#epica by Kamelot

[metal-music-quiz]

Related to the quizzes: a big list containing most of my favourite bands:

Kamelot

Delain

Lacuna Coil

Ad Infinitum

Dynazty

Amaranthe

Epica

Ayreon

Nightwish

Avantasia

Seventh Wonder

Visions of Atlantis

Arch Enemy

Fleshgod Apocalypse

Once Human

Annisokay

Eluveitie

The Prize (Magali "Maggy" Luyten's newest hard rock/metal band, DEFINITELY recommend them and anything you can hear her vocals in)

Angra

After Forever

Xandria

Beast in Black

Alestorm

Alter Bridge

Apocalyptica

Illumishade

Other great bands, about which I'm just not that much of a nerd - which means that I'll have to do a bit of extra research before making a quiz:

Blind Guardian

Unleash The Archers

Within Temptation

Beyond The Black

Soilwork

In Flames

Masterplan

Shaman

VUUR

Stream Of Passion

MaYaN

ReVamp

Lord of the Lost

The Gathering

Blackbriar

Edguy

Battle Beast

Powerwolf

Gloryhammer

Sabaton

Probably will remember and add more names. Please don't forget that this is NOT my quiz-making plan for the near future. THIS IS JUST A PREVIEW OF MY MUSIC TASTE!

[emotionally-charged-arson]

In honor of the man’s birthday:

My personal list of studio essentials with him on vocals. And one of my favorite albums ever made 🫡

[lightineventide]

Another nice live recording from the Roy Khan era - a suggestion for @do-androids-dream-ao3acc ☺️. Unfortunately, this one is only an audio recording, and I think the song isn't really that popular, but it's a personal favourite of mine.

To be honest, I also love this recording because of the suprise triple F-bomb from Roy (it's a great thing to have in my CD collection) 😄. I laughed my ass off the first time I heard it.

[hauntedwhispers]

I was tagged by ghostreapersoul (thank you!) with the rule: pick a song for each letter of your url.

Here are my choices! (Couldn't resist on doing something more elaborated 🤭)

I tag feelingsofaithless, ispianoblack, if-th3n-else, black-arcana and whoever wants to do it! Have fun!

[gothprentiss]

Simone Simons & Roy Khan · Kamelot - The Haunting, live in Oslo, 2006

[redheads-a-to-z]

Simone Simons - best known as the lead singer for the Dutch symphonic metal band Epica, and guest appearances on albums with bands such as Kamelot, Ayreon, Primal Fear, Sons of Seasons, Avalon, Exit Eden and many others.

[cushyjukebox]

Kamelot ft. Simone Simons - The Haunting (Somewhere in Time)

[nihiltism]

maybe I do need to make more metalhead friends. no I don't. because I'm scareds of meeting new people. but attempts at converting people are only kind of working. so here we are

[asukastylescenalynch]

the metal fandom has just been completely ruined by pervs. so many fans are constantly sexualizing musicians & making gross obscene comments about their bodies, always so obsessed with their genitalia & their boobs, & rating their bodie parts. they're just so vulgar all the time saying the weirdest most unhinged shit. they probably sit around watching too much porn & their brains have been rotted away. & when they're not overtly objectifying musicians & being disgusting they've developed creepy parasocial relationships with them. they actually believe these people are their best friends cuz they engaged with one of their posts or talked to them briefly at a concert. no you're delusional seek help. these musicians don't know you & you do not know them personally. ugh the fandom is just so toxic. on god these bands deserve better fans.

[smurfsonfire]

I'm back on Tumblr! :D

If you're a writer or poet and like 80s hair metal, glam rock, Evanescence, or symphonic metal, please like or reblog and I'll follow you :)

[theshad0wsmadamme]

Simone simons and Oliver Palotai

[lightineventide]

My favourite cover of my favourite song. Have I shared it here before? Really recommend checking out the channel - there's even an Arch Enemy piano cover (of The Eagle Flies Alone)!

