Liam McGinley

Contributing Writer

“Six Hundred Strike” –– more like a ten million strike! In the mere two days and two hours of the Vengeance Saga being out, “EPIC: The Musical” playwright and composer Jorge Rivera-Herrans has hit over ten million streams for his latest saga release.

I don’t know about you guys, but I think that’s pretty awesome. Rivera-Herrans himself said that this was the fastest time in which one of his sagas received that many streams. This is such an amazing accomplishment for him!

The popularity of the Vengeance Saga doesn’t come as a surprise to me. The Vengeance Saga is truly a work of compositional art. Filled with enchanting vocals, references to past sagas and so much more, Rivera-Herrans truly stepped up his game for the exhilarating climax of “EPIC: The Musical.” 

Starting off with the enchanting vocals of Calypso (Barbara Wangui) in “Not Sorry for Loving You,” we are immediately transported to the place where we left off: on Calypso’s Island, watching Odysseus (Rivera-Herrans) struggle to handle the grief and loss that he endured throughout his journey to his homeland of Ithaca.

Calypso begs Odysseus to stay with her, but his heart is occupied by thoughts of his wife Penelope (Anna Lea) and his son Telemachus (Miguel Velso). When Odysseus is finally released from Calypso’s island, he is met again by Hermes (TROY) in the song “Dangerous.” 

In “Dangerous,” Hermes’ lyrics give the audience a glimpse of his playful personality. The song is filled to the brim with references from all of the previous sagas. The most referenced saga in “Dangerous” is the Ocean Saga, which pays homage to Aeolus (Kira Stone) and the wind bag that caused Odyessus the most pain and loss at the hands of Poseidon (Steve Rodrigez). 

Another creative element that Herrera-Rivans added at the end of the song was a reference to Hermes’ earlier song in the Circe Saga called “Wouldn’t You Like,” when Hermes leaves Odysseus to fight yet another enemy who is blocking his way home in the song “Charybdis.” While Charybdis –– a whirlpool water monster –– never speaks, Herrera-Rivans does an excellent job in composing Odysseus’ relentless motivation to make it home to Penelope, using guitar in the background and incorporating crescendos as Odyessus fends off Charybdis, ultimately surviving to make it home to Ithaca after 20 years.

However, tragedy strikes when Odysseus is pulled away from his homeland to face off against Poseidon once more in the song “Get In The Water.” I find this song to be the most interesting in the Vengeance Saga because this was considered to be Odyessus’ last chance at being merciful toward Poseidon.

This leads to the epic conclusion of the Vengeance Saga with “Six Hundred Strike” (the best song, in my opinion, in this saga). This song is where we really get to see Odyessus’ descent into becoming a monster. I think “Six Hundred Strike” was the most cleverly thought-out — adding sound effects and the melodious screams from Poseidon blends together to make yet another piece of compositional genius.

Overall I would rate the Vengeance Saga a solid 9.2/10. While EPIC is coming to an end, I am very excited for my ears to be blessed by Herrera-Rivan’s compositional genius when he releases the Ithaca Saga to conclude this inspiring musical that has made a tremendous impact on my life.

To read more about “EPIC: The Musical,” check out A&E Editor Wyn Caudle’s Sept. 13 article on the story behind the production!