Back in April, legendary alt-rock act Evanescence announced that they would be sharing their highly-anticipated fifth album, The Bitter Truth, with the world “one piece at a time” in 2020, and quickly followed that announcement up with the release of the record’s absolutely, truly, indescribably stunning first single “Wasted On You” – a song that I love so much that barely a day has gone by since it was unveiled on April 24th that I haven’t listened to it, and I can’t see myself tiring of it any time soon. Which is hardly surprising really, considering I’ve yet to tire of listening to any Evanescence material – from their 2019 cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” all the way back to the earliest compositions released under the band’s name – since I first fell in love with Fallen more than a decade and a half ago.
But, I digress. If you want to experience more of me raving about “Wasted On You”, you can read my full review of it by clicking here. The purpose of this article is to discuss its newly-released successor and the second tantalising piece of Evanescence’s forthcoming fifth record, “The Game Is Over”.
The terrifically atmospheric four and a third minute offering is introduced by some enticingly ominous instrumentation that grows gradually heavier and becomes increasingly exciting throughout the fantastically stirring first verse, during which it’s joined by typically beautiful, chill-inducing and passionate singing.
Just past the one minute mark, the whole thing transitions into a tremendously moving chorus that boasts a dazzling blend of spectacularly vibrant vocals and exceptionally invigorating music. Another superbly stirring stanza consisting of splendidly expressive singing and remarkably rousing instrumentation follows from here and leads the way to a second extremely impactful chorus, after which the spotlight shifts to a display of incredibly electrifying guitars, bass and percussion that precedes a stupendously powerful final vocal exhibition.
If you were to read every review I’ve ever written of an Evanescence or Amy Lee song or album back to back, then I’d probably sound like a broken record in relation to my assertions about Amy’s vocal work due to the frequency with which I state how jaw-droppingly gorgeous it is, but I’ve only said that so much in the past because it is very much true, and I’m going to laud her singing skills again here because the magnificence of Amy’s vocals throughout “The Game Is Over” – and in general – simply cannot be overstated. To say that the melodiousness, range, beauty and sheer power of this song’s vocals are breath-taking doesn’t even begin to do them justice. And the lyrics are once again characteristically poetic and affecting.
The instrumental work that’s on display here also deserves high praise, from the extraordinarily thrilling guitar work showcased by Jen Majura and Troy McLawhorn – the former of whom is proving to be a more than worthy replacement for former lead guitarist Terry Balsamo on the first full-length record of original Evanescence songs that has been created since she joined the band – to Tim McCord’s marvellously penetrating bass work and Will Hunt’s awesomely animated drumming, the music exhibited throughout “The Game Is Over” is utterly superlative.
All in all, “The Game Is Over” is another mesmerizingly melodic, immensely touching and exceedingly sublime alt-rock anthem by Evanescence that embeds itself deep in the mind and refuses to withdraw.
“The Game Is Over” is also available to stream on Spotify and download on iTunes, along with “Wasted On You”, now.