LIVE COVER IN ACTION STORY
RECHARGED AND RESTED AFTER LONG “ HOLOGRAPHIC PRINCIPAL ” TOUR , EPICA RETURN WITH SEMINOLE RELEASE . SIMONE , BEHIND THE SCENES OF “ OMEGA .”
To conclude our series on the women of symphonic metal , we sit and talk to the legendary vocalist Simone Simons from the band Epica , about the process of creating “ Omega ”, the bands most ambitious release to date . She talk about how a break was needed from touring and the time she gets to spend being a mother , the struggle to get back into a song writing flow during the Covid-19 era and the hopes for the new release going forward . Our conversation gets into a band that actually takes stock in all they have accomplished over the past 2 decades .
Photo Credit : Isabel Hoyos Photography
The past few albums have progressively gotten heavier . Can we expect the same from Omega ?
SIMONE : We welcomed two new members to the band , Zack our guitar player and Ari our drummer . All of the guys write , so that ads to the variety of what Epica brings to the table . We took a break from touring after the Holographic Principal and then we wrote the biography about the band called “ The Essence of Epica ”. We were reflecting a little on how we would proceed with a new album . We spent time together in a villa in the Netherlands and took our time with the song writing . That ’ s not something that ’ s not normal for us because we live so far apart . Even though we have very catchy melodies we are a metal band at heart . This album is maybe not the heaviest album , but definitely the most mature album Epica has done .
Were recording the vlogs for this record different because of the change in approach to the songwriting ?
SIMONE : We started doing them for the last record , but this time we went more in-depth . We found out the fans really like them . The digital content is a big factor and a lot of the fans like the extras . I had to record my video footage by myself because no one was there . I was singing in a recording booth with my producer live on my tablet . There was no videographer accept for me . LOL . I didn ’ t have a lot of time to do that because recording vocals is a very tiring process . Its still a lot of fun for me to watch those vlogs . We all live in different places so its a change to experience what it would be like to be in the recording studio in the Netherlands .
Continued on next spread .
Photo Credits : Johan Carlen ( Opening spread )