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

What would you say about Breaking Benjamin? Kamelot? Asking Alexandria? Epica?

Evanescence?

Rating band names based on their accuracy:

(I keep updating this list so check back later)

The Beatles: 0/10. None of these people are beetles, they’re just a bunch of fruity guys from Liverpool with matching haircuts

Pink Floyd: 4/10. There is not a single person named Floyd in the band, but some of the members do arguably look kinda pink

Nirvana: 10/10. Getting high and listening to Nirvana is roughly what I imagine actual nirvana to be like

Foo Fighters: either 0/10 or 10/10. I have never seen foo in real life so either they’re pretending to fight a problem that doesn’t exist or they’re doing an absolutely fantastic job of fighting it

The Eagles: 0/10. Same as the Beatles, there is not a single eagle in this band. The name is misleading and we have all been lied to

Queen: 6/10. Partial points for Freddie Mercury

Led Zeppelin: 0/10. I don’t think any of these guys have ever even seen a zeppelin, let alone one made of lead. A lead balloon would crash faster than my hopes and dreams

The Rolling Stones: 3/10. There is not a single stone in this band. Some points added because I’m pretty sure they rolled quite a few

U2: 0/10. Despite what the name says, I am not a member of this band

Metallica: 9/10. Naming a metal band “Metallica” is like naming your dog “doggy”

Red Hot Chili Peppers: 2/10. These guys are not chili peppers. They’re not even that hot, let alone red hot

Guns N’ Roses: 0/10. How the fuck could a gun or a flower play music

Backstreet Boys: ?/10. Depends entirely on their current given location

Simon and Garfunkel: 10/10. No notes

The Doors: 1/10. Jim Morrison is kinda shaped like a door tho

Chicago: 4/10. The number of people in this band does not come even remotely close to the population of Chicago. Points added because it originated in Chicago

Earth, wind, and fire: 2/10. This is even more innacurate than Chicago. Points added because wind instruments were often used

Def Leppard: 3/10. There is not a single leopard in this band. Some of the members are probably kinda deaf by now tho

The Beach Boys: ?/10. Accuracy depends entirely on location

The Black Eyed Peas: 6/10. Not sure what the hell an ‘eyed pea’ is but the black part is pretty accurate

Imagine Dragons: ?/10. Depends entirely on whether or not they’re thinking about dragons.

Cage the Elephant: 1/10. Why would you do that. Let the elephant go

Green Day: 0/10. They’re not even green

The Police: 0/10. There is not a single cop in this band

KISS: 5/10. I’m sure they probably kissed sometimes

The Monkees: 0/10. Are you fucking kidding me

We Butter the Bread with Butter: 8/10. I can’t verify this but I have no reason to suspect that they’d lie. Butter seems like the most logical thing to butter bread with

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: 0/10. I got really excited about the concept of a lizard wizard only to be let down. My disappointment is immeasurable

They Might Be Giants: 5/10. I googled everyone in this band’s height, the tallest guy’s only 6’1 so I wouldn’t exactly consider him a giant. Then again, I can’t really argue because the claim was only that they MIGHT be giants

The Presidents of the United States of America: 2/10. None of these people are Joe Biden nor are any of them former presidents. This is incredibly misleading. I’m pretty sure “Lump” was written about my first girlfriend tho so I’ll give them a point or two

Gorillaz: 2/10 Not quite but we’re kinda close genetically so I’ll give them partial credit

The Killers: ?/10. I have no way of verifying if they’ve actually killed before but the fact that they’re not in prison tells me probably not

The Offspring: 10/10. These guys are definitely somebody’s offspring

Arctic Monkeys: 1/10. They are neither monkeys nor are they from the arctic

Thirty Seconds to Mars: 1/10. It takes WAY longer to get to mars than that

Beastie Boys: 8/10. They’re pretty beast on the guitar

Jimmy Eat World: 1/10. Slow the fuck down Jimmy, you’re biting off way more than you can chew

