Excellent!!! I think I'm was the one who recommended this masterpiece!!! And I also recommend some stuff from them... Like cry of the moon, the phantom agony, sensorium, storm the sorrow, consign to the oblivion ... They have a lot to enjoy!!

The man who shouts "Floor Jansen" at the end with a growling voice is Mark Jansen (no family relation). Both he and Floor were together in a band called After Forever in the 90s/early 2000s until Mark was dismissed from the band due to creative differences. He went on to found Epica (then called Sahara Dust) with his girlfriend at the time - Simone. Simone and Floor are close friends and have been for years - this is why they have such good chemistry on stage. Mark and Simone are no longer a couple, but they still work very well together. Simone is married with Oliver Polotai, the keyboards player of another metal band : Kamelot (in fact she was pregnant during this show which is why she didn't headbang as violently as Floor xD ) . Very early Epica (then named Sahara Dust) was in fact Kamelot's support band during their Epica tour (from their namesake album), and it is from Kamelot's Epica album title that the name of band comes from. Kamelot was the support band during Nightwish's 2012 Imaginaerum US tour, during which then-Nightwish-vocalist Anette Olzon fell ill minutes before their Denver show. Kamelot's session vocalists Elize Ryd and Alissa White-Gluz covered for Anette and the show went on while she was hospitalized. Nightwish's decision to go forward with the show upset Anette and she publicly criticized the band on her blog. This was the last straw in Anette's and Nightwish's already troubled relationship and days later, the band fired her, with Floor acting as her replacement for the remainder of the tour. We know the rest of the story. Elize Ryd was also considered by Nightwish as a vocalist - way back in 2005 when they fired their first vocalist, Tarja Turunen. They thought Elize was too young and inexperienced at the time and went with Anette instead. Elize went on to found her own band, Amaranthe. Unrelated to this, on their first album with Anette, Nightwish released a song titled Amaranth. Is your head spinning yet? XD

Floor & Simone are long time friends . FYI Simone was pregnant during this show

I fucking love this song 🤘& my neighbors seemed to like it as well. Their always banging on my walls when I play it 🤣🤣🤣

I'm Dutch (from the Netherlands) and we have lots and lots of water over here...that explains it. The metalscene over here is not that large but almost every metalhead that I know , like myself, likes classical music as well. That's maybe the reason I like your reactions that much...thumbs up!

The funny thing is that i started to follow Doug after a Maiden reaction. Then i saw the same Maiden reaction from Elizabeth Zaroff on the tube, and discovered casually the incredible Floor Jansen. I was searching videos about Floor and two days ago i discovered this song. I immediately ordered this dvd and half of Epica discography. Now i'm here watching the reaction from Doug. A perfect circle.

Simone Simons (Epica's female vocalist) has mentioned the song is about a suicide bomber; they 'die' and go to Hell, but the delusions that led to their death are so strong they believe they are in Heaven and cannot tell the difference. The lyrics show they are both calling for others to join them in 'Heaven' and asking to be left alone as they know they are 'where they want to be' If you enjoyed that you may especially enjoy either of the below, from the same concert: Unleashed Design Your Universe They released their new album 'Omega' in February, Abyss of Time, Skeleton Key, Rivers, Freedom, Code of Life, Omega, Seal of Solomon are all great tracks

Always loves when the Wonderful/Beautiful Simone and my Queen Floor harmonize, magic happens.

Doug should put out a piano cover (instrumental) of some of the songs he reacts to. His play along sections sometimes sound really nice even if not sticking perfectly to the original.

Okay, now I’m wanting an acoustic, piano version of this. ♥️

There is even a reaction video from Floor Jansen herself on her performance of Ghost Love Score. It's an interesting twist to all those reaction videos, when the artist talks about his/her side of the story

We need an album with Epica & Nightwish Piano Covers by Doug !!!

