Glad you discovered Epica. As an avid Nightwish fan, I like Epica's harder sound a bit better and Simone's vocals have become stronger and better over time. Try watching some of the songs from the Omega Alive, a virtual concert. And, as good of a song writer as Nightwish's Tuomas is, the lyrics on many Epica songs are very deep, extremely thought provoking ... meaning of life stuff!
Agreed. Epica's lyrics have something so very special, it's not just about the freaking good music and arrangements and voices, it's always worth it to pay attention to lyrics here. ❤
If only I could understand them. I could listen to that song 20 times and still not understand a word. Her voice is way to powerful.I am still working my way thru some early Epica songs, that are a little less heavy, desperately trying to like this band, but there must be something wrong with me as I just can't seem to get his heavy stuff?
The complexity of their music is wonderful. This is not music for the unfocused mind. They picked up the baton from the prog bands of the past and brought it to the modern world along with bands like Nightwish. For the next listen, try Design Your Universe from the Retrospect show. When you're ready, do Kingdom of Heaven Part 3 from the Omega Alive virtual show.
@@TheWolffAndTheMelody "Victims of Contingency" is a nice one, short and heavy, though it has a poppy chorus. 🙂 If you want something really badass, with nice chunky riffs and gutturals, do "Semblance of Liberty" (studio audio +lyrics) ruclips.net/video/-bvCI7b4Ziw/видео.html And one of the best Epica bangers ever... An old song but still f*cking amazing. "The Obsessive Devotion" Official Live It has not just one, but two different breakdowns - ruclips.net/video/fRR-eLW1lXw/видео.html
Hi Cosmic, here is one of my all time favorite EPICA songs, it has a sci-fi theme, and this video is absolutely killer (not just a lyric video)🙃 EPICA - Universal Death Squad (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO)
@@TheWolffAndTheMelody My favourite as well. It's a great song, but not for everyone. It has pretty unusual song structure and transitions from one section to another are really cool.
Choirs and orchestras make metal so much more heavy and dramatic. In my opinion it's the best thing ever. My dad is a huge classical music fan, close to 80 years old. He's not into metal at all, but when I explained to him what the combination of typical metal instruments and an orchestra can do, he totally understood why I like it so much. We are really not that different, classical and metal fans. :)
When I was little my parents feed me classical music. It always stayed with me and I really, really appreciate orchestras. As a teen I started to listen more and more metal such as Korn, Slipknot etc. When I found out about Epica in 2004 I think I was like ok this is definitely it.
MIND… BLOWN! When you said you thought Consign to Oblivion was brutal, I knew this would be right up your street. Great reaction. For something equally intense I would recommend Kingdon of Heaven live. It is a fan video so the images are soft but it is very atmospheric and it does have proper audio. It is mesmerising and has the added bonus of having the lyrics ehich guves an insight into the deep meaning of the song. Band leader Mark has a degree in psychology so a lot of their lyrics are thoughtful. Here is the link… ruclips.net/video/PF56D9mrlck/видео.html
The Mexico version is NOT live; it's just an amateur fanmade video made by slapping together the studio audio over mobile phone video recordings. If by 'atmospheric' you mean shitty picture and sound quality with clumsy cuts focused 90% on Simone awkwardly dancing and distracting walls of text in Spanish then sure, it's very atmospheric. Please, for the love of god, do yourself a favor and do the Omega Alive one for an actual, profesionally recorded, live performance.
the mix between Simon's operatic voice and Mark's death growls create an atmosphere like beauty and the beast, or in the best of examples, an angel vs a demon
not a quiet song at all, right?)) The whole point of this song is in the contrast, which is even more here than usual. Simone sings very high, straight angelic and the song rises a lot, and then Mark's growl throws her back to hell 😄 about the studio version of "consign to oblivion" - this is a very old song, it was recorded more than 15 years ago and the quality of the recording, of course, requires re-recording this song 😂 for the next reaction, I can offer something fresh, for example, from their big concert in Amsterdam, which was this year, there are two official live: Epica - Unleashed (live in afas live) Epica feat Apocalyptica - Rivers (live in afas live)
@@LouisannaBall oh, I just now saw the notification that tonight is the premiere on their channel. Of course, it will not surpass the livein Zenith, but the concert in AFAS was wonderful, I want more live from it. And most of all for those songs for which there were no official live yet, for example, songs from the last album, but for some reason they repeat old songs 😁 well. looking forward tonight: Consign to oblivion (live at the AFAS LIVE) 😈
@@wildhoney126 I'm dying to see a good live for fools of damnation for example. It doesn't exist and it's an incredible song. And yeah, I don't actually think this one is going to top the zenith version, but I would love to just see the full afas concert.
