Jorge Rivera-Herrans finally released the continuation of “Epic: the Musical” last Friday, Apr 26. The three-song saga is marked by the tracks: “The Underworld,” “No Longer You,” and “Monster,” all of which are incredible additions to the mix and work perfectly as the finalization of Act One. 

The “Underworld Saga,” condenses many of the events from the previous four segments of the musical and their consequences, leading Odysseus to a reevaluation of philosophies that will change the journey of the remainder of his crew. An addition of authentic tunes and sudden emotional responses from the public further proves Herrans’s sharp skills as a lyricist and composer.

As Odysseus’ if faced by a test of his morals, he has to decide if he should sacrifice a young life or let him live at the cost of his own life and the lives of all people of Ithaca, people of his kingdom. The melodies are extremely raw during the start and have many stringed instruments, especially the guitar instrument that represents him. But in this moment, it is also a bridge between him and his family back home, where the viola represents his wife the viola and there are soft hymns in the melody, showing the audience his grieving heart that wants to return home. 

“Will these actions haunt my days

Every man I’ve slain

Is the price I pay endless pain?

Close your eyes

And spare yourself the view

How could I hurt you?”

Another very upbeat yet special song, “Open Arms”, shows the strong bond between Odysseus and Polites over a conversation about the importance of kindness and not taking precipitated actions. As Rivera-Herrans mentions, Polites is represented by the Kalimba and Marimba, both of which are very bright and cheerful, showing how the character “is the embodiment of light in the show,” reflecting his will to greet the world with empathy rather than aggression.

“This life is amazing when you greet it with open arms 

I see in your face, there is so much guilt inside your heart

So why not replace it and light up the world

Here’s how to start: 

Greet the world with open arms

Greet the world with open arms”

Offering a complete change in tempo to the musical, “Polyphemus”  reveals the first true enemy that he will  faced: the cyclops Polyphemus. The perfect balance between music and silence is what makes this song truly unique. The overwhelming silence behind the voices of Odysseus and his crew transports the apprehension in the hearts of the characters right to the audience, making the revelation of the Cyclops incredibly uneasy. Another element that was well played was the use of each character’s instrument, specifically Odysseus and Polyphemus’, where the first is represented by the light strumming of a guitar until the revelation of the mythological beast, where all beats fall to low tunes. There is the introduction of the cello, heightening Rivera-Herrans’ intentions with the emotions imputed into the song. 

“Before I’m done

You’ll learn that it’s not so fun to take 

You came to my home to steal

But now you’ll become my meal

A trade, you see?

Take from you what you’ve took from me”

“Remember them” represents the sorrow of Odysseus and his emotional response after the sudden loss of his crew members, especially Polites, in a surprise attack from the Cyclops. By using seeds of Lotus he acquired in “Open Arms”, he manages to collapse Polyphemus, and the hero decides to attack his most vulnerable spot, his one eye. However, he honors his late friend by sparing the Cyclops’ life instead of treating him with ruthlessness, a decision that dearly upset his patron goddess and incurred her wrath. 

“Remember them

When the fire begins to fade

For the fallen and the afraid

We are not to let them die in vain

Remember them

We are the ones who carry on

The flames of those who have gone

And our comrades will not die in vain”

A powerful storm hits Odysseus and his crew and a mixture of hope and fear washes over them as they fight against the forces of nature to finally arrive home. With some similarities to “Full Speed Ahead,” “Storm” implements many elements of the crew’s voices with higher and lower cadences to create beautiful melodies that give a similar impression to the sound of violent winds. There are also subtle additions of trumpets, a representative element of an antagonist that is not yet revealed, raising the question of whether the storm was truly natural or the feat of a god. 

“These waves and tides

Have grown in strength and size

Is it nature or divine

Or a blessing in disguise?

