FEBRUARY 9th, 2021
EPICA EXCLUSIVE
Metal Titans caught up with Epica guitarist/vocalist and founding member Mark Jansen on January 30th, 2021. Jansen and Epica have a great new album titled ‘Omega’ due on February 26th, 2021 on Nuclear Blast. The band were hoping to release the album last fall but as you know there’s a pandemic taking place, so they postponed it, they however, can't continue to sit on the new album and have elected to unleash ‘Omega.’ If you’re into symphonic metal isn’t a band out there that does it better than Epica. Enjoy the interview.
Interview By: Ruben Mosqueda
Metal Titans:‘Omega’ is your first album in over 4 years, it completes the trilogy of albums. It was recorded during the pandemic, how was the writing and recording for this album different from previous albums?
Mark Jansen: Well, of course the pandemic changed things a little. We had recorded and finished things to the point where only Simone’s [Simons] and my vocals were missing. Everything else had been completed before the pandemic. The vocals were the only thing that we had to find a new way of completing. I was able to complete my vocals in my home studio, she completed her vocals close to home in a studio in Germany. The other thing that was different was that we came together, we rented a house in the Netherlands. We spent a total of five days together to work on the songs for the album. We had never tried that before, everyone has their own home studios and recorded song ideas from there. I liked getting together, I think it worked great and allowed us to take the songs to the next level.
Metal Titans: How many times did you hold back the album’s release? Why now and not the fall of 2021?
Mark Jansen: This album was originally due to be released last fall. The thought was that if hwe postponed the album, byt the time that it was released that we would be able to go on tour right away to promote it. I had my doubts about it. I just could see the pandemic being resolved that quickly. We just had to release it. We didn’t feel we could postpone it any longer. Also we have such a great feeling about this album that we couldn’t wait for people to hear it. Also in these difficult times, we feel that people are in need of music. We think that there are more positives that are minuses in releasing this album.
Metal Titans: You’ve released video blogs, lyric videos for songs off of ‘Omega.’ What do you think of how records are promoted now vs how they were promoted back when you were in After Forever or when Epica was launched?
Mark Jansen: In those days record companies were much more dependent on magazines and airplay. Now, it’s all social media based, that is where a lot of people get their information and hear about new albums and discover music. We still feel that magazine promotion and airplay is important, but we also think that it’s important to get information out on the internet. Magazines are still very important to us, but there are more online magazines, so we adapt.
Metal Titans: Symphonic metal is a very specialized subgenre, what drew you to that subgenre?
Mark Jansen: When I was 12 years old I had this passion to combine my love of film music and classical music and metal music. I always thought that it would be great to combine them. When I was 15 there were already bands like Orphanage and The Gathering, they had combined it! I thought that it worked really well and I wanted to do that too! I formed After Forever in 1995. I wrote all of those songs and I got that opportunity to combine the music that I love. We didn’t make it to the next level. When I founded Epica I wanted to continue with this style. I love this and I really feel at home writing this kind of music. I’m like a fish to water writing and performing this kind of music. It fits my personality very well. I still love metal, film and classical music. Nothing has changed, this is the music I like to make the most. 
Metal Titans: Epica has a huge back catalog. When you tour the United States you did a more ‘stripped-down’ set. This music is intense and very intricate. How painstaking is it for you to rehearse and relearn some of the songs that you add into the set? There are a number of songs on ‘Omega’ that you could easily fit into the set along with the classics.
Mark Jansen: It is quite a bit of work. I have to study all of the guitar parts and also work on my vocal parts. I’m always joking with the band that I have the most work to do! [laughs] You have a fine assessment. When we work on a set we look at what songs we want to play ourselves and also what songs the fans want to hear. We then try to make it a nice combination of the two things. It’s a challenge to come up with a setlist, but I like the challenge. It’s like forming a puzzle.
Metal Titans: You referred to songs in the set as pieces in a puzzle. What pieces from ‘Omega’ do you want to fit into that puzzle?
