History Music / Epica

* RapunzelHair: Simone is known for her long, flowing red hair. This also extends to the other members of Epica (save for Coen, who shaved his hair off for charity in 2013.)

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: The title track of ''Requiem of the Indifferent'' samples an extreme amount of sounds from Asian to classical choirs to epic riffs... But they generally tend to mix and match any and all music genres, for example; "Never Enough" is classical pop inspired metal.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: According to Mark, the reason why a music video was released for "Victims of Contingency." Beforehand, the Epica songs given music videos were generally the most single-friendly and focused a lot on Simone's vocals. "Victims of Contingency" is one of the heaviest songs on ''The Quantum Enigma'' with Simone only singing during the chorus.

* MohsScaleOfLyricalHardness: Epica's lyrics are markedly darker than the lyrics of most other symphonic metal bands, and usually range between 7 and 9.
* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Because of the HarshVocals and MelodicDeathMetal influences, Epica is a bit heavier than other SymphonicMetal bands on average, hovering around 7 to 9. Some of the ballads can go as low as 1, but "[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Chasing the Dragon]]" [[SerialEscalation covers everything from 2 to 9]].

* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: Simone's surname is pronounced in a similar manner to her first name: "See-mons."

* AscendedFanboy: Or rather, ascended fan band to Kamelot with Simone being a regular guest on their albums and often touring together.

* DrivenToMadness: The protagonist from the "Unleashed" video -- he is shot in front of his partner during a robbery. He seems to recover from the attack, until he starts seeing the band members of Epica staring menacingly at him everywhere he goes until eventually he ends up in a mental hospital, with the staff also being the members of Epica. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, this is revealed to be a hallucination as the man ended up dying from the aforementioned burglary]].

Epica is a [[UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands Dutch]] band that straddles several genres depending on which particular song they are playing at any given moment, from SymphonicMetal to PowerMetal, from GothicMetal to ProgressiveMetal and even stepping into the territory of DeathMetal from time to time. They began playing as Epica (a name taken from a Music/{{Kamelot}} album) in 2003, before that they were known as ''Sahara Dust'' before gaining the talents of Simone in 2003 and changing their name to Epica. The band are still going strong and are onto their eighth album, ''Omega'', which was released in February 2021.

* [[Music/{{Mayan}} Mark Jansen]] - rhythm guitar and growled vocals (2002-)

* IdiosyncraticAlbumTheming: Every studio album has an intro between 90 seconds and two minutes long, and often there is also a similar interlude about halfway through. Each album also ends with [[EpicRocking an unusually long composition]], which was also the title track on every album (though not the case with ''Requiem for the Indifferent'' or ''Omega'').

** Also ''A New Age Dawns'' (started with ''Consign to Oblivion'' ended with ''Design Your Universe'',) based on the Mayan civilization.

* IdiosyncraticAlbumTheming: Every studio album has an intro between 90 seconds and two minutes long, and often there is also a similar interlude about halfway through. Each album also ends with [[EpicRocking an unusually long composition]], which was also the title track on every album (though not the case with ''Requiem for the Indifferent'' or ''Omega''

Epica is a [[UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands Dutch]] band that straddles several genres depending on which particular song they are playing at any given moment, from SymphonicMetal to PowerMetal, from GothicMetal to ProgressiveMetal and even stepping into the territory of DeathMetal from time to time. They began playing as Epica (a name taken from a Music/{{Kamelot}} album) in 2003, before that they were known as ''Sahara Dust'' before gaining the talents of Simone in 2003 and changing their name to Epica. The band are still going strong, with their seventh studio album, ''The Holographic Principle'', released in September of 2016 and an eighth, ''Omega'', coming in February of 2021.

* IdiosyncraticAlbumTheming: Every studio album has an intro between 90 seconds and two minutes long, and often there is also a similar interlude about halfway through. Each album also ends with [[EpicRocking an unusually long composition]], which was also the title track on every album except ''Requiem for the Indifferent''.

* PowerBallad: "Tides of Time," "Delirium," "Solitary Ground," and "Canvas of Life."

