Formed by composer Mark Jansen after leaving After Forever back in 2002, they quickly gained attention outside their home country, taking big steps towards becoming the leading symphonic metal superpower they have long proven to be. Mind you, that’s not lightly said for a band like Epica. On their eighth full-length album, the Dutch symphonic metal titans go all cinemascope, in a stunt both effortlessly and cunningly unleashing their biggest, grandest, flashiest opus yet. – Hermes Trismegistus from The Emerald Tablets of Thoth Monumental isn’t even a word strong enough to describe the new Epica offering, ΩMEGA, the first collection of all-new material in five long years. We’ll never be brothers.”ĭmitruk also wrote “We Christened Our Children Together,” which calls for peace: “Much pain to us has been given - The funerals of our sons.” Her writings went viral and resonated not only in Ukraine but also in Russia.That which is below is like that which is aboveĪnd that which is above is like that which is below You have a czar, but we have - democracy. In this passage, the song says, “Here we have the fires of rebellion. Some people appear with a cross in their hands, and at one point, a lady appears amid the rubble with the image of a saint and a white flag in her hands. The video mixes reading and singing, recalling bombings of the Crimean occupation. The allusion to the family is also present in a poem by Ukrainian Anastasia Dmitruk, “We Will Never Be Brothers.” She wrote the poem in response to the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014, celebrating the Ukrainian revolution and rejecting the idea of a “Greater Russia.” The story became a music video from Klaipeda’s theater and choir production, circulating more strongly again this year and reaching 19 million views on YouTube. Thundertale is one of the best-known metal bands in the heavy/power metal scene, often recalling history in its compositions and known by the slogan, “For the motherland.” Lietuva is a state ensemble that works on many fronts of music and dance, bringing the tradition of Lithuanian folk music. Influences came from the speeches of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski and a well-known anti-war song referenced by him, “Do the Russians want wars?”īoth Lietuva and Thundertale are groups that extol the nation. State ensemble Lietuva teamed up with rock band Thundertale to compose the song in February, following a request from Ukrainian fighters in Kyiv. The lyrics are a battle cry: “It will be a sea of tears! And we will have to fight with our chest.” It references the Bible story of the first murder, when Cain killed his brother Abel. The irrationality of war and violence comes through in “A Song About The New War,” about a break in the bond and trust between brothers. 1) “They strictly impose on us brotherhood, but Cain was not a brother to Abel” To understand the place of faith in this context, has selected five songs that capture some of the spirit of the Ukrainian resistance. It is not unusual to perceive a relationship between the sacred and the profane in musical references. Besides the explicit protest in their lyrics, they recall other historical periods of conflict in the country. Folk and rock anthems in response to the Russian invasion have created an air of nationalism and unity among Ukrainians.

The battle cry of freedom orchestra