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Aug 5, 2012

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Interview : Mark Jansen – Epica (2009)

Interview by Erwin Van Dijk

An interview with Mark Jansen from Epica. The band Epica does not really need an introduction. 2009 was a busy year for the band. Epica did a festival tour this summer and released a live album,“The Classical Conspiracy – Live in Miskolc, Hungary”. Even better is the news that Epica will also release a new studio album in October. This interview is with Mark Jansen, the mastermind behind Epica.

Did you always wanted to become a guitar player and singer?

No, I wanted to become a cyclist and I also have a master degree in psychology but none of these made it to a profession. When I was 15 years old I went to a show of the Dutch death metal band Gorefest and from that moment on I knew I wanted to be on the stage as well. By then I didn’t have the intention to become a singer. I started playing guitar and that was fun enough but when the male singer of my previous band After Forever left I started singing as well.

And did you have any other bands before After Forever?

No, After Forever was my very first band and Epica my 2nd. I never played in any other band.

How do you see yourself, as a guitar player that can do some grunts or as a singer who also can play the guitar?

As a guitar player that does some grunts as well. But above all I see myself as a composer who plays the guitar (… and do some grunts as well haha).

And did you follow any singing/grunt lessons?

No, it was more or less trial and error, grunts should not hurt your throat but everybody who tries to grunt for the first time won’t feel comfortable doing it, you just need to find the right way and there you go

What kind of guitars and amplifiers do you use?

We just signed an artist deal with V-empire guitar amps, it’s a Polish company and they make damn good amps. We were using Mesa Boogies before and they were good as well but when you have the possibility to sign a deal and get all these great amps for free you just have to grasp that chance with both hands

To what kind of music do you listen yourself and what are your favorite bands?

I often listen to bands which I liked when I was a teenager: Dream Theater, Megadeth, Guns N’ Roses etc, it brings back nice memories. A band that I discovered 5 years ago and listen to a lot is Opeth. Besides that I also like to listen to film scores and classical music.

Is it difficult to combine Epica with your personal life?

It’s a challenge and I need challenges in my life. My girlfriend lives in the US, so you can imagine it’s not easy to combine, but nothing is impossible. At the moment we are 1 year and 8 months together and we see each other quite a lot in spite of the distance. Besides making music, we also manage the band ourselves, we don’t want to throw money in the pocket of a lousy manager. The disadvantage is that there’s a lot of extra work. But I still manage to have some free time and during this free time I like to enjoy the beauty of nature, sport and watch football

What are your favorite Epica songs?

It’s hard to choose as I like many of them. But if I’m forced to make a selection with a shotgun pointed on my forehead I would say: “Cry for the Moon” (“The Phantom Agony” – 2003); “Consign to Oblivion” (“Consign to Oblivion” – 2005); “Fools of Damnation” (“The Divine Conspiracy” – 2007); “Kingdom of Heaven” (“Design Your Universe” – 2009)

I think that the trouble with Transmission Records was without doubt a negative experience for Epica. But what are the highlights so far?

There are many highlights, to name a few: – Lowlands and Pinkpop, playing these great festivals in the Netherlands were highlights; Wacken Open Air (2009) Germany, for me a dream come true to finally play the biggest metal festival of Europe; – “The Classical Conspiracy” and the show itself with orchestra and choir, the biggest highlight so far; Signing with Nuclear Blast, the record company I always wanted to be on since I started playing guitar; Being the first metal band from abroad to play in Tunisia, people were crying of joy, I will never forget that.

And do you have any updates about the Transmission Records situation?

Yes, the label owner signed a deal with Nuclear Blast to re-release the old albums and the previously unreleased “Live in Paradiso DVD”.

Epica has two new band members now, both from God Dethroned. The God Dethroned music is very different from the style Epica has. Will the new blood in the band have much influence on the new songs? This is because I’ve noticed at live gigs (like Wâldrock) Epica has far more energy on stage.