Mark Jansen: There’s a couple of them that I would like to put in there. I would like to perform “Freedom” and “Abyss of Time.” I also think “Rivers” and “Omega” would fit in great in our set. I also look forward to performing “Kingdom of Heaven, Part 3”. I think fans will love that one too.
Metal Titans: You bring in a death metal element to Epica, but what do you think it is about having a female as the primary vocalist in a symphonic band that makes it work better than having a male fronting?
Mark Jansen: I agree. I think when you have that clean vocal it makes it more accessible and it reaches a wider audience. I only use the ‘grunts’ for the heavy parts, it’s good to have some heaviness in the songs which is where I come in. I like having Simone as the frontwoman, she has that main role. I step in only when the song requires it.
Metal Titans: Has the era of youtube and streaming devalued music?
Mark Jansen: I know there are a lot of people who complain about it. They’re not big fans of Youtube, Spotify and these streaming type things. I think that every era has its advantages and disadvantages. For example with Spotify I use this in my life. If I want to listen to something right away, I can do so. On the other hand, this accessibility does take some of the charm away. When I was a kid I would go to the record store, I would buy some albums. I would take them home and listen to them. I would have to wait a few days to go to the record store. I would get really eager to go which made my anticipation grow. That kind of charm is lost with music being so easily accessible. At the same time you can listen to just about anything at any time, which is great. You win some and you lose some.
Metal Titans: Has streaming concert mania reached its peak? Do you support/watch streaming concerts?
Mark Jansen: Nothing really beats the real thing. I prefer ‘the real’ shows. Right now that isn’t possible, so something is better than nothing. I’m not a huge fan of it. I know some people really love it. Some just don’t like it at all. I’m a bit neutral with the whole thing.
Metal Titans: What’s the last show you attended going into the pandemic?
Mark Jansen: As far as our shows? One of the last shows was in the U.S. We did something that was around the 70,000 Tons of Metal Cruise. We did some shows, one in L.A. and one in New York. After that I did two shows with MaYan in the Netherlands. The last show that I saw that I wasn’t a part of was a small show here in Italy, where I live. It was very small, there were about 50 people at it. It was in a marketplace, outside which was the only thing that was allowed at the time. That was the last one.
Metal Titans: I know sometimes some of the people that we look up too often aren’t as fan friendly as we would like. Sometimes it ruins the fantasy of meeting your favorite musicians. You have had this experience. What did you take away from that meeting and how did that shape how you interact with fans?
Mark Jansen: We are tired or busy or whatever, but I always make time to at least say ‘hello’ to the fans. I feel that even if it is a small gesture or a few minutes, for the fans it's a big thing. The fans are what allow us to record our music, they allow us to tour, they have helped put us where we are. That’s important to us.
Metal Titans: What do you think the band and fan experience will be like going forward? What is your comfort level in participating in meet and greets?
Mark Jansen: [long pause] This is so very hard to predict. We just don’t know what is going to happen with this virus. It is something that will be around for a very long time. There are mutations of it now. Who knows how effective the vaccinations will be with that? What if it is around forever and we have to find a way to live with it? I predict that there will be some kind of virtual reality mask and the experience will be so real that you’ll feel like it is like the real thing. You won’t even know the difference anymore. So virtual reality will play a big part, it will be safe for everyone. That is my prediction.
Metal Titans: Who did the band and symphony accompaniment performance better? Metallica, Scorpions, KISS, Accept, Deep Purple?
Mark Jansen: From those choices...I would say Metallica did it best. Their music is made for guitar, bass, drums and vocals. Their music is heavy and it wasn’t made to be performed by an orchestra. Sometimes it works really well, other times it doesn’t. I think when you have music that was made with a symphonic element in mind, then to perform the music with an orchestra is a good pairing. My preference is to hear bands with an orchestra that already have symphonic elements.
Official Band Links and Pre-Order Links Below:
https://www.epicamerch.com/
https://www.facebook.com/epica
https://www.instagram.com/epicaofficial/
https://media.nuclearblast.de/shoplanding/2020/Epica/omega.html