{"id":7733,"date":"2021-01-13T16:19:13","date_gmt":"2021-01-13T15:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/?p=7733"},"modified":"2024-06-16T15:53:42","modified_gmt":"2024-06-16T13:53:42","slug":"epica-and-omega","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/interview\/epica-and-omega\/","title":{"rendered":"Epica and Omega"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Als je deze recensie liever in het Nederlands leest, kun je hier klikken<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On 26th of February, Epica<\/em><\/strong> releases the album ‘Omega<\/em><\/strong>‘. On behalf of Rockmuzine I spoke with guitarist Mark Jansen. His cool grunts form a fantastic combination with the music, and with the beautiful voice of Simone Simons. The album title is based on the theory of the omega point. Mark explains the words of the French philosopher\/theologian as follows: “As a universe we are doomed to go to a point of unification in a swirling way<\/em>\u201d. Because omega point doesn’t sound very nice, Epica<\/em><\/strong> chose ‘Omega<\/em><\/strong>‘ as the album title. Early on in the writing process the six band members knew that ‘Omega<\/em><\/strong>‘ had to become more accessible than ‘The Holographic Principle’ (2016). There are many guitars and orchestral parts, a lot happens. But on ‘Omega<\/em><\/strong>‘, Epica<\/em><\/strong> has made more room to give priority to certain instruments. There are more contrasts between ‘light’ and ‘heavy’. In this line up, Epica<\/em><\/strong> has been touring and making albums together for eight years, therefore they get a feel for each other. They know each other’s qualities, and that makes writing easier.
But Mark also enjoys working with new people. This sometimes leads him to surprising things he might not have had otherwise. For ‘Abyss of Time – Countdown to Singularity<\/strong>‘ he worked with a French friend in the beginning, then with the band members. He liked both collaborations, because it brought him different ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The backgrounds of Omega<\/strong>
Abyss of Time – Countdown to Singularity<\/strong>‘ is a strong opening track. Mark felt that an intro belongs to it. This has become ‘Alpha – Anteludium<\/strong>‘. Themes of ‘Alpha<\/strong>‘ also feature in ‘Abyss<\/strong>‘, that’s why the songs run into each other non-stop. The children’s choir in ‘Code of life<\/strong>‘ was the idea of keyboardist Coen Janssen. The band immediately liked it. “That’s the advantage of working together for a long time, you trust each other blindly. Moreover, none of us can write such beautiful choral parts as he does<\/em>“, so says Mark. Coen\u2019s both children are singing in that choir, the metal wasn’t new to them, of course. Some children had already heard of Epica<\/strong>. For others, the symphonic metal was completely new. But they all enjoyed working with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bram Knol made the animation video for ‘Freedom – The Wolves Within<\/strong>‘. The clip is based on an old story about a little boy. His grandfather tells about two wolves fighting each other. One wolf symbolizes good, the other evil. The boy asks grandpa which wolf wins. “The wolf that you feed the most” answers grandpa. Yet the lyrics are not a literal translation of this life lesson. Guitarist Isaac Delahaye and Mark have dedicated ‘Kingdom of Heaven prt 3<\/strong>‘ to their grandmothers. They died within one week, and have not been able to hear it anymore. Mark says: “The grandmother on the father’s side died much longer ago. She understood our music well, we even rehearsed in her basement. If we changed something about a song, grandma immediately noticed. She wouldn’t have played the album easily, but she liked what we were doing. The other grandmother didn’t like it at all<\/em>“. Bass player Rob Van Der Loo is a sensitive person, he always comes with beautiful harmonies. The ballad ‘Rivers<\/strong>‘ has a nice spot on the album. The listener can relax for a while and then go in full throttle for ‘Synergize – Manic Manifesto<\/strong>‘. So the order of the songs is well balanced. In ‘Omega – Sovereign of the Sun Spheres<\/strong>‘ personal experiences are incorporated. Many of the lyrics are personal, but translated in a general way, so that the fans can find personal things in them as well.
The theories of his psychology study have certainly stuck in the back of his mind and have found their way to the lyrics. Never literally, that applies to all references and deeper meanings. Fans sometimes come up with a completely different and interesting interpretation. Sometimes you see something new that you didn’t expect. Because of this Mark has started to think further than he first thought. It is a nice interaction. But there are more surprises, sometimes even literally due to a mistake. For example, by copying something incorrectly, something may sound more surprising than the original. Then Mark continues along, thus a mistake can still lead to a better result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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