* 2021 - ''Omega''

* HideYourPregnancy: During the filming of the ''Retrospect'' live DVD, Simone was a few months pregnant with her and husband [[Music/{{Kamelot}} Oliver Palotai's]] first child. You can ''just'' see her baby bump in some of the shots.
* [[HugeGuyTinyGirl Huge Girl Tiny Girl]]: [[http://i.imgur.com/8XJJvne.jpg Whenever]] Simone [[http://i.imgur.com/zomFAev.jpg performs with]] [[Music/AfterForever Floor Jansen]]. Simone's 5'6, and Floor is at least six feet tall.

* GirlyGirl: Simone's blog SmoonStyle focuses a lot on make-up and accessories.

Epica is a [[UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands Dutch]] band that straddles several genres depending on which particular song they are playing at any given moment, from SymphonicMetal to PowerMetal, from GothicMetal to ProgressiveMetal and even stepping into the territory of DeathMetal from time to time. They began playing as Epica (a name taken from a Music/{{Kamelot}} album) in 2003, before that they were known as ''Sahara Dust'' before gaining the talents of Simone in 2003 and changing their name to Epica. The band are still going strong, with their seventh studio album released in September of 2016.

* WomanInWhite: "The Phantom Agony" and "Storm the Sorrow."

* AIIsACrapshoot/RobotWar: "Universal Death Squad" predicts this might happen if technological advances are left unchecked.

Epica is a [[UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands Dutch]] band that straddles several genres depending on which particular song they are playing at any given moment, from SymphonicMetal to PowerMetal, from GothicMetal to ProgressiveMetal and even stepping into the territory of DeathMetal from time to time. They began playing as Epica (a name taken from a Music/{{Kamelot}} album) in 2003, before that they were known as ''Sahara Dust'' before gaining the talents of Simone in 2003 and changing their name to Epica. The band are still going strong, with their seventh studio album to be released in September of 2016.

* 2013 - ''Retrospect'' (A ten year anniversary live album)

* 2018 - ''Epica vs. Attack on Titan'' (Cover album of songs from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'')

* Linda Janssen: Backing vocals on "We Will Take You With Us," choir vocals on "Consign to Oblivion," "The Divine Conspiracy," and "Design Your Universe", soprano choir vocals on "Requiem for the Indifferent," also Coen's wife.

* [[spoiler:DyingDream]]: The music video for "Unleashed" [[spoiler:turns out to be this]].
* EpicInstrumentalOpener: One at the start of every album, but their more recent albums each have one more in the middle ("La'petach Chatat Rovetz," "The Price of Freedom," "Anima," and "The Fifth Guardian.")

* FollowYourHeart: A moral you can take from both "Design Your Universe" the album and the "A New Age Dawns Series" of songs.

* OminousLatinChanting: Every album. Good examples include "Martyr of the Free World," "Fools of Damnation," and "Serenade of Self-Destruction."
* OneWomanWail: Occurs frequently in their songs including "Quietus" and "Twin Flames."

!!Epica and their music contain the following tropes:

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Because of the HarshVocals and MelodicDeathMetal influences, Epica is a bit heavier than other SymphonicMetal bands on average, hovering around 7 to 9. Some of the ballads can go as low as 1, but "[[CrowningMusicOfAwesome Chasing the Dragon]]" [[SerialEscalation covers everything from 2 to 9]].

** They also covered Music/{{Powerwolf}}'s "Sacred & Wild" on ''[[CoverAlbum Communio Luporum]]'' bonus CD from ''The Sacrament of Sin''.

* CoverVersion: July 2018's ''Epica vs. Manga/AttackOnTitan'' EP, including [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX3dwi_yuSA "Crimson Bow and Arrow"]]. This one comes full-circle: the composer for the anime drew heavy inspiration from Epica's music.
* DrivenToMadness: The protagonist from the "Unleashed" video -- he is shot in front of his partner during a robbery. He seems to recover from the attack, until he starts seeing the band members of Epica staring menacingly at him everywhere he goes until eventually he ends up in a mental hospital, with the staff also being the members of Epica. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, this is revealed to be a hallucination as the man ended up dying from the aforementioned burglary]].

* GreenAesop: "This is the Time" and "Deep Water Horizon".

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: "Requiem for the Indifferent" is very grounded in many of the issues of the early 2010s, including one song about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and another about the [[UsefulNotes/{{Libya}} Libyan Civil War]].

* WorkingWithTheEx: Simone was Mark's girlfriend when she joined the band, but both of them remain despite breaking up some time ago.

* WomanInBlack: "Storm the Sorrow."