It might be the best part of four years since Epica released their last album, Ωmega, but the symphonic metal stars have certainly not been idle. There was a lockdown livestream and a guest star-packed EP in The Alchemy Project. They’ve toured the world, played shows with Metallica, released a live album and an EP, and celebrated their 20th anniversary as a band. More recently, they played an orchestral ‘Symphonic Synergy’ show in Amsterdam, withanother to come in Mexico.
Singer Simone Simons also released debut solo album Vermillion in August, but she tells us why returning to the studio with Epica is always a magical experience…
Did you find yourself having to separate ideas, to go to either your solo album or the Epica one?
“I have a list on my phone with ideas and titles, so I could make a selection where I thought,‘OK, that’s going to fit nicely into the theme of Vermillion, which is inspired by the colour red and all that it symbolises - love, hate, life, death, blood, passion, fire, danger. With Epica, I share the lyric writing with Mark [Jansen, guitar/vocals] and there we touch on more spiritual topics, a little bit esoteric, but also personal.”
And this is your ninth album. Nine’s a magic number, right?
“It’s definitely our most spiritual album so far, but that’s also because we’ve got one more Epica baby in the group since Mark became a parent. I think we see ourselves as mirrors of society, but we also did the Ghost In Me song, which is from [symphonic poem] Danse Macabre. I can say that the album has a very spooky touch. It goes a little bit into the darker fantasy side, and it’s also a bit about renewals and reincarnation.”
Alissa White-Gluz appeared on your solo album and you were on Charlotte Wessels’. Can we expect any guest appearances on the Epica album?
“I’ve known Alissa for 20 years and Charlotte and I have become friends over the last couple of years. I love her creative spirit, her songwriting. That’s why I also wanted to write a song with her [Sirens - Of Blood and Water, also featuring Myrkur] for The Alchemy Project, which we played live together for the first time during the Symphonic Synergy. People loved that but, on the Epica album, the guest appearances are the orchestra and choir.”
Did playing the Symphonic Synergy show with a live orchestra affect how you incorporate those elements into the record?
“It was beautiful, playing live with an orchestra and choir. That was how we always intended to sound, but it didn’t affect the album because we’d already finished that part. The guys write and use samples to put down the ideas, and then our producer and an orchestrator put them to sheet music. Then we fly to Prague, where the orchestra is in a speed tempo, like they are insane! They take the ideas that went from our heads to a computer and play them on real instruments. It’s more magic!”
What can you tell us about the sound of the album?
“It’s a very complex album where we do touch on the older Epica sound, particularly the songs that Mark has written. So for a lot of people, it’s going to be very familiar, but we also added some refreshing elements - a little modern twist here and there, without losing the classic Epica sound.”
How does that tie in with the themes of renewal and reincarnation?
“I wouldn’t say some of us are having a midlife crisis, but we’re at a place where you reflect a lot and sometimes life can take unexpected turns, and you have to reinvent yourself – not just personally but as a band. Our music and lyric writing is like therapy. You can get the demons out and you can process. It’s difficult to put in words, but sometimes you don’t want to reinvent the wheel, but you do have to reinvent yourself.”
Epica's ninth album is expected in 2025 via Nuclear Blast.
