Official art by Zwist
Happy Independence Day to our American Audience, happy(?) general election day to our British audience, and a dearly happy belated Canada Day to my fellow Canadians! With everything going on today, I’m sure we’re all busy! But everyone, let’s try not to forget what’s truly important this historical Thursday- the release of the new Epic: The Musical saga, the Thunder Saga!
Epic: the Musical is a musical by Jorge Rivera-Herrans that has gained traction due to Jorge’s TikTok where he posts about the musical. The plot takes major inspiration from the Odyssey, an epic Greek poem written by Homer around 750-650 BCE, with some creative liberties. Since 2022, sagas of Act One of the musical have been being finalised and posted onto different streaming sites. Today, Jorge dropped the first saga of Act Two- the Thunder Saga!
I listened to this saga all throughout work today, and I could not wait to get home and start writing. The majority of this saga was a secret, with three of the five songs having never been teased on Jorge’s TikTok. I highly recommend listening to the saga before continuing to read on, as spoilers lay ahead and nothing can prepare you for the musical masterpiece that is coming. I also recommend reading my piece on the Underworld Saga.
Odysseus’ Villain Era – Epic: The Musical The Underworld Saga
This continues off that, the same way this saga continues off that one.
Reminder of my disclaimer: this will be biased. I have been following Epic: The Musical on TikTok since 2021, when Jorge first released the snippets of Poseidon’s song Ruthlessness. I interviewed Steven Dookie, the actor of Polites, last year. My passion for Epic knows no bounds. My goal here is not just to review, but to persuade anyone reading to check out this musical.
Before we get into my reviews and opinions of the songs of the Thunder Saga, I want to make everyone aware of an important update Jorge posted on Tuesday. You can watch the original TikTok linked below this paragraph. To sum it up, Jorge was seeing no money from the royalties of the first two sagas (the Troy and Cyclops sagas) of Epic from Blair Russell and his company, Blair Russell Productions. Despite the fact these sagas have been out for a year and a half and have over 200 million streams. Because of this, the entire main cast of Epic recorded the musical from scratch. The Ocean, Circe, and Underworld sagas are all released by Jorge under his own company, Winion Entertainment LLC, as well as the Thunder Saga that was released today.
https://www.tiktok.com/@jorgeherrans/video/7387118819950497066?lang=en
Therefore, the links to the Troy and Cyclops sagas I have posted before are now out of date, and to support Jorge going forward, please listen to the newly released versions of these albums.
The Troy Saga:
The Cyclops Saga:
Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of the Thunder Saga! Remember, you’ve been warned, spoilers ahead!
Song 21: Suffering
The best way to describe my initial reaction to this song is jump scared. I wondered how it was possible that Odysseus was speaking to Penelope, but as you listen to it, and if you know the story well enough, you can pick up on what’s about to happen. My brain clicked when Penelope (voiced by Anna Lea), mentioned their ‘daughter’. I knew what was going on then.
Suffering is a conversation between Odysseus and a siren, who appears to him as his wife to lure him into the water. Odysseus knows this, which is explained in the next song, and he uses this as an opportunity to gain information. This is hinted by both the mistakes the siren makes in detail about Odysseus’ life, but also the electric instruments used throughout the song, meaning there is a mythical being at play here.
With that in mind, as well as knowing what is to come, I personally find it hard to fully appreciate this song for what it is- a melodic, upbeat, positive love song. For what it is about, it sounds so comforting, which is of course what the siren would want it to sound like. Well, consider me not immune to siren song, because I am obsessed with this. I would be getting in that water so fast. Anna’s voice has always impressed me, from both her auditions as Calypso and Penelope. It blends so beautifully with Jorge’s, and when she sings ‘I would take the suffering from you’, and Odysseus sings with her, those parts are addicting.
What I think is funny about the lyrics is, if you don’t know that something is amiss here, then I think you never would without listening to the next song. For the most part, it really does sound like a conversation between lovers. Besides a couple of suspicious lines from Odysseus, examples being where he asks about how to avoid Poseidon and tells Penelope to get on the ship with him. But the thing is, I know those lines are suspicious now. I didn’t when I first listened to the song. The deceit is so well hidden, no wonder it worked so well on the siren. Worked on me, they both would’ve worked on me.
Maybe it’s a good thing that I don’t currently live in Trojan era Greece.
Song 22: Different Beast
Now here’s the explanation. This song starts quick, and without seeing this musical live, it’s hard to imagine what exactly the change up is here, so this is what I imagine:
In the last song, when Odysseus asks the siren disguised as Penelope to board the ship, she does. This song starts when Odysseus draws his blade at her. Keep that image in mind as I tell you the opening lyrics to this song:
“Let’s cut the charade, you are no wife of mine.
You’ve been trying to take my life this whole time.
I know underwater there are packs of you hiding.
Yeah, I know exactly what you are. A siren.
My real wife knows I’m not scared of the water.
And my real wife knows I don’t have a daughter!
But while you were so focused on turning my men into snacks,
You didn’t notice that your friends got snatched.”
The song then continues to explain the scene we just viewed in the last song. How they avoided the siren’s song by filling their ears with beeswax, and how they knew there were sirens there in the first place- a ship with no crew.
