History Music / Epica

* Simone Simons - vocals (2002-)

* Amanda Somerville – lead vocals (North American tour 2008,) soprano vocals on "The Phantom Agony" and "We Will Take You With Us," background vocals on "Consign to Oblivion," "The Divine Conspiracy," "Design Your Universe," and "Requiem for the Indifferent" (Somerville also performed alto choir vocals for this album,) now married to [[Music/AfterForever Sander Gommans]].
* Oliver Palotai – touring keyboards (North American tour 2010,) also Simone's partner.
* Bridgit Fogle - Alto vocals on "We Will Take You With Us" and "The Phantom Agony," background vocals on "Consign to Oblivion," "The Divine Conspiracy," and "Design Your Universe."
* Annie Gobel - Alto and backing vocals on "We Will Take You with Us."
* Linda Janssen: Backing vocals on "We Will Take You With Us," choir vocals from "Consign to Oblivion" through "Requiem for the Indifferent," also Coen's wife.
* Laura Macri: Soprano choir vocals on "Requiem for the Indifferent," also a member of the project group [=MaYan=] along with Mark and Ariën.

** Also ''A New Age Dawns'' (started with ''Consign to Oblivion'' ended with ''Design Your Universe'',) based on the Mayan civilization. The fifth member of the set would spin off into its own trilogy known as...
** ''Kingdom of Heaven'' (started with ''Design Your Universe'', ended with ''Omega'',) which dealt with the cycle between life and death.

* EpicInstrumentalOpener: One at the start of every album, and often there is one more in the middle ("La'petach Chatat Rovetz," "The Price of Freedom," "Anima," and "The Fifth Guardian.")

** ''The Divine Conspiracy'': "The Obsessive Devotion," "Chasing the Dragon" and "Fools of Damnation" are all in the 7-9 minute range, and the title track is the band's longest song to date at 13:57.
** ''Design Your Universe'': Besides the title track, we have "Kingdom of Heaven," Epica's second-longest song at 13:35.
** ''Requiem for the Indifferent'': "Monopoly on Truth," the title track and "Serenade of Self-Destruction" all qualify.

** The men can also put on a show of fansevice. See WalkingShirtlessScene below.
* FieryRedhead: Averted, Simone is quiet, soft-spoken, and laid-back in interviews and her blog is very much of a feminine nature.

** "Guilty Demeanor" is a song about staying true to yourself in the face of criticism. "Storm the Sorrow," about songwriting in the face of criticism, also features this.

* HarshVocals: Mark Jansen always grunts, growls and screams. In addition to Mark, both drummer Ariën van Weesenbeek and lead guitarist Isaac Delahaye provide harsh vocals as well (all 3 harsh vocalists can be heard on Requiem for the Indifferent, for instance Ariën can be heard providing the harsh vocals on the verses for Stay the Course,) although Isaac tends to limit himself to doing live backing growls only. This makes Epica a quadruple-vocalist band, which deserves awesomeness points in itself.

* IndecipherableLyrics: Averted with Simons, played straight with Jansen.
* KubrickStare: Used heavily in the video for "Unleashed," mostly coming from Simons, but the rest of the band is also featured during the video as well.

* LastChorusSlowDown: "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Karma."

** ''The Phantom Agony'': "Sensorium," "Cry for the Moon," and "Illusive Concensus."
** ''Consign to Oblivion'': Almost the entire album, including the title track. The only songs [[AvertedTrope that have a full title drop]] or a close approximation are "The Last Crusade," "Blank Infinity," and "Another Me" (its subtitle, "In Lack'ech," translates from Mayan to "you are the other me.")
** ''The Divine Conspiracy'': "Menace of Vanity," "Chasing the Dragon," "Fools of Damnation," "Beyond Belief," "Safeguard to Paradise," and "Sancta Terra."
** ''Design Your Universe'': "Resign to Surrender," "Kingdom of Heaven," "Deconstruct," and "White Waters."

* OminousLatinChanting: Every album. Aside from the intro tracks, good examples include "Martyr of the Free Word," "Fools of Damnation," and "The Holographic Principle."

* PowerBallad: "Tides of Time," "Delirium," "Solitary Ground," "Canvas of Life," "Once Upon a Nightmare," "Rivers."

* ReligionRantSong: Not afraid of this trope at all. Examples include "Cry for the Moon," "Requiem for the Indifferent," and "The Embrace That Smothers" saga shared with Music/AfterForever. ''The Divine Conspiracy'' is very much a Religion Rant ''Album''.

* SchrodingersButterfly: One of the primary themes of ''The Holographic Principle.'' Especially prominent on the title track, as well as "Ascension - Dream State Armageddon."

* TakeThat: "Run for a Fall," it was a harsh critique of Music/AfterForever's change in sound.

* ThreeMinutesOfWrithing: The video for "Storm the Sorrow." [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that although Simone is wearing a white form-fitting body suit throughout most of the video, the writhing is due to the tar-like tentacles trying to consume her at every opportunity.

** Straight: "Solitary Ground," "Unleashed," "Our Destiny," "Storm the Sorrow," "Twin Flames," "Avalanche," "Victims of Contingency," and "The Essence of Silence."
** Subversions: "Beyond Belief," "The Last Crusade," and "Chasing the Dragon."

* WorkingClassAnthem: "Resign to Surrender - A New Age Dawns - Pt. IV" poetically calls out income and wealth inequality with stanzas like "Now that all hands are tied / We're panic stricken / Wealth out of sight / Demolition, the damaged pride / The price of ambition", and closes on the lines "Chasing our addictions, we're stunting our growth / Once we get rid of this ballast we'll be able to / Restore the balance and distribute our wealth".

* AudienceParticipationSong: A number of songs are these but ''The Final Lullaby'' was practically '''''made''''' for the audience to scream along:

* FiveManBand:
** TheLeader: Mark
** TheLancer: Isaac
** TheSmartGuy: Coen
** TheBigGuy: Arien
** TheChick: Simone
** SixthRanger: Rob

* BreakUpSong: "Never Enough" if nothing else.
** "Avalanche" too.

* FanderviceCover:
** The cover of the album ''The Divine Conspiracy'' features Simone wearing elaborate BodyPaint, and nothing else save for some [[HandsOrObjectUnderwear strategically arm placement]]. The cover is supposed to be a symbolic representation of the Garden of Eden.

* MsFanservice: Simons.
* [[BilingualBonus Multilingual Bonus]]: Latin and Arabic are just two of the languages the band uses in their work.

* FanService: The cover of the album ''The Divine Conspiracy'' features Simone wearing elaborate body paint, and nothing else.
** To be fair, the cover is supposed to be a symbolic representation of the Garden of Eden. That being said, the cover for ''The Phantom Agony'' does contain AbsoluteCleavage. And let us not forget about the white bodysuit worn in "Storm the Sorrow"...

* FieryRedhead: Averted, Simone is quiet, soft-spoken and laid-back in interviews and her blog is very much of a feminine nature.

** ''Consign to Oblivion'': [[UpToEleven Almost the entire album, including the title track]]. The only songs [[AvertedTrope that have a full title drop]] or a close approximation are "The Last Crusade," "Blank Infinity," and "Another Me" (its subtitle, "In Lack'ech," translates from Mayan to "you are the other me.")

Similar bands include: Music/AfterForever, Music/{{Nightwish}}, and Music/WithinTemptation.