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Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
Entertainment
Merlin Alderslade

"I shifted from Garbage, Radiohead and Silverchair to black metal." The classic 90s album that changed the life of the singer who'd go on to front one of her country's biggest bands

Garbage Radiohead Silverchair Simone Simons Tarja Turunen Nightwish
Simone Simons in a red dress draped across a chair.

Simone Simons is an icon of symphonic metal as frontwoman of Dutch heavyweights Epica, but once upon a time she was just a regular kid embarking on her own journey into discovering music - and it was another heavyweight of symphonic metal that helped her on her way.

In a new interview with Metal Hammer, Simone reveals that one of her favourite records ever is Oceanborn, the classic second studio album by Finnish legends Nightwish, and that the band's then-singer, Tarja Turunen, had a profound influence on her decision to become a singer herself.

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