination of both roaring death metal vocals and more melodic singing, to the sick drum beats and bass lines that hold the songs together, Epicurean has a unique sound that will satisfy anyone who likes metal. The keyboard playing which often sets the tone for each song is impressive on both a level of technical skill and musicality, and is not the generic cheesy synth you might be used to. And being a guitarist myself, I am especially impressed with the album on that front. The rhythm parts are crunchy and complicated, and often include harmonies on many of the riffs. The solos are fast and intricate, and no two sound alike. The album provides lots of challenging new material to any musician looking to learn some good metal.

The individual songs are also very unique, and none of them sound the same. Each has something that makes it different, from the beautiful, fuzzy piano that starts off "The Author And The Architect", to the more balls-to-the-wall heavy songs such as "Lithograph" and "Darkest Days". One of my favorite tracks on the album is the more experimental "Anathema: The Gatekeeper", which starts off with a slow acoustic guitar/bass intro, then moves into a heavy riff, and even includes a bluesy sounding guitar solo that also manages to keep the death metal tone that the band gives off.

In short, A Consequence Of Design has not a single dull moment, and is a must-have for any metal fan.

this band is very uplifting
Epicurean sounds like a very uplifting metal band. their music sounds like a combination of melodic death and progressive metal. their instrumentation sounds like it is working together instead of trying to outdo each other. this is the most diverse metal band on the Metal Blade roster. I believe that Epicurean has a bright future ahead of it.

DARK METAL MASTERPIECE
This was another surprisingly good album by a modern american metal band. With many new stateside acts like Epicurean along with Luna Mortis and Winds Of Plague taking more influence in European Melodic Death Metal, other than underproduced, and often generic American Metalcore, there have been more and more good American groups showing up, and taking over.

The album instantly draws your attention with The Author And The Architect, and while it has some of the characteristics of a mainstream metalcore band, such as the bad-guy good-guy vocals, and extreme tempos, it lacks the hardcore breakdowns, forcing it into a different genre, perhaps Swedish Melo-Death. In fact, when you finally hear breakdowns in this CD, it is more of a symphonic Black Metal breakdown, at four minutes and forty seconds into The Burden of Eternity. And then it continues almost the entire next song, Illumination, with many more blackened breakdowns throughout the album.

The Black Metal breakdowns is what initially attracted me to this band. A multitude of American Metal tendencies, with a blackened mood, borrowing a little Dimmu Borgir, and Cradle of Filth. But the band these guys remind me of the most is a recent Swedish Melo-death act called Sonic Syndicate. If you're not familiar with them, then they remind me of Soilwork, or Mercenary, with just a little symphonic black metal.

The guitar solos are utterly classic, and thrash metal as well as NWOBHM, and any listener will know this is a band which was raised on the classics.

So if you are planning on buying the new Killswitch, or Suicide Silence, (which I am) get this release first. This is real modern American Metal.