YMMV / Epica

• Anvilicious: The lyrics often have a noticeable economic and social leftist bent, though it's somewhat Depending on the Writer: Simone's lyrics tend to be more poetic and Mark's lyrics tend to be more anvilicious.
  • A couple songs on Design Your Universe feature recordings of speeches by former US Presidents George H. W. Bush^note then-Vice President Bush's "read my lips" soliloquy and Barack Obama^note then-Senator Obama's address to the Democratic National Convention before he ran for president, and "Resign to Surrender" is in large part a rant against economic inequality, while "Martyr of the Free Word" is about freedom of speech.
  • Requiem for the Indifferent has a track called "Deep Water Horizon," any guesses what it's about?
• Awesome Music: "The Obsessive Devotion," "Fools of Damnation," and "Martyr of the Free Word."
  • The Classical Conspiracy. All 144 minutes of it.
  • Pretty much any of their title tracks and/or grand finales, at least within the confines of their respective albums. Comparing The Phantom Agony's title track to, say, the "Kingdom of Heaven" series or "Serenade of Self-Destruction" might be a little unfair given that TPA was them just getting started, but when you hit the last song of an Epica album, you know you're in for a big finish and a hell of a sendoff.
• Epic Riff: "The Obsessive Devotion," "Guilty Demeanor," "Internal Warfare," "Fools of Damnation," "Monopoly on Truth," and many more.
• Fan Community Nickname: Simone addresses her online audience as either "Sweets" or "Blog Babes."
  • She's gotten a bit of backlash for this, as some are deriding her and calling her "Metal Barbie" for daring to be into girly things like cosmetics and fashion. This◊ pretty much sums it up.
• Gateway Series: For some into rock bands, for others into symphonic metal and for even more into heavy metal.
• Growing the Beard: The band stopped drawing comparisons with Mark's previous band After Forever by the time Design Your Universe came out.
• Heartwarming Moments: "Our Destiny" is a beautiful song about Simone and Mark not quitting the band because they weren't meant to be.
  • "Twin Flames" also falls into this!
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Epica is named after Kamelot's sixth album. After breaking up with Mark Jansen, Simone Simons started dating Kamelot keyboardist Oliver Palotai (they're now married with a son).
• Les Yay: This live video for "Sancta Terra" where Floor Jansen performs with Simone on stage (link.)
• More Popular Spin-Off: The band stopped drawing comparisons with Mark's previous band After Forever by the time Design Your Universe came out.

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