Going up," quiet easily/ falling down more difficult".❤

CHASING THE DRAGON! That's my fav from Epica❤️ love that you discovering them☺️ Oh and Simone and Floor sang Pergolesis Stabat Mater together at the same concert🖤🖤🖤😊❤️❤️🥳

I've been a musician all of my life and I've never heard of Epica, Nightwish and all of the other extremely talented bands of the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland et. until the pandemic hit. At that time, I started surfing the musical web (You Tube) and fell into one rabbit hole which led to another and another. I feel that I have been missing out on what I had thought and played to be symphonic rock music. Three fun facts, Simone Simons, the lead singer of Epica was 3 or 4 months pregnant during this performance. Second, there are more symphonic metal bands in Finland per capita than anywhere else in the world albeit Epica is from the Netherlands as is Floor Jansen. Lastly, Floor Jansen and Simone Simons were long-time friends and studied the same type of vocal training.

I cannot begin to explain how happy this reaction and breakdown makes me. As a metal guitarist who started out playing classical guitar I of course am very much into the whole Operatic Symphonic Progressive Melodic Contemporary Euro-Folk Metal scene that´s going on on a world wide basis these years. Having your piano underneath the music to give tonal clarity to the complex soundscape going on absolutely brings an essence of clear sparkling water to the song making it very easy to actually hear the basic structure of the music,- wonderful. Further recommendations could be: Epica: Cry For The Moon, Universal Death Squad Delain: Burning Bridges Tyr: Sinklars Visa, Hold The Heathen Hammer High, Sunset Shore Blackbriar: Snow White And Rose Red ( Ft. Ulli Perhonen), Mortal Remains Furor Gallico: Waterstrings Ranthiel Soprano: Herr Mannelig, Midgard ( Therion cover) - (studio projects) Eluveitie: Epona, Ategnatos, Rebirth Blind Guardian: The Bard´s Song and Valhalla - Live at Wacken Just for starters. For this one,- thank you.

Great reaction Thank You So Much 🥰 Floor and Simone are friends and together AMAZING🔥💥

this song is just a pebble on the tip of the iceberg that is epicas talent in composition, You need to hear design your universe from the same show next...it will blow your mind for sure

Epica are really epic and can be really heavy. Here are my suggestions for the next stops: "Consign to Oblivion" (Live from "The Zenith") "The Skeleton Keys" (Official video, just released) "Storm the Sorrow" (Official Video)

Epica and Floor are pretty related, Simone is Floor long term friend, and the guitar player Mark Jansen was the founder of first Floor band After Forever, she sang also in his side project Mayan. Epica is a really good band, i suggest you to check more about them, I really like Consign of Oblivion.

Fan Friday- Pain of Salvation: The perfect element pt.1

From the same concert. Floor and Simone sing Stabat mater Dolorosa. Only with the Orchestra. Awesome

With the right words/ lyrics to pronounce its easy to flip around between the accords+ having 2 great singers.❤

11:20 I want a Piano version of this Song now... Sounds beautiful on Piano

THank you for this reaction .. and yes, you know Simon already . you saw her in the Ayreon Video

Welcome to another rabbit hole. Epica is another amazing band!

I absolutely adore how you're giving another layer to this song just by figuring out what key it's in and playing along. Honestly I'd love to see more of that even over just reactions

For someone who is a layman, you have a great talent for picking up and listening to music in a great way as well as describing to us other humans.

Floor and Simone did another duet at this concert -Stabat Mater Dolorosa .

Omg Doug, you’re the best! Epica are well known for incorporating Middle Eastern musical themes... would love to hear more about why, musicologically speaking, these things sound “Middle Eastern”. Anything from the retrospect concert is awesome. Highlights are: unleashed or consign to oblivion.

Fascinating breakdown of the chord structure. Thank you!

From the same concert, I think you’d love their rendition of Pertolesi’s “Stabat Mater Dolorosa”, another great duet by Simone and Floor.

