Listening to the new album right now ... and wow! Just ... wow! It has the known Epica sound, thought it does sound noticeably different. Great music, vocals even more perfect as always. Simone made such great progress with her singing, you can hear it very well. Amazing album, i'll definitely be buying this one

Written by Etaín on 14.08.2007 at 01:50

Listening to the new album right now ... and wow! Just ... wow! It has the known Epica sound, thought it does sound noticeably different. Great music, vocals even more perfect as always. Simone made such great progress with her singing, you can hear it very well. Amazing album, i'll definitely be buying this one

I agree 100% with you here. Epica produce an awesome album. One of the best from Epica. It is a must to go to buy it . I think that this album shall become one of the best album of 2007 .

To all EPica fans or not , listen to this album and enjoy every min, from it .

Very very good band! They've recently become one of my favourites and I can't wait to see them live!

The first song that immediately stood out from the rest for me was Never Enough. And now just found out that its their first single, and they already made a video for it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y33pEEjBXC4

Great song!

Written by Imraghil on 06.07.2007 at 19:02

realy great band. i've seen them live once. And gonna see them again in november in 013 Tilburg! Simone has almost the greatest voice in the world. Only Tarja (ex-Nightwish) is better than simone!

I DON'T agree with you at all!The best female vocals within metal are:

1.Floor Jansen(After Forever)
2.Myth(Luca Turilli's Dreamquest)
3.Tarja Turunen(ex-Nightwish)
4.Sarah Jezebel Deva(Cradle Of Filth,Angtoria,and she also appears on many other projects)

That's it.

@Elodie: Different people, different taste. Those things arent a fact just because its your opinion

@Etaín:You're right,but almost everyone says that Floor is the best female vocal within metal.

Not really. I think all she does lately is just whine, nothing more. Simone beats her by far .. imo!

Well,it seems AF wanted/had to become a bit...commercial.That's why.

Whats up with all the 'commercial' crap everywhere??? I mean, seriously. People should just accept that nothing ever stays the same, things change. That goes for everything, including music. You love one album and people expect bands to make 10000 more of em, but still saying they wanna hear something new. And then when a band tries something new, and they sound a bit different, people go say its commercial. Bands like Epica, AF, Nightwish, whatever .. worked real hard to get where they are today. People like their music, people buy their albums and support them, they get bigger, get a chance at a great recorddeal (which is what every band hopes for) and then people start whining that they're too commercial now. Well, big deal, thats life. Its impossible to please everyone, and im sure thats not even the reason why these bands makes the music that they make. So just live with it.

Sry bout the rant, im just sick of all that commercial crap.

Written by Etaín on 18.08.2007 at 00:07

Whats up with all the 'commercial' crap everywhere??? I mean, seriously. People should just accept that nothing ever stays the same, things change. That goes for everything, including music. You love one album and people expect bands to make 10000 more of em, but still saying they wanna hear something new. And then when a band tries something new, and they sound a bit different, people go say its commercial. Bands like Epica, AF, Nightwish, whatever .. worked real hard to get where they are today. People like their music, people buy their albums and support them, they get bigger, get a chance at a great recorddeal (which is what every band hopes for) and then people start whining that they're too commercial now. Well, big deal, thats life. Its impossible to please everyone, and im sure thats not even the reason why these bands makes the music that they make. So just live with it.

Sry bout the rant, im just sick of all that commercial crap.

@Etaín:I just said that they had become a bit commercial,not that I didn't like their new release.
But,anyway-I got your point.

As for the song"Never Enough"-in my opinion,it isn't a ballad at all,and souns a bit popish,too.But it's still good.

Well, i dont like AF's new release, but please define commercial? I bet people arent even sure of what that means. Most people talk about these bands as 'commercial' as if they changed their sound on purpose just so it would suit the masses and sell more. When in fact, the changes in most of these bands' music are just normal evolutions that they've been working on and experimenting with. I just dont see how thats 'commercial' ...

AF's new album is A BIT commercial because of songs like"Energize Me"and"Who I Am".But I like it.It just took some time for me to get used to this release.

After Forever is a great band,and they can do much better.

And one other thing-I had bigger expectations about their new record because I knew they could always be excellent in the music they made.
It's just that the more better you are(as a singer,musician,etc.),the more people expect from you.

I'm not a really big fan of Gothic Metal at all, but somehow Epica does appeal to me. It's an absolutely great band, with some great albums, and fantastic vocals. Probably the best female-vocals in the scene, IMO.

Yesterday I got the promo copy of the new Epica disc in, and while I enjoy all of their releases, this one is quickly becoming my favorite For once the US gets an earlier release, so I'll be down to the store tomorrow to pick it up! Maybe it's just my love of Arien van Weesenbeck's drumming on this record and the last God Dethroned record, but this Epica CD manages to be heavier than before, yet due to Simone's continued vocal improvements and greater diversity, it's equally more beautiful and somber. Mark's vocal work I think was better recorded this time around...it sounds much closer to his live performance last year. Hopefully the band will be just as good if not better next week

I heard the new album,too.It is very good!Well,I expected a bit more,and I can't call it a masterpiece,but still-Epica have done a great job on it.

My favourite songs on it,so far,are:"Chasing The Dragon","Beyond Belief","La'petach Chatat Rovetz","Death Of a Dream","Fools Of Damnation","Menace of Vanity","Never Enough",and also"Living a Lie".

