EARLY RELEASE: First Listen to EPICA (feat. Floor Jansen) 'Sancta Terra'
Added 2025-06-17 16:25:12 +0000 UTCSeveral of you requested I check out Epica, and I thought what better way to do it than to check them out first with Floor!
What did you think of this one?
Comments
I knew you would like it! Well as a fan of the band lots of things to say So first off, about this performance It was in 2013 (yes, same year as NW Wacken show, but earlier). This concert is a big one for the band, as it was the 10th year anniversary, it's also known as the Retrospect show. It contains a lot of the best live material of their first half of the catalogue. They played 3 hours, with full orchestra and choir, and this was towards the end, so for me the performance of Simone Simons (the vocalist) is really impressive, also because she was pregnant. Floor was invited for 2 tracks, in the first part she joined for a duet of a classical latin hymn Stabat Mater Dolorosa. They both sing purely operatic, it could be a good reaction if you are interested in that, but no metal to be found lol. Really beautiful though. Now for a bit of history, they are founded in 2003 and they have some connection with Nightwish, in a way. Mark Jansen was in a dutch symphonic metal band called After Forever, with a very young Floor. Eventually he leaves and forms Epica, being guitarist, songwriter and providing harsh vocals when needed. He brought an even younger Simone who was her girlfriend at the time, to sing. She was very inspired by Tarja Turunen (at that time in NW) so her style was very operatic. Initially they had a lot of classical inspiration, with a lot of use of choir and orchestra. With the time they changed some members and evolved into a heavier sound, but always keeping the symphonic elements. Simone also started to use her chest voice and contemporary singing a lot more. So nowadays they are stablished as one of the top bands in the genre. I think you correctly noticed the similarities and differences with Nightwish sound, if I had to summarize it, in a very simplistic way, I would associate Epica with classical music, and Nightwish with soundtrack music. That is regarding the symphonic side, but they are also different in the metal side. So in general I think they are great because they do not overlap with another big band, they are very unique. So for next steps suggestions, this band doesn't really have a reaction order like others You could start from the very beginning with the first single called Cry for the Moon, a massive hit that they still play live nowadays. That one has a recording from back in the days live in a studio ("We will take you with us" mini movie) or many more modern versions when you can see the change in her vocal style. Or you can continue with more of this concert Retrospect, a couple of good ones would be Unleashed and Design Your Universe. Lastly, they have a big song they always close shows with called Consign to Oblivion (live at Zenith is a great recording). It's pretty heavy and very instrumental oriented, but still a great song. I'm sorry for the huge wall of text but hopefully this fills some of the gaps about Epica!
Damian Cohen
2025-06-18 06:02:04 +0000 UTCThis is from Epica's 10th anniversary celebration, hence the full orchestra and chorus. Epica's lead singer is Simone Simons who is good friends with Floor. They went to school together. They also duet on the more classical song Stabat Mater Dolorosa in this same show. It is well worth a look. Simone has said that Sancta Terra, which she wrote, represents a soul who thinks he is in heaven, but he is really in hell. But, since he is happy, he is where he belongs. Epica is definitely a band worth exploring more. Nightwish and Epica are both symphonic metal, but they can be very different. Simone, by the way, pregnant in this show. I'm not that well versed on Epica's songs, but I think that one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard by them is Rivers ft. Apocalyptica. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7imPLmvLyQA
Gaye McCullough
2025-06-18 01:36:03 +0000 UTC