I always admire people who are able to read the music like an open book

The very next song in the concert is the last as well: Design your Universe. Give it a go. You get hear all the voices of Epica in it: Choir/solo/growl

Finally!! I've been asking for Epica for a while lol

Again a really really great reaction. Your way of reacting quite unique. Love it!! Subscribed!

One of those where the orchestral instruments can be heard when the band are playing.. the real genius here is the sound supervisor!

You're amazing. I never tire of your play-along reactions. And I always learn something. Thanks.

Now you've discovered Epica, you need to round out the Dutch Symphonic Metal trio and discover the amazing talents of Within Temptation and their angelic voiced singer Sharon del Arden. Within Temptation were one of the first Symphonic Metal bands who, along with Nightwish, defined the genre. Check out their tracks Angels, The Truth Beneath The Rose, Deceiver of Fools all from the Black Symphony live performance.

Wow, it's so awesome to hear the review from professional composer/musician!!! Pro review from a talented musician!

To become full circle it is: "NIGHTWISH"- with Floor-Here with her ex-flat mate Simone - vocalist of "EPICA" a band named after an album of "KAMELOT" where the husband of Simone is classical trained pianist/keyboarder with the vocalist Tommy Karevik, also the lead of "SEVENTH WONDER" with the "AYREON" style song The Great Escape btw. also guest vocalist at Ayreon together with Floor. Five great bands/musical projects to discover

Yesss finally EPICA do more of them

The guy that yelled Floor's name was in the band After Forever with Floor. He left and developed Epica and he was in a relationship with Simone before she married.

Thanks for this!!! FYI Floor and Simone are BFFs. Simone was pregnant during this show and had also been over at Floor's place a lot during that time. Also, the guitarist who does the growls for Epica is Mark Jansen (no relation) and was in Floor's first band After Forever 😁 My recommendations for Epica would be Chasing the Dragon, Unleashed, Stabat Mater Dolorosa (again featuring Floor), and Design Your Universe from this Retrospect concert. I'd highly recommend Reverence (Living in the Heart) from the album (I can't find really good quality sound in a live video), but also especially Consign to Oblivion live at Zenith in Paris, France. While you're at it, check out the band Within Temptation (Sharon den Adel is another awesome vocalist) and their performance known as the Black Symphony live with the Metropole Orchestra 😎 I'd say start off with a song like Somewhere, Our Solemn Hour, or What Have You Done and I think you'll enjoy all of those 😎 Thanks again and have a fantastic day!!!

Seen EPICA 5 times now an amazing band it’s beautiful ❤Metal

Floor explained in her Friday video last week: It's all in the "VLA" ... The fact that she's as tall as she is and the fact that she sings like she sings ... It's all in the "VLA" ...

Great reaction, analysis and play along! Thank you.

Astonishing, I had never noticed this half step move between verse and chorus! It's so subtly and simply done. Thanks for pointing that out. It's really satisfying to realize that, when you really love a song, very often there's something a bit special about it in terms of composition or harmony.

It took me a bit to get into it but love the sound. You do realise you are costing me a blessed fortune in introducing such amazing music in the reviews - two more disks on order as result of your page. Loving it fella

The water I think in the Netherlands another Dutch group is OG3ne 3 Dutch sisters that have perfect harmonies check out OG3NE Magic Studio version

I’m just going to sit here and hold my breath for when you do a reaction to Therion....

Really loved that breakdown. Thanks. Beautiful piano by the way.

Awesome stuff - the video and your analysis!

Doug "wise one" Helvering we have just had a team call 8 metalheads reacting to your reaction videos from Maiden ,Nightwish now Epica we have all learned more about our music than we ever thought top man loving you content , your passion for music is intoxicating keep it up , once we are allowed to be together we will have a Daily Doug Night and get drunk Bonnie Scotland loves you

I think my favorite Nightwish show I've been to had Kamelot opening in one of Tommy Karevik's first shows as frontman. Kamelot's a US-based symphonic metal band that occasionally has some badass women sing with them. "Sacrimony" features some pretty nice growl work by the Agonist's former lead, Alissa White-Gluz. Still very rare to have women do growls like she does, and she can switch to clean singing pretty flawlessly.