Hole: 9/10. One point deducted because I’m pretty sure they had more than one hole

Rage Against the Machine: 10/10. They did exactly that

Alice In Chains: 0/10. This is illegal. Let Alice go

The Band: 10/10. This could not possibly be more accurate

Nine Inch Nails: 1/10. I can’t find any good pictures of their feet but from what I can tell their fingernails definitely aren’t nine inches long

Bush: ?/10. Not quite sure about this one, felt uncomfortable asking

The Who: 2/10. I’m not dealing with this “Who’s On First” bullshit

Radiohead: 0/10. Not a single person in this band has a radio for a head

Queens of the Stone Age: 0/10. This band should be called “five random dudes from the modern era” but FRDFTMA is a bit of a mouthful

Soundgarden: 2/10. Sound does not grow in the garden

Sonic Youth: 5/10. They’re not exactly youth anymore but the sonic part checks out

Talking heads: 8/10. There’s more to the band than just a bunch of disembodied heads but the heads do tend to talk

The Cranberries: 0/10. Decent music but I only added them so that the Beatles and Freddie Mercury weren’t the only fruits on this list

The Wiggles: 8/10. They do tend to wiggle a lot

Blue Man Group: 10/10. Yep!

[thenightling]

Unexpected Goth music

In the 90s you had the curious dilemma of both trying to avoid the title of Goth and also being accepted in the perceived Goth community. And there was an unfortunately high number of gatekeepers. You'd get asked what your favorite Goth artist or song was and for whatever reason "That doesn't count." or "That's actually Punk." or 'That's Death Rock, not Goth." or "That's too mainstream, that's not REAL Goth." And it got very irritating. So I'm going to list some of the things I think fit under the Goth genre that many would either not consider at all or would think "don't count." Disclaimer: This list does not contain obvious bands like The Cure, Siouxsie and the banshees, or Bauhaus. Once you remove those you'd be surprised how limited the selection of "real" Goth starts to feel. ______________________ And now here are the things that have (in my own experience) been classified as not Goth despite really fitting the criteria. Aurelio Voltaire - Sometimes considered Goth folk or "Dark Cabaret" or even "Death Rock" (1988 version of The Night) Aurelio Voltaire pretty much personifies Goth music. From his Gothic Neo Victorian / pirate look to such songs as Raised by Bats, Land of the Dead, Vampire Club, and the Neil Gaiman's The Sandman inspired "Come Sweet Death." Aurelio Voltaire is so Goth that I can't help but think there are other reasons people may not want to count him such as unconscious racism. (He's Cuban and has released Spanish language tracks.) Danny Elfman - Perhaps today most well known for his movie scores, particularly the iconically Gothic Nightmare before Christmas (where he was multiple voices including Jack's singing voice), Danny Elfman used to be the front man for the band Oingo Boingo where he had such songs as Dead Man's Party, Flesh 'n blood, Weird Science, No one lives forever, and No Spill Blood. These are arguably Gothic themed but not Gothic "style." However I do feel there is some Goth leanings in his 2020 album Big Mess which was officially released as the genre Industrial Goth. The Hex Girls - This band was invented for the 1999 Scooby Doo animated movie, Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost. Representing Gothic fashion, Wiccan spiritual beliefs, and environmentalism the band was meant to be a Gothic inversion on The Spice Girls. Defined as "Eco Goth" though arguably pop their songs actually were really good including "Earth, Wind, Fire, and Air" (though admittedy it should be Earth, Water, Fire, and Air), The Witch's Ghost, and Hex Girl. Inkubus Sukkubus - Considered Pagan Rock, they are definitely Goth, including the songs Sweet Morpheus and Vampire Queen (and several other vampire themed songs!) Blackmore's night - Neo Medieval folk rock band. You know... I think once you get called "Neo Medieval" you get a free pass to call yourself Goth. That's just my opinion. Including the songs Locked Within the Crystal Ball, The Darkness, and Shadow of the Moon.