ok another round of suggestions Ne Obliviscaris - And Plague Flowers The Kaleidoscope I saw people say Heilung already, songs I say are "In Maidjin" and "Annoana" Faun and Eluvietie - Gwydion Eluvietie - Havoc Persephone - Mind As Universe Bonus Round: Master Boot Record - 8086
Great reaction to one of my favorites. So many places to go next. Perhaps it's time to go back to the beginning and Cry For the Moon. Not as heavy but a beautiful song, heavy topic for the lyrics and and interesting look at Simone's vocals early on. Her vocal coaches thought she was a mezzo soprano and tried to train her voice that way but as she gained confidence she moved toward being a full soprano. She has said she doesn't like listening to some of their early recordings because her voice sounds "weird" to her. ruclips.net/video/Dys1_TuUmI4/видео.html.
Same here. Floor is not from this planet. But I have yet to hear a symphonic metal ballad as beautiful as Tides of Time. It's not even close. Simone's ballad voice is bar none in the genre.
This is nuts! I'm an Epica fan but had never found my way to this clip. I wanna throw something at you that goes in a different direction - wondering what you would think of Unleash the Archers - "The Awakening" (Full Band Playthrough Video). I'm going to get to see them for the first time next month at the Mad With Power Fest!
Good reaction. For me the best band of my country, the Netherlands. Or even the best band of Europe. Did see them live twice now. Amazing shows. Please do “the Skeleton Key” from their livestream they did during covid, “Ωmega Alive” ruclips.net/video/zIZkvhiOUU8/видео.html Thanks for this reaction.
Have you heard symphonic metal band from Boston, Seven Spires Singer Adrienne Cowan is very versatile, you want disney princess listen "Succumb", sort of regular symph metal song "Bury You", screams and growls "Gods of Debauchery" ... dark jazz, cabaret aso
Hey man. Some recommendations for EPICA songs: - Unleashed (Retrospect live) - Design Your Universe (Retrospect live) - Kingdom of Heaven part 1 (Official lyric video) - Kingdom of Heaven part 3 (Omega Alive) - Universal Death Squad (Official lyric video) - Beyond the Matrix (live at the Zenith) Cheers!
BTW the guitarists are both playing 7 strings and the bass player 5 string bass, they all have an extra low B string, which is why the riffs sounds so chonky! 🙃
Here's a second vote for Cry For the Moon. These bands are so talented that they sound great live and rhe crowd involvement just makes it better. I prefer the live versions of almost everything they do.
You are following the Symphonic Metal path here. Nightwish, then Epica, then Ayreon, then you should continue with... Therion! Here is a proposition to open another parallel rabbit hole: the discovery of the founders of Symphonic Metal, the band is called "Therion". A good song to start in case you want to check Therion: "Ginnungagap" from the concert Live Gothic. The video is called "Therion Live Gothic 2007 Full Concert HD" and the song starts at 1:14:11 and ends at 1:20:02
May I go on suggesting some others Epica ? For example "Beyond the Matrix", "Cry for the moon" or "Never Enough". Nevermind, I'm listening all your reactions sooner or later ^^
Awesome! Whenever I feel like something a bit heavier than Nightwish I usually go Epica or Spiritbox (recommended!). Circle with me, Rule of Nines or Blessed Be by Spiritbox are my favourites :D
Great to see you continue this journey! If you like these hard-hitting, face-slamming riffs, the next logical step is Victims of Contingency from the Omega Alive show: ruclips.net/video/aT1JsH2_97c/видео.html
I would suggest the band Nanowar of Steel. F.ex. Norwegian reggaeton, Disco Metal, Valhallelujah or Polenta Taragnarock. They are an Italian metal band, but I think they live mostly in Germany.
