The Divine Conspiracy

The Divine Conspiracy
Studio album by Epica
Released	22 August 2007
Recorded	November 2006 - February 2007
Studio	Gate Studio, Wolfsburg, Germany
Genre	Symphonic metal
Length	75:36
Label	Nuclear Blast
Producer	Sascha Paeth & Epica
Epica chronology
The Road to Paradiso (2006) The Divine Conspiracy (2007) The Classical Conspiracy (2009)
Singles from The Divine Conspiracy
"Never Enough" Released: 10 August 2007 "Chasing the Dragon" Released: 27 June 2008

Professional ratings

Review scores
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About.com	[2]

The Divine Conspiracy is the third studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Epica as well as their first concept album. It was released through Nuclear Blast in Japan on 22 August 2007, in the US on 28 August, in Europe on 7 September, and in the UK on 10 September. The concept that guides the songs is that God created many different religions for humanity to figure out and overcome them so as to discover that, in nature and essence, they were all in fact the same one (hence the name, "The Divine Conspiracy").^[3] Aside from the concept of such a conspiracy, The Divine Conspiracy finalizes The Embrace That Smothers, which began in After Forever's Prison of Desire (Prologue and parts I-III) and continued in Epica's The Phantom Agony (parts IV-VI). In short, The Embrace That Smothers is a collection of 10 songs (Prologue and parts I-IX), which talks about the dangers of organized religion.

Background

In The Divine Conspiracy,

and her father killed her. That's how the song title came about, "Death of a Dream"."

The album cover also comes from the depicted concept. On an interview for Sonic Cathedral, Simons commented that it was her idea, as she had no problems in being naked for an artistic purpose. The nudity in the cover manages to illustrate the state of innocence people have before making wrong choices and, as life goes through, marks starts to appear and take hold, as depicted by the marks on her body. Then, Eve's apple illustrates the religious side of the album, where she decides to bite it and become a human being in all its circumstances.^[4]

Following the departure of drummer Jeroen Simons in 2006, the album features a session appearance by

".

The album was the first to reach the Top 10 Dutch charts, reaching the No.9.[5]

Track listing

Limited Edition bonus CD

• "Higher High" - 5:26
• "Replica" - 4:08 (Fear Factory cover)
• "Never Enough" (Video)
• "Never Enough" (Long Version - Video)
• Making of Never Enough (Video)

Personnel

Credits for The Divine Conspiracy adapted from liner notes.^[7]

Epica

• Simone Simons – lead vocals
• Mark Jansen – rhythm guitar, grunts
• Ad Sluijter
  – lead guitar
• Yves Huts – bass
• Coen Janssen – synths, piano, baritone vocals on "Beyond Belief"

Additional personnel

• Ariën Van Weesenbeek
  – drums
• Sander Gommans – death grunts on "Death of a Dream"
• Olaf Reitmeier – acoustic guitar on "Chasing the Dragon", baritone vocals on "Beyond Belief", engineering, editor
• Amanda Somerville – spoken words in "The Obsessive Devotion", backing vocals, vocal lines arrangements and production, vocal coaching, engineering
• Gjalt Lucassen – priest in "Living a Lie"
• Jaff Wade – spoken words in "Fools of Damnation"

Epica Choir

• Amanda Somerville, Bridget Foggle, Cinzia Rizzo, Linda Janssen-van Summeren, Melvin Edmondsen, Previn Moore

Production

• Sascha Paeth – production, engineering, mixing, mastering, vocal arrangements, backing vocals
• Ad Sluijter – engineering, editor
• Simon Oberender – engineering, editor
• Mark Jansen – orchestral arrangements
• Yves Huts – orchestral arrangements
• Miro Rodenberg – orchestral arrangements
• Coen Janssen – choir arrangements

Charts

Chart (2007)	Peak position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[8]	40
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[9]	57
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[10]	9
French Albums ( SNEP)[11]	35
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[12]	41
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[13]	148
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[14]	29

References