2 METER SESSIES - WE WILL TAKE YOU WITH US

The best female-fronted metal band I've heard so far

My first exposure to Epica was a pleasant surprise to say the least. After checking out Nightwish, After Forever, and another whose name escapes me it becomes apparent that there is a bit of formula to these groups despite their admitted talents. I figured Epica would be more of the same but it turned out I liked them much more than the others. Wow! The "W" word just keeps coming out of your mouth when you watch this DVD. A mixture of Therion's choir sound with classical instruments, heavenly vocals, and power metal.

This DVD is a performance of material from their first album live in the studio, like you would see on MTV Unplugged except here they are fully plugged. The material and the performance are nothing short of stunning. They employ the full band plus a string section and a small choir of top notch vocalists. Teo hit the nail on the head writing about one of their albums: what makes this band special is that unlike some of those others, the songs sound natural and fulfilling rather than sounding like a vehicle for some diva vocalist. Sometimes (not always) those other bands sound like they are really crafting repetitive mini-shows for their superb singers to bask in. Epica on the other hand sounds like a very real band with great material.and oh yeah, they just happen to have one of the best damn vocalists you will ever hear. This is exciting prog-metal with great riffs and hooks on guitar and bass, positively rippin' drumming, and the extraordinary vocals of Simone. She sounds somewhere close to the amazing Loreena McKennitt, blending an obviously studied formal set of pipes with a great ability to convey emotion. There are also a lesser amount of male growl vocals here by the superb Mark Jansen which do not sound gimmicky or arbitrary, but add depth and color to the compositions. And that's just the band! On top of this you have a small army of strings and vocalists on hand in the studio with them bringing the songs to full life. While I like live DVDs as much as the next guy I have to say that Epica really excelled in this unusual setting. Without having to play a part in the whole crowd banter nonsense, the band was able to really concentrate on the material alone and it was fascinating to be able to watch close up. They still had fun mind you but the music is the focus, not pleasing an audience or worrying about props. After the half-dozen or so "plugged" tracks they throw the boys out the door and feature Simone and two-backing vocalists with piano and acoustic guitar for three songs. These are equally wonderful if quite different of course, the piano being a marvelous catalyst to draw forth the most emotional performance from Simone. You also get a short "making of" featurette and two promo videos. All in all this DVD is a no-brainer for anyone into the gothic/female-fronted/classical prog-metal scene. Easily a 4-star DVD and highly recommended. 8/10

By the time this DVD was released (2004) my prog metal phase was long gone. I had got back to symphonic and neo prog acts. Nevertheless, I was still amazed by Epica´s great debut The Phantom Agony and I had to see this release because I had never seen them on video before. This is a ´live´ in the studio appearance, with a full string section and choir. The result is one of the best DVDs made by a band in this category. Simply astonishing! Great melodic symphonic power metal performed by one hell of a band!

The center figure of this DVD is of course singer Simone Simmons. Not only she has a great operatic voice but also a strong and unique presence (the fact that she has a striking beauty to match does not hurt either). Still she does not overshadows the other band members, who work in unisson, with great effect. Like in the CD, all songs are good and work very well in this format. I realy like the choir (which includes studio ace Amanda Sommerville).

The second part is the piano and cello version of Feist (better than the original, by the way), the piano and guitar Run For A Fall (also great) and, oddly, Memory from the classic braoadway musical Cats. It sounds strange to have such number in a prog metal DVD, but it works. Great performance of Coen Jansen on piano (as well as on the other keyboards in the main songs. The guy really kicks!), The extras brings two promo videos (one including the making of), on which Simone Simmons also proves a powerful presence as an actress.

If you liked Epica´s debut CD, this is a must have. If you don´t know them yet, this is a good starting point to discover this unique and excellent band. They trancended the genre and it is recommended to any music lover. Four stars.