After Forever was Sander Gommans' band more than anyone else's. I "know" from reputable sources (have read somewhere :) that he had "forced" Mark to collaborate and then kicked him out for being "lazy". Don't know if it's true or not. But there were obvious creative differences. AF and Epica always shared a large portion of their fanbase, but they don't sound quite alike IMO. Floor, of course, sided with her man Sander. Funny how she said back in 2006 that "Met Mark, die relatie is zo verstoord, dat komt nooit meer goed.." - but after 2009, it seems to be fine.
@@noneofyerbeeswax8194 If Mark was really lazy, he wouldn't have made such a cool band like Epica. It is clear that he is not alone in the group, but still this is his brainchild and he made a lot of efforts to ensure that the group became what it is now. In fact, they are now the second most popular in this genre after Nightwish, I do not take into account Within temptation, which have always been pop metal and now have almost nothing to do with the genre. Given that Nightwish and Within temptation are listened to by a lot of people who have nothing to do with really heavy music, I think that Epica and Mark have achieved amazing results, even though their music is still more aimed at metalheads 😁 regarding the story, which happened to Mark in After forever, in fact, all sources say that the initiator of his departure from the group was Floor, who at that time was in a relationship with Sander, the main claim was "talks a lot with fans" and added to this "creative disagreements", Sander was the main in the group, but he created After Forever with Mark, therefore Mark is named as a co-founder. In any case, no matter what conflicts happen to them, I'm glad that everything happened this way. But Floor is dominant, she is not as simple-hearted as it might seem, she is a lady with character 😁
@@wildhoney126 Yep, probably not too lazy. :) I don't know all the details of Mark's departure. They never really talked much about it. Funnily enough, Floor said in the same interview (Jan 2006) that she would've liked to have published an open letter, explaining the reasons for kicking him out. Wonder whom she got this idea from... Floor _was_ a lady with character before she joined Nightfish. Seems way too compliant and tame now. I miss the badass metal chick she once was...☹
Glad you discovered Epica. As an avid Nightwish fan, I like Epica's harder sound a bit better and Simone's vocals have become stronger and better over time. Try watching some of the songs from the Omega Alive, a virtual concert. And, as good of a song writer as Nightwish's Tuomas is, the lyrics on many Epica songs are very deep, extremely thought provoking ... meaning of life stuff!
Agreed. Epica's lyrics have something so very special, it's not just about the freaking good music and arrangements and voices, it's always worth it to pay attention to lyrics here. ❤
If only I could understand them. I could listen to that song 20 times and still not understand a word. Her voice is way to powerful.I am still working my way thru some early Epica songs, that are a little less heavy, desperately trying to like this band, but there must be something wrong with me as I just can't seem to get his heavy stuff?
Rivers live feat. Apocalyptica!!!
And: Apocalyptica feat. Simone Simons: Rise again Live in London!
I concur!
I concur with both ☝️
The complexity of their music is wonderful. This is not music for the unfocused mind. They picked up the baton from the prog bands of the past and brought it to the modern world along with bands like Nightwish.
For the next listen, try Design Your Universe from the Retrospect show. When you're ready, do Kingdom of Heaven Part 3 from the Omega Alive virtual show.
Yep, for Kingdom of Heaven Part 3, mental disposition and full presence is needed :-D
I concur
Not necessarily. I have ADHD and love Epica. You don’t need to notice the details in order to appreciate the bigger picture.
An Epica song in the same feel IMO is The Skeleton Key. There's a live-ish version of it which is great.
Oh yes, especially from the Omega Alive ;-)
I would say those two songs have pretty different feel. 🙂 The only "same feel" is Mark's growls.
try another of the heaviest songs of epica "Victims of contingency" you will enjoy it
You got it!
@@TheWolffAndTheMelody "Victims of Contingency" is a nice one, short and heavy, though it has a poppy chorus. 🙂
If you want something really badass, with nice chunky riffs and gutturals,
do "Semblance of Liberty" (studio audio +lyrics) ruclips.net/video/-bvCI7b4Ziw/видео.html
And one of the best Epica bangers ever... An old song but still f*cking amazing. "The Obsessive Devotion" Official Live
It has not just one, but two different breakdowns - ruclips.net/video/fRR-eLW1lXw/видео.html
Hi Cosmic, here is one of my all time favorite EPICA songs, it has a sci-fi theme, and this video is absolutely killer (not just a lyric video)🙃
EPICA - Universal Death Squad (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO)
I will support, this song has become one of the most beloved by Epica, it is very Cool
As always I concur 🌀🌀🌀👍👍👍
Agreed, Universal Death Squad hits almost too hard.
well i'm gonna have to get to it! lol Thanks Watch!