First though, Odysseus sings the chorus, calling the crew a ‘different beast now.’ One can only assume that this is because Odysseus has now embraced the ‘ruthlessness is mercy’ mantra of Poseidon and became a ‘monster’ himself. Odysseus also quotes Suffering back to the siren, saying ‘We won’t take more suffering from you.’
The sirens beg to be spared, but Odysseus tells them that he knows they would not have spared him, and that he has been merciful in the past but no longer. What he tells the crew to do is a bit sick though, and so is the imagery that comes with it, so be warned:
“Cut off their tails!
We’re ending this now.
Throw their bodies back in the water.
Let them drown.”
To be fair though, that is a fitting end for a pack of sirens. This is followed by a chorus of female voices screaming out ‘No!’, in pain and suffering and doom. For an audio, it’s quite graphic, but the whole song is sickly amazing. This is followed by the crew singing that Odysseus is a ‘different beast now’, which is very true. Odysseus of the previous sagas may have spared these sirens, but that is not where our hero is in character development.
As a song, the use of the electric guitar for Odysseus is interesting. Is it because he’s become the monster? Is there a God or Goddess watching him right at that moment? It’s hard to know why Jorge chose this. It’s not much to look at otherwise; its purpose is to move the story along. I do like it, the chorus of the crew chanting is catchy, but it’s also not one you can really listen to without the rest of the saga. It’s hard to place.
Special shout out to Jorge’s belts of ‘Kill them all!’ as an outro. Again, sick, but beautifully executed (pun intended) as always.
Song 23: Scylla
This is a song we’ve seen teased on Jorge’s TikTok, although the plot was kept secret.
What I really want to talk about here is Scylla’s lines, who is played by KJ Burkhauser. Odysseus starts the song off by introducing the location as the Lair of Scylla, and then she comes in with her haunting slow cries of ‘Deep down.’ Over this, Eurylochus (Odysseus’ right-hand-man who we see repeatedly throughout the musical, played by Armando Julian) and Odysseus share a few words. “You’re quiet today,” and “Not much to say.”
Scylla then sings, “Deep down, you hide a reason for shame.” Eurylochus follows this with, “I’ve got a secret I can no longer keep.”
Eurylochus goes on to explain that he was the one who opened the wind bag in the Storm saga, and then Scylla sings, “Leaving them feeling betrayed… breaking the bonds that you’ve made…”
What we can gather from this is that Scylla is singing to Eurylochus, but as the song progresses, we release her lines apply to both him and Odysseus. Eurylochus for keeping his secret about having been the one to open the wind bag, but also Odysseus for what he is planning. Something to do with six torches, and the ‘cost’ Scylla has that he mentioned to the siren earlier in Suffering. This is another example of how Jorge is the best lyricist, ever, because you don’t realise this until much later.
After Odysseus tells Eurylochus to light the torches, Eurylochus warns him that something approaches, that being Scylla as we hear her say ‘Hello.’ Odysseus tells the crew to ‘row for their lives’, as Scylla tells them to:
“Drown in your sorrow and fears,
Choke on your blood and your tears,
Bleed till you’ve run out of years.
We must do what it takes to survive.”
As the song comes to an end, Scylla sings, “You are the same you and I,” with Odysseus joining in with her for the last note. Meaning she was truly speaking to him, the whole time.
This song is a masterpiece, and I’ve always thought so since I first heard the snippets. KJ’s vocals are amazing, and the best way to describe them is powerful. The music sounds very creepy, like the monster that is lurking is oh-so ugly and scary, but the vocals KJ brings to the song are magical. We know Jorge loves video games and that come through musically. This song is meant to feel like a boss fight. It gives the same vibes as a scene in a movie or video game where the characters encounter a gigantic spider, I mean, like a house-sized spider that has come to trap them in her web. Eerie, kind of gross, yet oddly beautiful.
Song 24: Mutiny
Now this song is a lot to unpack. Eurylochus starts off strong by calling out Odysseus for his plan of sacrificing the six crew members. I love the way Armando does this part; he puts just the right emotion into it to make it feel like he really is struggling to accept that this is something Odysseus did knowingly. He knows Odysseus has given up being merciful and is doing whatever he can to get back to his wife, but he never expected him to go this far. It’s chilling, much like the other songs in this saga.
Also, the line Eurylochus says before attacking Odysseus- ‘If you want all the power, you must carry all the blame’, is ironic in a sense. That’s all we’ve seen Odysseus do this entire series, but now that he decides to leave behind the guilt he feels, his men betray him? Man can’t catch a break.
And back to the song Scylla and how I said she was singing to Odysseus and not Eurylochus, that is also hinted in this song. That is because the crew are singing her lines, but about him: ‘There is no price he won’t pay.” Absolutely fantastic, I love every lyrical decision Jorge has ever made.
Something Jorge loves (and I mean LOVES) to do is call back to old songs, and we see that next with Eurylochus singing to the tune of Luck Runs Out, but the lyrics have changed. This is so important because it shows the characters being true to themselves, but musically it’s so powerful because it makes it feel as though the whole thing has been foreshadowed. I love this part, because I don’t necessarily love the song Luck Run Outs, but that song was about Eurylochus warning Odysseus about being too rash. Now it feels like he’s saying, ‘I told you so’. So good.