Yeah,I know-most of the songs.

btw,I also found out that Simone has improved a lot.Her voice on"The Divine Conspiracy"sounds very different(compared to the other Epica albums and to some live performance's,too),interesting and unique,either.

Mark also sounds a bit different(not that awful,as he usually does in Epica).

A 10-minute video interview with Mark Jansen conducted by France's Spirit of Metal webzine can be viewed here.

Oh, what a great show this past Friday with Epica and Visions of Atlantis! The new Epica tracks sound so great live, and the chance to say hello to a few members after the show really made the whole night complete I have to say, I was fully exhausted after the Epica set, as their sound was perfect, and had the energy from the band was intimate yet intense. Their performance of "Menace Of Vanity" was unbelieveable - I wasn't sure they'd play it live or not because it's such a heavy and fast paced track compared to most of their work. I can really feel the improvement with their newest material when they switched back to older work, as it's like going from an 8 or 9 to an all out 10 with how full the new tracks sound.

Visions Of Atlantis sound much better live than on CD, and are a great compliment to Epica - they aren't as theatrical for sure, but vocally, Melissa has an equally impressive stage presence and is very social to the audience, something I look forward to at shows.

Looking forward to Epica's return someday Mark made it clear he has intentions to keep coming back to the US in the future... I hope the rest of the tour is as satisfying for them

about the new Album.

I don't know in my true opinion, was very strange, they music tech was amazing, but the arranje of vocals, and some "pop" influences was not cool. I preferres the old style.

Written by nehrodwarf on 10.09.2007 at 18:23

about the new Album.

I don't know in my true opinion, was very strange, they music tech was amazing, but the arranje of vocals, and some "pop" influences was not cool. I preferres the old style.

Well there are a few vocal parts I don't care for, and they appear in the video track, "Never Enough," at about the 1:07 and 1:17 marks, as background vocals for Simone's lead vocals. I honestly think they are unnecessary and do flirt with a pop-style female vocal effects more often found outside of metal. Simone tried to pull off a few other of her background vocals during the live performance of this song, but they didn't work live in my opinion. It was the only moments she ever sounded other than perfect... But I do prefer the newer sound, so I guess we disagree there; I think the newer disc has such a huge sound to it and is so layered with synth melodies and a heavier drumming approach that I hope they continue in this direction...

Written by nehrodwarf on 10.09.2007 at 18:23

about the new Album.

I don't know in my true opinion, was very strange, they music tech was amazing, but the arranje of vocals, and some "pop" influences was not cool. I preferres the old style.

I know exactly what you are talking about.The pop influence even if it's light is not appreciated from my part,their early works are still unbeaten

The drumming on this new album is so much better than on their previous outings it is unbelievable. But then again that's what you get when you use God Dethroned's drummer Arien van Weesenbeek

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 10.09.2007 at 22:06

The drumming on this new album is so much better than on their previous outings it is unbelievable. But then again that's what you get when you use God Dethroned's drummer Arien van Weesenbeek

Yes! And it's exactly why I couldn't wait to hear tracks like "Menace Of Vanity" live - while they may have an occasional pop-oriented vocal line, this new CD has just as many times where it approaches a more extreme side of metal, mainly because of the drumwork As soon as I heard Arien was doing the work for this Epica disc, I knew the band would be elevated on many levels - he's an intelligent drummer and it seems he can go through any style he wants... It was great to hear his work live

Holland's FaceCulture recently spoke to Simone Simons and Mark Jansen and you can watch the interview at this location.

Written by White Winter Sun on 14.09.2007 at 23:55

Holland's FaceCulture recently spoke to Simone Simons and Mark Jansen and you can watch the interview at this location.

Thanks for this news !
Interesting interview about many things and of course about the new album

Written by Etaín on 18.08.2007 at 00:07

Whats up with all the 'commercial' crap everywhere??? I mean, seriously. People should just accept that nothing ever stays the same, things change. That goes for everything, including music. You love one album and people expect bands to make 10000 more of em, but still saying they wanna hear something new. And then when a band tries something new, and they sound a bit different, people go say its commercial. Bands like Epica, AF, Nightwish, whatever .. worked real hard to get where they are today. People like their music, people buy their albums and support them, they get bigger, get a chance at a great recorddeal (which is what every band hopes for) and then people start whining that they're too commercial now. Well, big deal, thats life. Its impossible to please everyone, and im sure thats not even the reason why these bands makes the music that they make. So just live with it.

Sry bout the rant, im just sick of all that commercial crap.

Written by White Winter Sun on 14.09.2007 at 23:55

Holland's FaceCulture recently spoke to Simone Simons and Mark Jansen and you can watch the interview at this location.

Mark and Simone broke up?? at first i cant believe, it's sad to hear this. Fortunately Epica still continues, though to see the relationship of Mark and Simone end is not a pleasant thing

I'm somewhat twisted to the new album. Musically is very good, but I'm not so sure about the vocals. Simone sounds terrible in some parts and some of the grunts feels out of place. However, the choir is doing a fantastic jobb as usual. It's unbelivable how a choir can sound so personal, so intimate. Every choir-member add their own touch, their own personality, and the end result is just fantastic. A thing that isn't so good either is that non of the song seem to get stuck, despite the good drumming. To some it up, I think it's a nice album, but it's easily forgotten once you stop listen to it.

Mark Carras of RockMyMonkey.com conducted an interview with Simone Simons. You can found the entire interview in text and Mp3 format at this location.