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Epica

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 participate in composing their songs, whilst their lyrics are primarily written by Simons and Jansen. Their songs largely deal with philosophical topics, including science, religion, and world events.In 2003, Epica's debut album The Phantom Agony was released through Transmission Records. Consign to Oblivion followed in 2005, and debuted at No. 12 in the Dutch charts. They moved labels to Nuclear Blast following Transmission's bankruptcy, and in 2007, released their third studio album The Divine Conspiracy, which charted at #9 in the Netherlands. 2009's Design Your Universe was met with yet greater success, debuting at #8 in the Dutch Albums Chart, and charting across Europe, also garnering much critical acclaim.Epica's fifth studio album Requiem for the Indifferent was released in 2012. Well received by critics, it was met with international success, entering the USA's Billboard 200 at #104, and Japan's Oricon Albums Chart at #172.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.Cry for the Moon (2002–2003)In early 2002, Mark Jansen left After Forever over creative differences. He then began looking for musicians who would work towards a more classical/symphonic type of music project; this was 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, who was 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 an 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 2002. As a result, they were signed to Transmission Records.The Phantom Agony (2003–2004)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. 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 / The Score (2005–2007)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 non-metal album The Score – An Epic Journey was released in September 2005 and is the soundtrack for a Dutch movie called Joyride, though it could also be considered to be their third album. Mark Jansen describes the album as typical 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, drummer Jeroen Simons left the band because of his wish to pursue other musical interests. In Fall 2006, Simone once again contributed vocals to an album of Kamelot, this time on the tracks “Blücher” and “Season’s End” on the album Ghost Opera. In December, Ariën van Weesenbeek from God Dethroned was announced via Epica’s official website as the guest drummer for their new album, but not as a permanent band member.The Divine Conspiracy / The Classical Conspiracy (2007–2009)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 Dvorák, 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)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, especially 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, bassist change and The Quantum Enigma (2012–present)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 crazy"), where mentally disabled people (18 years or older) can get their wishes granted. In the episode, they recorded, together with the mildly autistic Ruurd Woltring, one of his own compositions, "Forevermore". The single was released through Nuclear Blast on 25 September 2012.On April 24, 2013, it was announced on Epica's official website that Simons and Oliver Palotai (Kamelot) are expecting their first child towards the end of the summer. As a result, the band will cease their live activities from July, including Masters of Rock.Their upcoming album is to be released in Spring 2014. The album's title has been debated among fans after Epica began hinting at the album's title on their Facebook page. Originally labeled "TQE", the album was revealed to be titled The Quantum Enigma on February 5 and will be released on May 2, 2014.Retrospect (2013)The band announced on their official website that on March 23, 2013, they would celebrate the 10th anniversary of Epica in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The concert which would be called Retrospect, would be held in Klokgebouw with a 70-piece orchestra, choirs, international guests and many special effects. The band invited the Hungarian Remenyi Ede Chamber Orchestra and the Choir of Miskolc National Theatre to this show as they were the same orchestra that accompanied Epica in the recording of the live album The Classical Conspiracy.Tickets for this concert went on sale on September 15, 2012 at 10 AM. In less than a week, more than 1,000 tickets were sold. Later it was officially announced by the band that tickets for Retrospect had been sold out.Retrospect was attended by fans from more than 45 countries, who benefited from the arrangements made by the band for those fans at hotels like Holiday Inn and Hotel Hampshire, to ensure the best possible prices for their travels.The concert consisted of a 70-piece orchestra, special effects, acrobats, guest vocalist Floor Jansen and former band members Ad Sluijter, Yves Huts and Jeroen Simons. Finnish singer Tarja Turunen was also invited for the show, but had to refuse due to scheduling problems. It also included several costume changes by Simone Simons.In the show the band introduced a new song titled "Retrospect" and played "Twin Flames" from Requiem For The Indifferent for the first time. They also played for the second time their longest song "The Divine Conspiracy", however a shorter version of this song was played.During the concert, Coen Janssen announced that Retrospect would be filmed for release as a DVD.RetrostreamEpica announced on their official website that the show would be broadcast online, linked to LiveMusicStage.com. Fans acquired a ticket for € 6 to access the online stream to watch the concert. Later fans who had purchased this ticket could talk to the band members through a chat where they answered questions about the show.Radio and television appearancesEpica appeared on the covers of many European magazines and on radio, television and various other media which spoke of the anticipated anniversary show.On Sunday 17 March, the band appeared on the famous Dutch radio station 3FM, with an interview and performances of Storm the Sorrow and Unleashed in Barend en Wijnand.On Monday 18 March, the band was a special guest in the most popular TV show in the Netherlands, De Wereld Draait Door, on which they performed Storm the Sorrow.StyleEpica performs a blend of progressive metal, gothic metal and symphonic metal. Another component of Epica’s style is power metal; their former guitarist Ad Sluijter having described the band as “a bridge between power metal and gothic metal.” Vocalist Simone Simons has expressed a preference for the group to be described as symphonic metal though the founder of the group Mark Jansen notes that they do not mind being called gothic metal.The music of Epica is aggressive, bombastic and excessive with some songs being “epic, grand and majestic” and others “more subdued and introspective.” The band is also known to have progressive tendencies while a gothic atmosphere and sentimentality is also present in their music.Epica uses a “trademark of many symphonic and gothic metal bands” in contrasting “two extremes, death grunts and brutality on one side, airy female melodiousness on the other.” Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic notes that the band’s “attraction ultimately hinges on exploring the sonic contrasts of light and dark; the punishing intensity of those elephantine guitar riffs and hyperactive drumming cast against the soaring, layered sweetness of the orchestrated strings and keyboards.” Simone Simons delivers operatic vocals in a mezzo-soprano range though she has also been known to sometimes sing “with a clear alto voice that has a flawless tone and a lot of emotion.” Mark Jansen delivers death grunts “that are secondary to Simons’ singing, but very important in terms of balance and variety.” The group is also known to employ human choirs and orchestras with additional embellishments such as spoken word recitals and lyrics in Latin and Arabic.