January 2023, a global phenomenon took the internet by storm: EPIC, a musical about greek myths and a retelling of the Odyssey loosely based on Homer’s book. Created by Jorge Rivera-Herrans, the musical gathered millions of fans accross all platforms in a matter of days.
Divided into 9 sagas (Troy, Cyclops, Ocean, Circe, Underworld, Thunder, Wisdom, Vengeance and Ithaca), each chapter took us on Odysseus’ 20-year journey home. Filled with many genres and amazing voices, EPIC was a whole package deal: whether you were after some soothing melodies or some rock infused tracks, EPIC and its stellar ensemble delivered.
So after fighting monsters, chaming godesses and losing friends, a whole year later, it is finally time to wrap up the whole story and wave goodbye to the beloved characters. After our roundup from Act 1, Here is our TOP5 from the second act of EPIC: The Musical!
1 – Different Beast (The Thunder Saga)
“The Thunder Saga EP” served as the opening of the second act of the whole saga so we had to start with a bang. On Different Beast, Odysseus’ rage takes over and the poppy piano-driven melody that filled Suffering gives way to an electric guitar and the haunting voices of Odysseus’ crew. From playful, his voice turns dark and raspy when he sings “Cut off their tails! We’re ending this now / Throw their bodies back in the water / Let them drown”. At times, it took us back to the rock’n’roll-inspired “Remember Them” from the second EP, “The Cyclop Saga”.
2- Mutiny/Scylla (The Thunder Saga)
The third and fourth tracks of the Thunder Saga EP offered us an intense battle that is probably the most well-done songs of the whole musical.
“Mutiny” and “Scylla” are heartbreaking songs that reveals Odysseus’ new dark and ruthless mindset and the betrayal of the one he used to call brother, Eurylochus. As the two partners come face to face, melodies and motifs from previous EPs are injected into the track and pieced together to tell the tale of Odysseus and Eurylochus and everything they went through together.
What is a genius move from Herrans is the fact that Odysseus’ instrument (the electric guitar) becomes Eurylocus’ right after he says “Then you have forced my hand”. A way to show that he is taking over and taking back his power, just like the way he sings back his own lyrics to his former captain as this song has references to Luck Runs Out (You relied on wit and then we died on it), The Horse and The Infant (the melody!), and Just A Man. You will have to pay close attention to the lyrics and the melodies to understand just how clever it is!
3- Legendary (The Wisdom Saga)
The Wisdom Saga introduced a new character: Telemachus, played by MICO.
What strikes us the most while listening to “Legendary” is the similarities between Odysseus and Telemachus. In a clever way, Mico’s Telemachus sounds like a younger version of Jay’s Odysseus: firstly in the voices, that are delightly similar and then in the use of the motifs we already heard in “Full Speed Ahead”, “Open Arms” and Athena’s motif being faintly heard during the first bridge.
4- Get In The Water (The Vengeance Saga)
It’s not secret that we love a good musical duel here at CurtainCall and once again, EPIC delivered. As Odysseus and Poseidon comes face to face one last time, we are served with a deep and dark melody that haunts the whole track. Steven Rodriguez’ vocals are powerful and as impressive as ever, enhancing the danger and fear that fill the song. Coupled with “Six Hundred Strikes”, it closes the Vengeance saga with a bang. Electric guitars, drums, synths.. The video games inspos are very strong with this one!
5- Odysseus (The Ithaca Saga)
What is really clever here is that each monster in the saga have their songs: Scylla, Polyphemus, Charybdis.
As to fulfill the prophecy, on Odysseus, Ody finally unleash his rage on the suitors that trashed his palace, killing them one by one. If you listen closely, you’ll notice that the first few seconds of the song is the opening score of The Horse in The Infant and Monster. The song that opened the musical and the song that gave birth to what Odysseus now is. Both in the melody and the lyrics, it’s rage taking over, the rock melody being omnipresents, as well as the reference to past songs such as Legendary and Get In The Water. Clever!
Honorable mentions: Hold Them Down for the storytelling, God Games because it gave us a lot more gods and goddesses (and we deserved to hear more from Apollo) and Love In Paradise for Baraba Wangui’s vocals and the witiness that inhabits the melody.
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