Wikia

Epica

Band Info
Origin	Reuver, Limburg, Netherlands
Years-Active	2002-present
Genre(s)	Symphonic metal, progressive metal, gothic metal
Label(s)	Nuclear Blast, Transmission
Associated Acts	MaYaN, After Forever, Kamelot, Delain, God Dethroned
Homepage	www.epica.nl
Last.fm	{{{9}}}

Epica is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded by guitarist and vocalist Mark Jansen subsequent to his departure from After Forever. They are known for their symphonic sound and the use of female vocals and male growls performed by Simone Simons and Mark Jansen, respectively. All six members write the music, but Mark Jansen and Simone Simons write most of the lyrics, which largely deal with philosophical topics, including science, religion, and world events.

To date, Epica has released five studio albums (not including their instrumental album The Score – An Epic Journey), with their most recent studio album, Requiem for the Indifferent, released on March 9, 2012.

On March 23, 2013, Epica celebrated their 10th anniversary with a huge live event, called Retrospect, at the Klokgebouw, Eindhoven, hosting a live orchestra from Hungary along with special guests Floor Jansen and former Epica members Ad Sluijter, Jeroen Simons, and Yves Huts. During the show a DVD release of the show was confirmed.

On April 24, 2013, Epica announce by their official FaceBook and Twitter accounts that their lead vocal singer Simone Simons is pregnant.

HistoryEdit

Cry of the Moon (2002–2003)Edit

In early 2002, Mark Jansen left After Forever due to creative differences and began looking for musicians to integrate a new musical project, initially named "Sahara Dust". In late 2002, the band courted Helena Michaelsen (from Trail of Tears) as its frontwoman, but shortly after she was replaced by the then unknown mezzo-soprano Simone Simons, Jansen's girlfriend at the time. The band's line-up was completed by guitarist Ad Sluijter, drummer Jeroen Simons, bassist Yves Huts, and keyboard player Coen Janssen. The name was later changed to Epica, inspired by Kamelot's eponymous album.

Epica then assembled a choir (made up of two men and four women) and a string orchestra (three violins, two violas, two cellos and a upright bass) to play along with them. Still under the name Sahara Dust, they produced a two-song demo entitled "Cry for the Moon" in 2003. As a result, they were signed to Transmission Records.

The Phantom Agony (2003–2004)Edit

The Phantom Agony is the first full-length studio album by Epica. It is the first album recorded by guitarist Mark Jansen after his departure from the band After Forever. Their debut album, the album was produced by Sascha Paeth (known for having produced bands such as Angra, Rhapsody of Fire and Kamelot) and released in late 2003. This album, Mark Jansen continues with the collection of songs that make up "The Embrace That Smothers". The first three parts can be found on Prison of Desire (2000), After Forever's debut album, and the following three parts can be found on The Divine Conspiracy (2007), Epica's third album. These songs deal with the dangers of organized religion.[5] The song “Façade of Reality” on the album was written about the September 11 attacks and includes fragments from speeches by Tony Blair.

The album was followed by three singles: The Phantom Agony, Feint and Cry for the Moon.

Consign to Oblivion and The Score - An Epic Journey (2005–2007)Edit

Their second release, entitled Consign to Oblivion, was influenced by the culture of the Maya civilization,which can be noticed on songs in the “A New Age Dawns” series. “A New Age Dawns” refers to the time system of the Mayan people, which extends up to the year of 2012, and makes no reference of what may happen past said year. Consign to Oblivion was composed with film scores as a basis, with Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman cited as major inspirations. The album features guest singing by Roy Khan (from Kamelot) on the song “Trois Vierges”. Epica also joined Kamelot as a support band on parts of their tour for promotion of the The Black Halo album, to which Simons had contributed her vocals on the track “The Haunting (Somewhere In Time)”. Two singles were released from the album, “Solitary Ground” and “Quietus (Silent Reverie)”.

Epica's The Score - An Epic Journey was released in September 2005 and is the soundtrack for a Dutch movie called Joyride, though it can also be seen as their third album. Characterised by guitarist, Mark Jansen, the album is "typically Epica, only without the singing, without the guitars, no bass and no drums".