And I am awakening with you Doug. I am living a new Renaissance in music thanks to your reactions!

I adore your piano playing and how it contributes to the song! Many thanks.

The three best symphonic metal bands for me: Nightwish; Epica; Within Temptation! Check this last one. You should make a piano cover of an heavy metal band!

I love their duet! Thanks for reacting to this one!

Had to watch this since I'm from the Netherlands (How chauvinistic 😁). But I also like their music and your reaction as a composer. Interesting how you are starting to notice "tricks" now. Thanks and keep up the good work.👍👍

Doug Helvering you have to admit that you have discovered excellent metal bands

Epica is in a tied first place with Nightwish for me. They are a bit harder edge, and their sound is very unique. Their epics like Kingdom of Heaven part 1-3 are just amazing!

You are now only a step away from the full Dutch experience :) "Somewhere" - Within Temptation feat. Anneke Van Giersbergen ;)

Epic momment for Epica ... Floor Jansen and Simone Simmons both on the stage ... friends for the past the two of them ... They have a big chemistry on stage ... but a little detail here Simone here is a little pregnant and protects her belly , and she does not do crazy things on stage ... The voices of those women singer are blending epicly !! Thanks Doug for that reaction... Is a great song from Epica !! But not the least one ! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all the people of the world! Blessed 2022!!

It's nice to see you brighten up :) I could feel you really liked the music - which is fantastic!

Great analysis…they are a very unique band….

Epic reaction 💯🎶😶 Thank You!

I started piano lessons in January this year. It's really cool to see how you pick up during the song and play along. BTW, I'm Dutch and a terrible singer XD

Thanks for this reaction 🙂👍 Sancta Terra ( Terre Sainte in french) means Holy Land. That's how Jerusalem and territories around it were called in the middle ages.

There's a choral version of Ghost Love Score on youtube you might like. You could let your choir sing Sancta Terra. :-) I think you would like to hear Ayeron Univers - Valley of the Queens. with Floor and some other goddesses. I think you also would like to hear Within Temptation (feat Anneke van Giersbergen) - Somewhere which is another great duet by some of the best.

We put heavy metals in our water. It mostly affects our women as you can hear...😁

I really enjoy your videos, very, very much.

Very cool and interesting how you pretty much instantly played along for a bit to show the chord progression. Awesome!

Thank you for doing this piece. I really like the singing of both Simone and Floor; together they are...well, epic. This was a great treat for Friday. Definitely check out some other stuff by Epica. I don't think I've ever heard a song of theirs that I didn't like, though I like some better than others. It would be hard to go wrong with The Phantom Agony.

And now I am going to do my Friday evening ritual- putting on Epica's Consign to Oblivion, closing out my job for the week, and going out to listen to my heart.

When singing together Floor is more in the Alto register to protect Simone. I recommend "Stabat Mater Dolorosa" is fabulous. 🤘🤘🤘

I came across Epica in 2016, and was shocked to find that they had been around since 2003. I loved your piano playing; you should do a piano cover of Sancta Terra. Another symphonic metal band you might like is Diabulus in Musica. The song, Invisible, is a great example of why metal and classical music are great together, (IMHO).

Subscribed, playing and explaining that cord progression was awesome!

Great choice Doug! Hard to imagine you had never heard of them before -- Simone is a great singer in her own right, is she not? Have a great weekend!

Yes!! Epica at last!!

Glad to see that you found the awesome band, Epica, and you can't go wrong following the suggestions that have already been given, I look forward to those reactions! Sometime do yourself a favor and check out a band called Ancient Bards (symphonic power metal, from Italy) with their ballad called In My Arms (official video). Really great stuff, and another powerhouse female vocalist! Cheers for the vids!

