A short while ago the email arrived announcing that there was a brand new video by Epica to enjoy from their forthcoming album “The Holographic Principle”. The clip is for “The Edge Of The Blade” – Check it out below.
Commented Coen Janssen (synths, piano):
“Finally another video! We are very happy with the way it turned out! It gives a glimpse on what to expect from our upcoming live shows, so watch it a few times because I’m expecting to see you sing along with it soon!”
PiercingMetal Thoughts: Quick views on this one since I’m not at the Metal Command desk all that much today. Loved the sleekness of the tune and the style being displayed in the video. The lighting actually reminded me of what it is like to see Epica on the concert stage and the only thing missing was all the banners and backdrop stuff. Simone looks at dynamic as ever and the tune is a nice additional tease from the album “The Holographic Principle” which I am very much looking forward to owning. I’ve been a fan of the band since “The Phantom Agony” and have enjoyed listening to their growth on album after album. Hmmm, I better save some of these quotes for my longer review narratives. You only have a few weeks left to wait for the arrival of the new CD so order it via the link below and how about doing the same for the new Sonata Arctica. See you next time.
Now here is a little bit of touring news that I was hoping to see happen sooner than later. It seems that Epica will be returning to this neck of the woods in the beginning of 2016 to make up the dates that had to be dropped during their most recent Fall run. Check out the poster and the official statement and then we can discuss a little more.
The Press Release:
Coming January, Dutch symphonic metal titans EPICA will return to North America for their rescheduled Enigma tour. This trek will have Portuguese metallers MOONSPELL as special guest and STARKILL as the opener. EPICA front-woman Simone Simons says the following about the upcoming tour: Continue reading Epica Will Bring “The Enigma Tour” To North America In 2016→
Artist: Epica Title: “The Divine Conspiracy” Label: Nuclear Blast Records Release Date: 9/7/2007 Genre: Gothic Symphonic Metal Rating: 5/5
I’ve been following the music of Epica for a couple of years now and have long been convinced of what they can do since their debut album “The Phantom Agony” was released on the now defunct Transmission Records back in 2003. They would follow the debut with a strong sophomore effort called “Consign To Oblivion” and if you are fortunate to own any of these then you are lucky since each are almost impossible to find in today’s Metal world without a lot of digging. From the ashes of Transmission the band would rise like the Phoenix and sign a deal with Nuclear Blast Records and give the world their magnum opus, the amazing Symphonic Gothic album “The Divine Conspiracy”. The album is without a doubt not only their strongest material to date but perhaps even the best album that they have ever done. Produced by Metal luminary Sascha Paeth and the band, Epica takes the elements that they introduced us to on their earlier albums and meld them together into one of the most mature and elegantly powerful Metal albums of 2007. Led by guitarist Mark Jansen, the compositions on the album are at times brooding and dark while at other time both passionate and bright. Their vocalist Simone Simons, who many might know as having worked with Melodic Metal masters Kamelot, truly shines as one of the most amazing singers that the genre has ever given us. With this album the classically trained Mezzo Soprano shows that she can not only handle some of the highest notes out there but also keep a more conventional voice as well if need be. Jansen is known to be quite fond of film score’s so it makes sense that the new Epica begins with one of its own and as it plays you envision sitting in some grand theatre as the cast of players is introduced. Continue reading “The Divine Conpiracy” by Epica→
Artist: Epica Title: “We Will Take You With Us” Label: The End/Transmission Records Release Date: 8/9/2005 Genre: Symphonic Gothic Metal Rating: 7/10
Released in tandem for the CD bearing the same name Epica gives us the visual side to “We Will Take You With Us”. Filmed in the studio as the band recorded the CD, this DVD shows the group playing their hearts out in a very non-descript room with their full choir and string sections. Fans of the CD or their debut release “The Phantom Agony” will enjoy this right off the bat but I feel that new fans might not be so taken with it. It is a simple reasoning on the way this is laid out for given that this is a studio session recording it does not offer you much in the visual sense and can come across as quite boring when you realize you are just watching them play with limited motion or sitting. Mark Jansen speaks before almost every song but this is in Dutch with no subtitles. This should have been addressed before issuing this product on the world at large as I know that I would have found it nice to understand what he was talking about before each song. Performance wise this is a great product as their level of play is incredible and while the acoustic numbers are nice I leaned towards the full band and symphonic pieces that make up the early section of the performance. There is one main difference in the DVD from the CD and that is in the omission of the German version of “Run For A Fall” which was included as a bonus on the CD. It should have been left on the DVD to be honest, there was no reason to cut it. Continue reading “We Will Take You With Us” (DVD) by Epica→
Artist: Epica Title: “We Will Take You With Us” Label: The End/Transmission Records Release Date: 8/9/2005 Genre: Symphonic Metal Rating: 8/10
Dutch Symphonic Metal sensation Epica bring us a very special recording as a follow-up to their debut album “The Phantom Agony”. On “We Will Take You With Us (2 Meter Sessies) the group presents to the listener a “live-in the studio” recording of their entire debut album with strings and full choir. To make sure that this is not taken as a clone of the first album the group also offers a couple of these numbers performed acoustically and features one unreleased song. This was a band that I found quite by accident when I was looking into After Forever. When I read that Epica (formerly called Sahara Dust) was formed by the guitarist who had left After Forever I knew this would be in the vein of music that I was appreciating. Mark Jansen’s discovery of Simone Simons allowed him to being a different level of player to the Operatic Fronted Metal band and this is surely not a secondary version of his former group either. A singer like Simone Simons brings the Mezzo Soprano as band superstar a possibility and showcasing an album where they perform live in a closed setting shows you that this group can indeed play and does so with very little difference from the fully recorded and produced release “The Phantom Agony”. Those that already own the debut might find this interesting more for the variations and the bonus tracks. Continue reading “We Will Take You With Us” by Epica→