In 2005 and 2006 Epica went on their first tour throughout North America with Kamelot. After the tour, their drummer, Jeroen Simons, left the band, due to his wish to pursue his other musical interests. In fall 2006, Simone once again contributed vocals to Kamelot's new album Ghost Opera, this time on the track "Blücher". In December Ariën Van Weesenbeek from God Dethroned was announced at the official website of the band to be the drummer for their new album, though not to become a band member.

The Divine Conspiracy / The Classical Conspiracy (2007–present)Edit

In September 2007, Epica headlined their first tour through North America and released their third album, The Divine Conspiracy, this time on a new label, Nuclear Blast. That December, Ariën van Weesenbeek was announced to be Epica’s permanent new drummer. The band toured North America again in April 2008 with Into Eternity and Symphony X, this time with Amanda Somerville because Simone had contracted a staph infection (MRSA). It was released on September 7, 2007 through Nuclear Blast in Europe. The concept that guides the songs is that God created many different religions for humanity to figure out and overcome them so as to discover that, in nature and essence, they were all in fact the same one (hence the name, "The Divine Conspiracy"). Aside from the concept of such a conspiracy, The Divine Conspiracy finalizes The Embrace That Smothers, which began in After Forever's Prison of Desire (Prologue and parts I-III) and continued in Epica's The Phantom Agony (parts IV-VI). In short, The Embrace That Smothers is a collection of 10 songs (Prologue and parts I-IX), which talks about the dangers of organized religion.

The first single of the album was released on August 10, 2007 entitled “Never Enough”, accompanied by a music video and the second single, “Chasing the Dragon,” was released in 2008 without an accompanying video.

On December 16, 2008, Ad Sluijter left the band. He left a message on his Myspace page with his reasoning for leaving the band, which included frustration over being unable to enjoy composing music because of deadlines. Ad’s successor on guitar was announced in January 2009 to be Isaac Delahaye, who is formerly of God Dethroned fame.

Also in 2008, Epica recorded The Classical Conspiracy, their first live album. The live show took place in Miskolc, Hungary on June 14, 2008, in the framework of the Miskolc Opera Festival (where Therion did a similar show a year before). It included a 40-piece orchestra and a 30-piece choir, and the setlist contained not only the band’s songs, but also covers of classical pieces of Antonio Vivaldi, Antonín Dvořák, Giuseppe Verdi, Edvard Grieg, and of soundtracks of the movies Star Wars, Spider-Man and Pirates of the Caribbean. It was released on May 8, 2009 through Nuclear Blast Records.

Design Your Universe (2009-2012)Edit

On March 4, 2009, Epica announced their return to the studio where they would begin the recording process for a new album. In April 2009, it was revealed that the new album’s title would be Design Your Universe. It continued the A New Age Dawns saga which started on Consign to Oblivion. The album was released on October 16, 2009. To promote this release, they performed in Amsterdam at Paradiso on October 10, 2009. This is the first Epica album to feature Isaac Delahaye. The record also contains a guest appearance from Sonata Arctica vocalist Tony Kakko on the song “White Waters”. The album debuted in No. 8 in the Dutch charts. Reception has been positive from both critics and fans. The album debuted at No. 8 in the Dutch charts, being the highest position an Epica album has reached. The album remained on the chart for five weeks, and re-entered in No. 94 for one week due to the band's performance at the 2010 Pinkpop Festival. On December 31, 2009, it was announced through their website that a new single will be released. The song is called “This Is the Time” and all profit will go to World Wide Fund for Nature.

After the release of Design Your Universe, Epica set out on a World Tour to support the album. They did a CD release party at The Paradiso in Amsterdam. They performed at some summer festival concerts in the summer of 2010 and returned to the United States and Canada in late fall 2010. Several dates in Europe, specially in the Netherlands, were sold out. The band also did a South American Tour, performing in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Uruguay. They played also in many important rock and metal festivals in Europe, such as Wacken Open Air, Pinkpop and Masters of Rock, in front of very large audiences. In September 2010, Simone once again contributed vocals to an album of Kamelot, this time on the tracks "House on a Hill", "Poetry for the Poisoned, Pt. II: So Long" and "Poetry for the Poisoned, Pt. III: All Is Over" on the album Poetry for the Poisoned.