Within Temptation - Symphonic Metal / Gothic Metal. One question... have you listened to them? Just listen to Angel, Stand my Ground, The Fear, or A Demon's Fate. Eden's Bridge - Progressive Celtic Folk Rock. They have two songs dedicated to Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost. I know one song isn't enough but still... Sonata Arctica - Metal but some of their biggest hits are about magic and more commonly werewolves. Cain's offering - Again, Metal, but the subject matter is decidedly Gothic. Kamelot - Power metal but they have two albums that retell Goethe's Faust parts 1 and 2 (Epica and The black Halo). In fact pretty much everything they do is of Gothic inclination. Richard Campbell - Metal but he did an entire metal opera retelling the novel Frankenstein. I think that's pretty Goth if you ask me.

Smashing Pumpkins - Considered Alternative rock. There was time where just about anything vampire related was advertised with Bullet with Butterfly Wings. And the band is named after a popular Halloween prank. The lead singer is also a professional poet.

Alice Cooper - Welcome to my Nightmare, Keepin' Halloween Alive, The Ballad of Dwight Frye (actor from classic universal monster movies), Gimme, Black Widow (With Vincent Price). He also performed in Tim Burton's Dark Shadows.

Marilyn Manson - Once Classified as industrial Goth, he was denounced by many Goths as "too mainstream" or "Not Goth enough." The man did covers of Danny Elfman's This is Halloween, David Bowie's Golden Years, Annie Lennox's Sweet Dreams, and Lost Boys' Cry Little Sister. That's pretty Goth if you ask me. My Chemical Romance (MCR) - Do I really need to elaborate wit this one? David Bowie - Mostly considered Glam Rock, Bowie has dabbled in all genres and Heart's Filthy Lesson was definitely industrial. Aurelio Voltaire did a Goth sequel to the songs Bowie wrote for Labyrinth. And Bowie's Scary Monsters and Super Creeps inspired Danny Elfman. You can't get more Goth than that (In my opinion). Even Bowie's album Hours drifts into Emo territory. Prince - At the very least he had a Goth aesthetic. I think if he wasn't black people would be quicker to realize he could fit as Goth. There's a lot of unconscious racism among some (not all) Goths. Michael Jackson - One word. Thriller. He also had The Boogeyman's Gonna Get ya with The Jackson Five, and later Ghost. But once you get Vincent Price to rap you should automatically count. The Rasmus - Rock but most of their songs are decidedly Goth and probably should count such as In the Shadows, Ghost of love, and Lucifer's Angel. Sarah McLachlan - Though considered pop let's be honest. Every Goth and person in the 90s "vampire Scene" had her Surfacing album or at least heard Building a Mystery. Before her music started playing in ASPCA commercials you heard songs like Adia on Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Savage Garden - Though definitely pop they get an honorary mention for having songs inspired by Anne Rice and for naming themselves after a phrase invented by The vampire Lestat to describe the nature of the world in The Vampire Lestat novel by Anne Rice. Sting - Though not always Goth, Sting was in the Gothic horror movie The Bride and wrote a song from the perspective of Louis in Interview with the vampire called Moon over Bourbon Street. Stevie Nicks - She got an American Horror story: Coven tie-in music video and practices witchcraft. That's like hitting a Goth bullseye. Johnny Cash - Wore all black all the time and did a cover of a NIN song that is considered better than the original version, Hurt. Sir Elton John - Glam / Pop rock but he gets an honorary mention for composing the Lestat Broadway musical and having a full demo album that was never officially released and can only be found through dubious / underground sources. (Or Ebay if you were lucky in 2006...) Honorable mention to Bobby "Boris" Pickett for having the first Gothic themed song to get banned in the UK (Monster Mash) for being "Too morbid." You can't get much more Goth than that.

[black-arcana]

EPICA Releases New Single 'Arcana'

Dutch symphonic metal titans EPICA have released a brand new single, "Arcana". The track heralds a new chapter in EPICA's two-decade-long history and marks the band's first new release since the group's chart-topping 2021 album "Omega" and the collaboration EP "The Alchemy Project". It offers a glimpse into the band’s future music, coming in 2025.