You’re right, since these two guys joined us we are a way more energetic band, not only music wise but also the stage performance has become more energetic. The guys have also an influence on the songs as everybody in the band influences the songs so some differences are due to them. But I like it this way, new blood means also the chance to integrate new elements (like solo’s) and we did

Where do you get the inspiration for the music and lyrics?

Inspiration is a fantastic thing, you don’t know where it comes from and what causes it, it’s a mystery

What is the idea behind the name of the album?

“Design Your Universe” basically refers to the capacity to take control over your own life and create your universe. Many people don’t live their dreams as they think it’s unrealistic and out of reach. I am one of the many prooves that you can succeed, don’t fear the unknown and take risks

And can you tell us something about the songs on “Design Your Universe”?

We went quite deep into the details this time. We want to make improvements on every album and as “The Divine Conspiracy” got great critics by press and fans we had to come up with something better this time and that’s quite a job! haha. So we worked our asses off to try to make an even better album. My favorite song is “Kingdom of Heaven” a very long song but we managed to keep it interesting, long songs can easily get boring but I think we finally found the perfect ingredients for the longest song of Epica ’till now.

Three songs on “Design Your Universe” are a part of the “A New Age Dawns” saga. This saga has now six chapters. What is the relation between the “Design” chapters and the “Oblivion” chapters?

The relation is that we need to make a change, we lost contact with nature, each other and the earth. We need to get rid to some of our addictions which will destroy us in the end. Like our addiction to earn more money than our neighbour, money is the “antichrist” of our civilization..

You have also recorded a song with Tony Kakko from Sonata Arctica. How was it to work together with him?

Great, we toured with Sonata in Europe and asked him one of these days if he would be interested to record a song with us. Fortunately he was and with his very unique voice he lifts the “White Waters” song to a next level.

There are plans to record DVD at the Metal Female Voices Fest in October. What can we expect?

We will record DVD material, so whatever turns out great will reach a future DVD but if we’re not satisfied nothing will happen. The facts are that we are gonna do a big show there, probably the biggest we have ever done. So probably you’ll find at least some of this footage on a future DVD together with other concerts. MFVF made advertisements with the message that we will record a DVD there but we don’t want to disappoint our fans as long as we’re not sure.

Besides the upcoming tour, what else can we expect from Epica in the future?

We don’t look to much ahead of us, so I don’t know but until the summer of 2010 the whole schedule is fixed already so for like 1 year we know already what to do haha.

And the last question, is there anything the reader should know that I have not asked?

Erwin, you covered it all Thanks a lot!

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Mar 28, 2012

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Syrens Call – “Raging Waters” (2010)

Label : Pervade Productions/Thundering Records

Review by Tony Cannella

France’s Syrens Call has a long history that began in the late 90s. They play melodic Progressive Metal filled with rich harmonies and melodies, all of which can be heard on their just released third mega-opus, “Raging Waters”. “Raging Waters” kicks off with the pounding, up-beat “Hang On to Life”. Syrens Call manages to write great songs that should please the progressive crowd while still managing to incorporate a classy commercial appeal to the songs. Highlights include: “I’m Your Only One”, “Ashes of Destiny”, “Perfidious Paradise”, the haunting “Never Come Back Home” and “Desecrated Past” which starts of as a ballad and quickly picks up the tempo as the song progresses. The Coup de grace is the final track, the epic musically bombastic over 13-minute “The Dance of Light”. This is just a wonderfully, huge way to end things that really left me wanting more. I love progressive music as much as the next guy but Syrens Call manages to avoid the traps that many prog bands fall into, writing songs with endless arrangements and performing musical gymnastics. There is some of that on “Raging Waters”, but the band also proves that they are well adept in writing good songs, whether they are 4-minutes or 13-minutes long. In the end, it is all about the songs. “Raging Waters” by Syrens Call is as good as any female fronted prog-metal that I have heard in years. The band does a masterful job at mixing the intricacies that progressive bands are known for, while still maintaining a solid melodic base that could please fans that are not necessarily into Progressive Metal.