Requiem for the Indifferent (2012-present)Edit

In an interview in November 2010, Simone stated that the band was going to start writing music around February 2011 after their Latin American tour is over. She also stated that they were hoping for a release in the first quarter of 2012. 14 tracks were written without lyrics by May 2011.

The band entered the studio later that year, with Sascha Paeth once again as the producer. On December 1, the band announced that the name of the album would be Requiem for the Indifferent, and would be inspired by such factors as the enormous tension between different religions and cultures, wars, natural disasters and the financial crisis. The album was released on March 9, 2012 in Europe, and on March 13, 2012 in the United States. On March 24, 2012, Epica announced on their website that original bassist Yves Huts and Epica had parted ways, to be replaced by Rob van der Loo (ex Delain, MaYaN). On April 24, the music video of "Storm The Sorrow" was officially released, earning 128,000 views on YouTube on the release day. General response to Requiem for the Indifferent was positive. Allmusic stated that the album "is a typically elaborate and ambitious affair, incorporating copious amounts of choral work and classical arrangements into the band's neatly established blend of goth, progressive, power, and symphonic metal." Natalie Zed of About.com staff considers Requiem for the Indifferent "a transitional album for the band", which tries to expand their musical range experimenting with "weird" riffing and new combination of vocals, while "losing none of the richness that has gained them fans."

On 16 September 2012, the band made a guest appearance on the Dutch TV show "Niks te gek" (translation: "Nothing too weird"), where people with a mental disability can make their wish come true. In this episode, they recorded, together with Netherlands citizen Ruurd Woltring, one of his self-written songs called "Forevermore". The single was released through Nuclear Blast on 25 September 2012.

Line-UpEdit

Current line-up

Mark Jansen – rhythm guitar, grunts, screams (2002–present)
Coen Janssen – synthesizer, piano (2002–present)
Simone Simons – lead vocals (2003–present)
Ariën van Weesenbeek – drums, grunts, spoken words (2007–present)
Isaac Delahaye – lead guitar, backing vocals (2009–present)
Rob van der Loo - bass (2012-present)

Former members

Yves Huts – bass (2002–2012)
Ad Sluijter – guitars (2002–2008)
Helena Iren Michaelsen – lead vocals (2002)
Iwan Hendrikx – drums (2002)
Dennis Leeflang – drums (2002)
Jeroen Simons – drums (2002–2006)

Session members

Koen Herfst – drums (2007)
Amanda Somerville – vocals (North American tour 2008), background vocals on The Phantom Agony, Consign to Oblivion, The Divine Conspiracy, Design Your Universe, and Requiem for the Indifferent.
Oliver Palotai – keyboards (North American tour 2010)

DiscographyEdit

DemosEdit

2003: Cry for the Moon

Studio albumsEdit

Live albumsEdit

2009: The Classical Conspiracy

EPs and singlesEdit

2003: The Phantom Agony
2004: Feint
2004: Cry for the Moon
2005: Solitary Ground
2005: Quietus (Silent Reverie)
2007: Never Enough
2008: Chasing the Dragon
2009: Unleashed
2009: Martyr of the Free Word
2010: This Is the Time
2012: Storm the Sorrow
2012: Forevermore (featuring Ruurd Woltring)

Compilations and other recordingsEdit

2005: The Score – An Epic Journey
2006: The Road to Paradiso
2013: Retrospect

DVDsEdit

2004: We Will Take You With Us

Music videosEdit

2003: The Phantom Agony
2004: Feint
2005: Solitary Ground
2005: Quietus
2007: Never Enough
2009: Unleashed
2010: This Is the Time
2012: Storm the Sorrow
2012: Forevermore

ToursEdit

(2002-2004): The Phantom Agony Tour
(2005-2006): Consign to Oblivion Tour
(2007-2008): The Divine Conspiracy Tour
(2009-2011): Design Your Universe World Tour
(2012-2013): Requiem for the Indifferent World Tour