Thank you Doug for te reaction!!! Next Stabat Mater Dolorosa, Epica feat Floor, again! Same concert!

I don’t know, I’m just so jealous of your perfect pitch... thumbs up as usual!

I think you would find "Wintersun - Sons of winter and stars" really interesting. Id watch the live rehearsal at sonic pump studios. The band is the Lead singer and guitarist project and he has done most if not all of the writing for Wintersun including the extensive backing tracks they use.

Welcome to Epica! So it is now Epica - Design Your Universe (from Retrospect) for you now!

I don't know how I'm a year late to this when I'm one of the people who requested it😍

EPICA - Cry for the moon PLEASE

Best videos on YT :) thanks for those :) :) You're a great guy :)

Thanks for your video! Epica has really great stuff!! I love all the songs that people are recommending and I like too Once upon a nightmare and Code of life...

Definitely watch more Epica! Simone has a Wonderful Voice!

I’m literally moving to the Netherlands to pursue symphonic metal. There is something magic going on there

Great reaction. Subscribed. Epica, one of the greatest heavy metal bands at this moment. Proud to be dutch. Two amazing dutch singers together, also best friends. Epica writes lots of amazing songs or should i say compositions. This is shown by their new album “Omega”. Hope to see them next year if the pandemic allows it. Thank you for this reaction.

The eye of Ra by Star one, live version. At the end there are literally seven people on stage singing a capella. It's magical

Now that you mention an awakening, you should check Haggard. Their album, Awaking The Centuries is a conceptual album about the life of Galileo. They sing in many languages like english, latin, german, italian and spanish. They have three singers, the lead singer who is also one of the guitars, a soprano and a mezzo soprano, you'll find the usual guitar, bass and drums and also oboe, percusion, three violins, a viola, cellos and a lot of instruments that aren't just guest musicians but are part of the band. They are a neoclassical metal band. Eppur Si Muove is one of my favorite songs of that band and is awesome, I'm sure you'll like it. Edit: I was mistaken. Eppur Si Muove is the album that tells the story of Galileo. Awaking The Centuries is still a great album and it tells the story of Michel de Notredame a.k.a. Nostradamus.

Please look up Floor Jansen and Henk Poort...Phantom of the Opera!!! EPIC duet!!!!

I think this is a quite impressive reaction. It was enlightening, and Ive seen most of these.

Epica are amazing. Consign to oblivion is one of my faves along with sancta terra.

Hey Doug, many thanks, I thoroughly enjoy your reviews, you're one hell of a musician and a great person! Epica's singer Simone Simons is actually a good friend of Floor, the two even shared an apartment for some time. If anything is worth 3 hours of your lifetime, it's the whole show this live song is a part of: Epica's "Retrospect" 10th Anniversary Live Concert from 2013 is one of the most beautiful music performances I have ever seen. Backed by an orchestra and associated choir from Hungary they worked with before, they are celebrating their music plus some nice covers from classical to music scores: They do "Presto" as a duel between 1st violin and lead guitarrist, Floor has a second guest appearance to duet "Stabat Mater Dolorosa" with Simone, a John Williams Star Wars score medley, further guest appearance by former band members, guest acrobatic performers and indoor fireworks for accompanying visuals, and then some more. It's a great value for money BlueRayDics to own and also visible for free here on KZfaq: Part 1: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jZ19d6pprJ2qfXk.html Part 2: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fLiXgZSClpiuZas.html Give yourself a treat and enjoy! Best regards from Germany

For more dutch awesomeness check out Within Temptation and The Gathering. Both bands feature another pair of great dutch female singers!

Epica exists since the early '00s. So you've definitely been hiding ;) BTW, The Netherlands have more well known bands like this : Within Temptation, Delain and many more.