EPICA comments: "'Arcana' guides you through the universal stages of spiritual evolution in life. It leads the way to a higher consciousness and spiritual self-awareness.

"Writing this song was a spontaneous effort, so it came together quickly, which felt so natural that it wrote itself. The music contains classic EPICA elements but has some vibes that might remind you of '80s alternative rock or modern metal."

The single is now available on all streaming platforms. It also includes "The Ghost In Me (Danse Macabre)", EPICA's recently released collaboration with Europe's second-most visited theme park, Netherlands's magical De Efteling, and their much-anticipated new attraction, Danse Macabre.

The music video for "Arcana", directed by Remko Tielemans, can be seen below.

In a recent interview with Spain's Mariskal Rock, EPICA singer Simone Simons spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for the follow-up to "Omega" album. She said: "I think that there should be a single by the end of the summer-ish. That's that's our plan. And the album should be released [in] 2025.

"I just wrote with Mark [Jansen, guitar] and Rob [Van Der Loo, bass] also yesterday that I'm so happy with the songs, I'm so proud how everything turned out and it's gonna be another amazing EPICA album.

"We added a couple of new elements, but also went back to the roots, the old EPICA," she continued. "And yeah, I just can't wait for people to hear this.

"I loved 'Omega' and we toured so much with 'Omega' and had wonderful experiences, but then when you reach the end of a touring cycle, you start to get itchy and feel, 'Okay, now it's time to do the new album. Can we do it as good or maybe even better than the last album?' That's always the thing we strive for, ways to renew ourselves a little bit. And we feel a very strong spiritual connection also that it's our ninth album. So there's gonna be themes around the symbolic meaning of nine, the number nine."

Elaborating on the musical direction of EPICA's next album, Simone said: "The songs are heavy. There's a beautiful ballad, a very cinematic song, very uptempo, very doomy, melancholic and amazing, amazing power riffs. It's the most epic EPICA, I think, so far. Yeah, I think so. I mean, I'm feeling it. I'm very happy with it. I'm proud of it. And they are going to start recording the orchestra now next week. They're flying to Prague; that's where we record the orchestra. And I will be recording my final vocals as well."

In November 2022, EPICA released "The Alchemy Project" through Atomic Fire Records. The EP was co-written and performed with diverse guests ranging from extremists like FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, Niilo Sevänen (INSOMNIUM) and Björn "Speed" Strid (SOILWORK) along with melodic masters like Tommy Karevik (KAMELOT),keyboard legend Phil Lanzon (URIAH HEEP) and Roel Van Helden (POWERWOLF) to a once-in-a-lifetime song with Simons, Charlotte Wessels and Myrkur.

Just one day after the release of its anniversary reissues "We Still Take You With Us" and "Live At Paradiso", EPICA celebrated 20 years of existence live in September 2022 at 013 in Tilburg, Netherlands, the same place where they played their first show (supporting ANATHEMA) back in 2002.

EPICA was formed by Jansen after leaving AFTER FOREVER in 2002, and the band quickly gained attention outside their home country, taking big steps towards becoming the leading symphonic metal superpower they have long proven to be. After their ambitious debut "The Phantom Agony" (2002) and the surprisingly eclectic sophomore work "Consign To Oblivion" (2005),the road took them to new heights via their first concept masterpiece "The Divine Conspiracy" (2007) and their global breakthrough "Design Your Universe" (2009). 2012's opus "Requiem For The Indifferent", 2014's bedazzling "The Quantum Enigma" and "The Holographic Principle" (2016),cemented their reputation as not only one of the hardest-working metal bands in the business but also as one of the best. With "Omega", the final part of the metaphysical trilogy they began with "The Quantum Enigma", they reclaimed the throne without so much as the blink of an eye, amassing three million-plus streams during the first week of the album's release.

Photo credit: Tim Tronckoe