Floor Jansen and Simone Simons Duet at FVMF VII, 2009
And now on to what I call "The Greatest Moment in Symphonic Metal History". There is plenty of backstory to cover here to reveal the importance of this one moment but allow me to do a quick comparison, one that people who don't follow symphonic metal can understand. Imagine if you were at a heavy metal festival watching Metallica headline and in the middle of their set, Dave Mustaine walks onstage with a guitar. Then they break into a Megadeth song but- the song they play is actually a song that Dave wrote while in Metallica, but recorded as Megadeth. The next twist to make the comparison complete would be that song would have a genuine relevance to today's times, in both past and present and was a significant beginning of a story-board that would go on to shape the entire discography of both bands.
All this happened here when Epica had Floor Jansen (formally in After Forever, after they disbanded) join Epica in a modified version of the classic After Forever song "Follow in the Cry". I have mentioned in this blog before but in case you've missed it, or wasnt sure what was 'the beef' between these 2 bands, this is the low down. Mark Jansen (no relation to Floor, just a common name in Holland) had formed After Forever and recruited Floor Jansen as their singer. They recorded the first CD with the average age of the band at 19. A remarkable feat, but its shortly after a few CDs when Mark Jansen left the band and formed a new one, Epica. He brings on board another young female singer, Simone Simons (whom he was dating at the time) and the rivalry had begun. As After Forever garnered both praise and criticism, Epica strived for recording with full orchestras and choirs and their popularity soared. As the years go by, fans generally shared love equally between the 2 bands but it seemed they weren't on the same page with each other, just like fans of Metallica and Megadeth are. After Forever releases a self-titled cd in 2008 and makes tremendous waves with it, though they toured with little success in the US (Symphonic Metal doesnt fare well in the US currently), it seemed the band was at its best and the verge of a major breakthrough. Then they called it quits, breaking many hearts of SM fans.
There is much to this story I simply cannot compound here but through all this, Epica then releases probably their best CD, "Design Your Universe" (2009) and began to tour for it extensively. A significant stop would be the result of our magic moment, at the Female Voices of Metal Festival VII in Belgium, 2009. Floor Jansen had made it known she was going to be onstage with a few bands, mostly to announce the facts were true, that After Forever was no more and that she had a new a project and announced its naming (ReVamp) at the festival. What no one knew nor expected, was that she would join Epica onstage.
Follow In The Cry (After Forever Cover by Epica ft Floor Jansen guest vocal)
The clip I share here is the better one that Ive found (just about everyone at the show recorded it somehow), and it was practically posted right after the concert. The song Follow in the Cry had been in Epica's set for some time, being that it was written by Mark Jansen while in After Forever so to have Floor onstage to sing it had significance. In this version though, to allow Floor more mic time, she sings the first verse, which Mark typically sang, in grunt voice. And its great to hear her low range and outright quality in her tone. What is seen onstage though is something else even more magical. The voices of 2 Symphonic Metal Queens singing in unison and their newly found camaraderie.
I have researched and found they shared the stage recently before this event, when both Simone and Mark from Epica joined After Forever onstage for the duet "Beyond Me" (original AF was a duet with Sharon from Within Temptation) in 2007. But it was here, in this performance that it appeared they had a great time and were natural together. Amazingly the song, seemed to connect here. Now the 2 have done collaborations together, as guest appearances and now Simon joins Floor's new band, ReVamp (singing a duet with Floor) in a tour which saw Epica take ReVamp out as opening act. Also on the same tour Floor sings with Simone for a great version of Sancta Terra (Epica). It seems the 2 have become good friends and whatever kept the
2 supergroups with a common founder apart doesn't seem to affect the bond the 2 singers of each have formed.
This can only mean great things on the horizon. For this moment has done much unifying and is significant in cementing them both as Metal Queens of an entire genre. With technology and the internet, specifically youtube.com, we can experience the moment, as if we were there, as if it happened yesterday. And its implications will be felt world wide. Instead of taking a hit, losing one of its glowing crowns in After Forever, it has gained a union between 2 master artists and therefore gained a wider stretching kingdom- the fanscape of Symphonic Metal.
You are welcome.
Epica version eta circa 2007
Original After Forever version. (Symphonic Metal, NL 2000)
Other Notable Moments in Symphonic Metal History:Therion "Live Gothic" DVD
Epica "Classical Conspiracy" DVD
Next Posting: After Forever Blows My Mind II
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