Epica

Epica do symphonic metal at maximum density: full choirs, death growls, Simone Simons’ mezzo, and lyrics that read like a philosophy reading list. Formed when Mark Jansen left After Forever, they turned the Dutch scene’s internal splits into two decades of parallel success.

For the lab they complete the Dutch pair — and their member web (After Forever, MaYaN) maps the whole national scene in miniature.