@@TheWolffAndTheMelody My favourite as well. It's a great song, but not for everyone. It has pretty unusual song structure and transitions from one section to another are really cool.
Choirs and orchestras make metal so much more heavy and dramatic. In my opinion it's the best thing ever. My dad is a huge classical music fan, close to 80 years old. He's not into metal at all, but when I explained to him what the combination of typical metal instruments and an orchestra can do, he totally understood why I like it so much. We are really not that different, classical and metal fans. :)
Agteed! Epica has been blowing my mind
When I was little my parents feed me classical music. It always stayed with me and I really, really appreciate orchestras. As a teen I started to listen more and more metal such as Korn, Slipknot etc. When I found out about Epica in 2004 I think I was like ok this is definitely it.
@@mlg_iesus8898 It's sorta sophisticated metal.
Epica Fan forever .......
Best guitars riff Epica song - Kingdom of heaven part 1 (omega alive show)
MIND… BLOWN! When you said you thought Consign to Oblivion was brutal, I knew this would be right up your street.
Great reaction. For something equally intense I would recommend Kingdon of Heaven live. It is a fan video so the images are soft but it is very atmospheric and it does have proper audio. It is mesmerising and has the added bonus of having the lyrics ehich guves an insight into the deep meaning of the song.
Band leader Mark has a degree in psychology so a lot of their lyrics are thoughtful.
Here is the link… ruclips.net/video/PF56D9mrlck/видео.html
But kingdom of heaven part 1 from omega alive is here on RUclips and there's no audience but the sound is better.
Omega Alive is great as well, but I prefer the Mexico live version, more atmospheric plus having the lyrics is a bonus.
The Mexico version is NOT live; it's just an amateur fanmade video made by slapping together the studio audio over mobile phone video recordings. If by 'atmospheric' you mean shitty picture and sound quality with clumsy cuts focused 90% on Simone awkwardly dancing and distracting walls of text in Spanish then sure, it's very atmospheric. Please, for the love of god, do yourself a favor and do the Omega Alive one for an actual, profesionally recorded, live performance.
@@dingodango7331 yes please. Cosmic, if you're doing kingdom of heaven go with omega alive.
I liked that! Very complicated.
so many elements and layers...it was great
the mix between Simon's operatic voice and Mark's death growls create an atmosphere like beauty and the beast, or in the best of examples, an angel vs a demon
loved it! This was so good!
Can't go wrong with Epica.
I'd expand the comment but I'm sure others have already expressed what I would. Thanks for sharing!
Victims Of Contingency have to be next ❤ is so underrated
As EPICA is my favorite band, I hope you continue this journey. You might want to invest in a jaw strap, because your jaw will drop many times. 😜
not a quiet song at all, right?)) The whole point of this song is in the contrast, which is even more here than usual. Simone sings very high, straight angelic and the song rises a lot, and then Mark's growl throws her back to hell 😄
about the studio version of "consign to oblivion" - this is a very old song, it was recorded more than 15 years ago and the quality of the recording, of course, requires re-recording this song 😂
for the next reaction, I can offer something fresh, for example, from their big concert in Amsterdam, which was this year, there are two official live:
Epica - Unleashed (live in afas live)
Epica feat Apocalyptica - Rivers (live in afas live)
And consign to oblivion at the afas is coming too 😱 I know he already did that but I'm just excited haha
You are next level Awesome!!! Thanks for guiding me!
@@LouisannaBall oh, I just now saw the notification that tonight is the premiere on their channel. Of course, it will not surpass the livein Zenith, but the concert in AFAS was wonderful, I want more live from it. And most of all for those songs for which there were no official live yet, for example, songs from the last album, but for some reason they repeat old songs 😁 well. looking forward tonight:
Consign to oblivion (live at the AFAS LIVE) 😈
@@wildhoney126 I'm dying to see a good live for fools of damnation for example. It doesn't exist and it's an incredible song. And yeah, I don't actually think this one is going to top the zenith version, but I would love to just see the full afas concert.