Then the song and scene change, though, as Odysseus wakes up with his crew on a new island. It is filled to the brim with cattle (not literally, of course, although that would be very funny), along with a statue of the Sun God, Helios.
I don’t know if this is on purpose, although everything Jorge does with this musical is, but I noticed that Eurylochus is now singing to the original tune we hear Zeus (played by Luke Holt) sing in the very first song of the musical, The Horse and the Infant. For example, listen to when Eurylochus sings, ‘And hunger is so heavy.’ Then listen to Zeus at the end of The Horse and the Infact sing, ‘I don’t think you’re ready.’
I am noticing that this melody is used in the Cyclops saga as well. Listen to those two parts, then in Survive listen to when Odysseus sings, ‘Show him that we’re deadly.’
I’m not quite sure what this means, this is the first time I’ve noticed it. I also cannot think of a connection between these moments. However, Jorge is very deliberate, so I know there’s a reason for this. Maybe it’s to show the madness that goes into the words that they’re saying? These moments all have something to do with murder: the infant, the cyclops, and now the cows. Just a theory.
There’s another throwback to Luck Runs Out as well, although it’s Odysseus singing ‘Please don’t tell me you’re about to do what I think you’ll do.’ It’s so interesting to see the parallels, as Odysseus here sounds so soft, whereas when Eurylochus sings it, he’s more stern. Eurylochus also refers to Odysseus here as ‘Ody’, instead of ‘Captain’, like he typically does, as he tells him they’ll never make it home. It feels as though Eurylochus has truly given up, which is heartbreaking.
I think it’s funny Odysseus says, ‘Who knows what he’ll send’ during this part as well… You do, Odysseus. You know it very well. You’re the one who warns them all, you silly goose.
Odysseus begs Eurylochus not to kill any of the cows, but in his desperation, Eurylochus doesn’t listen. With a reference to Just a Man, he attempts to kill the cow closest to him. This does nothing, however, as these are immortal cows, and now that he has attacked them it angers Helios. Helios, however, is not in this musical. Apollo is, but later. Instead, he sends down Zeus to handle the situation. Odysseus tries to get everyone away from the island, telling them to grab their oars and board the ship. This of course does nothing to stop the King of Gods, however.
Song 25: Thunder Bringer
A clap of thunder, and then we re-enter the King of Gods, Zeus played by Luke Holt. A full 24 songs since his last entrance, and Zeus needs no introduction.
I could gush for hours about Luke Holt’s voice. I’m not sure what it is about it per say, but something about it is so… silky? His voice is probably my favourite of the male casts’, and I’m in love with his rendition of Thunder Bringer. The very first lines from him hit so hard, like he commands all the authority in the room, and you’re not even in the room with him! It’s just so attention grabbing, which is perfect for the voice of Zeus.
Of course, Zeus takes a good amount of time talking about himself before we get into what he adds to the storyline. That’s okay, this song is art in and of itself, he can take all the time he needs. We get a full minute in before Zeus addresses Odysseus, telling him to choose between his own life and that of his crew’s.
There are more throwbacks in this song, again to the Horse and the Infant, as Odysseus begs ‘Please don’t make me do this, don’t make me do this.’ Then again to Just a Man, as the crew sings ‘When does a comet become a meteor? When does a candle become a blaze?’ Anna also comes back in with, ‘I can take the suffering from you.’
Odysseus finally makes his decision, claiming ‘I have to see her’, referring of course to Penelope. Eurylochus points out that the crew, including himself, will die. Odysseus says, ‘I know’. Then Zeus comes back in, taking out the remainder of Odysseus’ crew. Zeus leaves the same way he entered, with thunder, and then we hear Epic: The Musical’s ‘main menu’ theme as it all comes to an end.
Final thoughts
Having listened to the Thunder Saga multiple times now, it’s depressing in a way that’s different than the previous ones. As though there’s just so much more death, even though that has been a constant theme, happening throughout every saga. I believe the music and lyrics in this saga are just darker, deeper, reflecting the way our main character now feels.
I adore Epic with my whole heart, and I was so hyped up for this saga because I knew how much I would love the songs Scylla and Thunder Bringer. However, now that I know the full extent of what the saga covers, I believe my favourites are Mutiny and Thunder Bringer.
Same as last time, I believe everyone should give this musical a shot. It is not what most think of when they hear ‘musical’, I promise you that. It’s a different kind of experience Jorge and the cast have brought to the table with this project. I willalyways continue to support it.
You can check out my piece on the Underworld Saga, the one that came before this, here on Soundsphere:
Odysseus’ Villain Era – Epic: The Musical The Underworld Saga
You can follow Jorge on TikTok here for snippets of songs, saga updates and more:
@jorgeherrans
You can also listen to all the songs of Epic on his Spotify here:
Luke Holt:
@lukeholtofficial
Anna Lea:
@anna.l.lol
KJ Burkhauser:
@kiwee_05
Armando Julian:
@elnegroficialpr