Our home’s in sight

This storm’s our final fight

There’s no time to die”

“Keep your Friends Close” shows the progression of a week of events throughout the progression of the song. It reveals a small deal made by Odysseus and the deity to evade the storm. Aeolus, being in control of the winds, traps the spirits of the storm in a sack and gives it to the captain, challenging him to keep it close while his crew questions if he is telling the truth about the contents of the bag or if he is hiding treasure. There are many important instrumental aspects carefully managed in this section, such as the difference in the beat of the background voices and of the overall song, the revelation of Odysseus’ delirium for home, and the eventual opening of the bag. 

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

Never really know who you can trust

If they wanna get the bag open, you gotta say, “No, sir”

Sometimes killing is a must

What?

‘Cause the end always justifies the means

Friends turn into foes and rivalries”

“Puppeteer” reveals a complete shift from the chaos that Poseidon had brought. Using the last wind from Aeolus’ bag, the remainder of the crew lands on a fertile island called Aiaia, home to a powerful woman. When Rivera-Herrans says, “She’s a queen, she’s a goddess, she’s a witch, she’s a badass,” she uses her charming personality and persuasion to trick Odysseus’ men into drinking her enchanted wine, turning them all into pigs, the form she sees as the fittest considering all the harm they could have caused to her and her nymphs. Only Eurylochus escapes from her trap, warning the captain about the witch. Apart from Talya Sindel’s melodic voice used for Circe, there are also many electronic elements to represent her magic (with the Low-Frequency Oscillations) and the recurring strumming of strings to represent her regality. 

For inside the meal │ think of your past

She had cast a spell │ and your mistakes

They began to squeal │ they’ll be the last

And grow snouts and tails │ mistakes you’ll make

The hero and the goddess finally face each other. Their might to defend those reliant on them high as tension arises and Odysseus comes out victorious, but not for a long period, as Circe prepares to use her last resort. Accompanied by beats that remind the listener of the French Opera Carmen (Habanera), as both women use seduction when put in tighter situations; apart from this, as both characters have their intellectual conflict, the instruments and orchestra represent the conflict between their representative instruments, as Riverra-Herrans explains in one of his videos. 

“If you makе one wrong move, then you’re done for

Anything I don’t approve, then you’re done for

I could put a spell on you and you’re done for

Boy, you better run or soon you will done for”

Circe followed through with her promise from “There Are Other Ways” and Odysseus entered the Underworld. What the hero and the listeners alike didn’t expect, however, was the emotional rollercoaster that this song would put them through. As the song progresses, all souls who were lost in his ship come back to haunt the hero, choruses of the ensemble calling to him and leading to his madness. Despite this, it does not last long, for Polites and his recently departed mother, Anticlea is reintroduced as lost souls in the fields of asphodel, souls who are repeating their last thoughts forever. These moments are chilling for the audience, as not only this moment of meeting is extremely melancholic, but Herrans’s use of melodies is simply extraordinary. The instruments that are at a high in the beginning calm down to reflect Polites’ and then the mother’s particular tunes, but they are also reverbed (which means an echoing pattern is used to create an almost delayed or slow repeating sound) in a way that sounds nostalgic, reflecting what Odysseus felt in this very moment.

All I hear are screams

Every time I dare to close my eyes

I no longer dream (I no longer dream)

Only nightmares of those who’ve died

Nothing’s what it seems

Nothing’s what it seems

But in the Underworld, your past is always close behind

Your past is always close behind

Down in the Underworld

Monster is the peak of tension within the first twenty songs, but as the Act One closing number, it also reflects an emotional and mental extreme of Odysseus’s journey. After the hero meets with Tireseas, he is pushed to his edge. The death of his best friend, the passing of his mother without any goodbye, the deaths of 558 men from his crew, and most importantly, knowing that many men are threatening his family’s safety forced him to change. Upon the beginning of the musical, he adopted Polite’s policy of greeting the world with “open arms”, but now, switches his mentality to one of a person who will do anything he has, go through anyone,  to get home, reminding of Poseidon’s suggestion that “ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves. 

I must get to see Penelope and Telemachus

So if we must sail through dangerous oceans and beaches

I’ll go where Poseidon won’t reach us

And if I gotta drop another infant from a wall

In an instant so we all don’t die

Then I’ll become the Monster