Code of life and Synergize are also another great ones I would love to see live.
Epica is one of my all-time favorite metal bands. I've seen them live five times so far, if I recall correctly.
Dude, I need to see them! I have really enjoyed them!
ok another round of suggestions
Ne Obliviscaris - And Plague Flowers The Kaleidoscope
I saw people say Heilung already, songs I say are "In Maidjin" and "Annoana"
Faun and Eluvietie - Gwydion
Eluvietie - Havoc
Persephone - Mind As Universe
Bonus Round: Master Boot Record - 8086
As fond I am of Epica, I've not heard this song before. It was great - going onto my playlist. Thanks for this.
Great reaction to one of my favorites. So many places to go next. Perhaps it's time to go back to the beginning and Cry For the Moon. Not as heavy but a beautiful song, heavy topic for the lyrics and and interesting look at Simone's vocals early on. Her vocal coaches thought she was a mezzo soprano and tried to train her voice that way but as she gained confidence she moved toward being a full soprano. She has said she doesn't like listening to some of their early recordings because her voice sounds "weird" to her. ruclips.net/video/Dys1_TuUmI4/видео.html.
I have to say that being Floor my favourite singer, Simmone has the most beautiful voice in symphonic metal...
Same here. Floor is not from this planet. But I have yet to hear a symphonic metal ballad as beautiful as Tides of Time. It's not even close. Simone's ballad voice is bar none in the genre.
Unleashed retrospect or afas live and unchain utopia from omega alive would be a good way to continue! ❤
This is nuts! I'm an Epica fan but had never found my way to this clip. I wanna throw something at you that goes in a different direction - wondering what you would think of Unleash the Archers - "The Awakening" (Full Band Playthrough Video). I'm going to get to see them for the first time next month at the Mad With Power Fest!
hahaha Love you bro!!!! I have that song coming hehehe get ready sweekcheeks! lol
@@TheWolffAndTheMelody Well now I'm uncomfortable lol
Epica and Nightwish 🖤🖤🖤
Yesssss 🔥🔥🔥
Amazing song, somewhere in Epica’s top 30. You’ve barely seen or heard anything yet.
I can't wait!
Good reaction. For me the best band of my country, the Netherlands. Or even the best band of Europe. Did see them live twice now. Amazing shows. Please do “the Skeleton Key” from their livestream they did during covid, “Ωmega Alive” ruclips.net/video/zIZkvhiOUU8/видео.html Thanks for this reaction.
just for you John!
Have you heard symphonic metal band from Boston, Seven Spires
Singer Adrienne Cowan is very versatile, you want disney princess listen "Succumb", sort of regular symph metal song "Bury You", screams and growls "Gods of Debauchery" ... dark jazz, cabaret aso
Ohhh I believe I have heard some songs from them. The few I heard I loved!
Hey man. Some recommendations for EPICA songs:
- Unleashed (Retrospect live)
- Design Your Universe (Retrospect live)
- Kingdom of Heaven part 1 (Official lyric video)
- Kingdom of Heaven part 3 (Omega Alive)
- Universal Death Squad (Official lyric video)
- Beyond the Matrix (live at the Zenith)
Cheers!
BTW the guitarists are both playing 7 strings and the bass player 5 string bass, they all have an extra low B string, which is why the riffs sounds so chonky! 🙃
And the amp is Bogner Uberschall:)
ohhh they chonky boys! lol
Here's a second vote for Cry For the Moon. These bands are so talented that they sound great live and rhe crowd involvement just makes it better. I prefer the live versions of almost everything they do.
Well, Epica is pretty Epic 😉!!!
NWSU/FloorFan/Epican 🤘😎🤘.
You are following the Symphonic Metal path here. Nightwish, then Epica, then Ayreon, then you should continue with... Therion!
Here is a proposition to open another parallel rabbit hole: the discovery of the founders of Symphonic Metal, the band is called "Therion".
A good song to start in case you want to check Therion: "Ginnungagap" from the concert Live Gothic. The video is called "Therion Live Gothic 2007 Full Concert HD" and the song starts at 1:14:11 and ends at 1:20:02
added it. Thanks dude!
@@TheWolffAndTheMelody I concur very much with the suggestion!
May I go on suggesting some others Epica ? For example "Beyond the Matrix", "Cry for the moon" or "Never Enough".
Nevermind, I'm listening all your reactions sooner or later ^^
ohhh I will have to do it! I love this band
Ok, check out a younger, angrier, growlier Floor Jansen with Revamp doing Disdain live at Graspop!!!
Awesome! Whenever I feel like something a bit heavier than Nightwish I usually go Epica or Spiritbox (recommended!). Circle with me, Rule of Nines or Blessed Be by Spiritbox are my favourites :D
so i've heard spiritbox and im not a fan
but I can get down to epica
@@TheWolffAndTheMelody They're a bit different yeah:) I still like both but Epica has a much longer list of *great* songs
Wilderun - The Means to Preserve !!
Similar to Wintersun
Next Epica song: Kingdom of Heaven part 3 Official Video
For a little bit different listen to "The Hu" Wolf Totem
Mmm.. nice growls ... my favorite part is the solo on Mark's growls. .
YESSSS
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN pt1 live in Mexico 🌀🌀🌀🙏🙏🙏🔥🔥🔥
Kingdom of Heaven Part 1 Omega Alive. The "live" in Mexico is not live, just a crappy fanmade video.
@@dingodango7331 completely disagree
listen to unleashed live retrospect, you will get goosebumps, they play with a full orchestra
Try Alga by IGNEA
Great to see you continue this journey! If you like these hard-hitting, face-slamming riffs, the next logical step is Victims of Contingency from the Omega Alive show: ruclips.net/video/aT1JsH2_97c/видео.html
Night wish is great, epica is the standard tho 🤘
Yea they got that metal thunder I like!
I agree 💯
I would suggest the band Nanowar of Steel. F.ex. Norwegian reggaeton, Disco Metal, Valhallelujah or Polenta Taragnarock.
They are an Italian metal band, but I think they live mostly in Germany.
the guitarist thats screams was in floors first band after forever
from where Floor basically kicked him out 😄 although he and another friend were the founders of the group
Yes, After Forever was Mark's band, not Floor's band. 🙂 Floor's band was ReVamp.
After Forever was Sander Gommans' band more than anyone else's. I "know" from reputable sources (have read somewhere :) that he had "forced" Mark to collaborate and then kicked him out for being "lazy". Don't know if it's true or not. But there were obvious creative differences. AF and Epica always shared a large portion of their fanbase, but they don't sound quite alike IMO.
Floor, of course, sided with her man Sander. Funny how she said back in 2006 that "Met Mark, die relatie is zo verstoord, dat komt nooit meer goed.." - but after 2009, it seems to be fine.
@@noneofyerbeeswax8194 If Mark was really lazy, he wouldn't have made such a cool band like Epica. It is clear that he is not alone in the group, but still this is his brainchild and he made a lot of efforts to ensure that the group became what it is now. In fact, they are now the second most popular in this genre after Nightwish, I do not take into account Within temptation, which have always been pop metal and now have almost nothing to do with the genre. Given that Nightwish and Within temptation are listened to by a lot of people who have nothing to do with really heavy music, I think that Epica and Mark have achieved amazing results, even though their music is still more aimed at metalheads 😁
regarding the story, which happened to Mark in After forever, in fact, all sources say that the initiator of his departure from the group was Floor, who at that time was in a relationship with Sander, the main claim was "talks a lot with fans" and added to this "creative disagreements", Sander was the main in the group, but he created After Forever with Mark, therefore Mark is named as a co-founder. In any case, no matter what conflicts happen to them, I'm glad that everything happened this way. But Floor is dominant, she is not as simple-hearted as it might seem, she is a lady with character 😁
@@wildhoney126 Yep, probably not too lazy. :)
I don't know all the details of Mark's departure. They never really talked much about it. Funnily enough, Floor said in the same interview (Jan 2006) that she would've liked to have published an open letter, explaining the reasons for kicking him out. Wonder whom she got this idea from...
Floor _was_ a lady with character before she joined Nightfish. Seems way too compliant and tame now. I miss the badass metal chick she once was...☹
bo
Dude EPICA First NIGHTWISH second
EPICA ARCHITECT OF LIGHT …RESIGN TO SURRENDER …THE SECOND STONE MORE OVERLOOKED SONGS