Epica: The Bellwether - Los Angeles, CA - 5/10/25
Dutch symphonic metal band Epica released their ninth studio album Aspiral on April 11, 2025. To start touring for the album, Epica announced three exclusive USA shows. The third and final stop of the tour being at the Bellwether in Los Angeles, California. Many fans were disappointed at the lack of dates, but surely the band has another full USA tour planned for the near future. For now, Southern California fans and anyone else who traveled for the show were about enjoy one of symphonic metal’s best bands.
Opening for the show was Red Devil Vortex. After their set, the venue was nicely packed as the audience eagerly anticipated the arrival of Epica. The lights went out and the crowd cheered with excitement. Wasting no time, the band members came out and started their show with “Cross the Divide.” Coming out last was their vocalist, Simone Simons. They were all on point and sounded beautifully. For the second song, Epica went back to their 2007 album The Divine Conspiracy and played “Menace to Vanity.” Keyboardist Coen Janssen brought out his signature keyboard that lets him come out into the crowd and interact with them and the band members. A few more tracks included "The Last Crusade (A New Age Dawns, Part I)", “T.I.M.E.”, and "Kingdom of Heaven (A New Age Dawns, Part V)." One of the highlights of the show was when they performed “Chasing the Dragon.” A beautiful song that Epica hasn’t played in several years and was nice to see back on the setlist. For the next song, Simons said that the song was kind of devilish. For the occasion, she requested one of the red horns that fans were wearing from the opening band Red Devil Vortex for her to wear during the performance of the song. The song was “The Skeleton Key” from the previous 2021 Omega album. Nearing the end of the show, Epica played one of their most popular songs, "Cry for the Moon (The Embrace That Smothers - Part IV)." Fans were singing along to the chorus and the lights to the venue lit up beautifully. Even the venue’s disco ball lit up and joined in on the fun. After the song ended, everyone in the band except Simons left the stage. The light focused solely on Simons and made her center stage. She sang “Aspiral” which is primarily a Simons solo song and is the final song on the new album. It was amazing hearing her beautiful, yet powerful mezzo-soprano voice isolated by itself. As the song went on, the rest of the band came back out to finish up the song. To end the show, Simons let the audience know that this next song would be the last song. Or it might not be depending on how the audience behaved. The last song was "Design Your Universe (A New Age Dawns, Part VI)". It was ten minutes of symphonic metal perfection. Even the audience circle moshed to the heaviness of the song. The show ended, the band left the stage, and all seemed quiet. The fans chanted, “Epica! Epica! Epica!” as they clearly wanted more and weren’t ready to go home just yet. After a quick break, Epica came back out for some encores. The first encore was "Fight to Survive – The Overview Effect" from the new album. For the next encore, Simons mentioned how fans could jump along with them and burn some calories. The next song is one of their best songs, “Beyond the Matrix.” During the chorus, fans were singing along to the catchy chorus and jumping making it an impressive sight. To end the night, guitarist, vocalist, and founding member Mark Jansen had the audience split the floor and prepare a classic wall of death. On his count from 3, the crowd crashed into each other as they performed the final song, "Consign to Oblivion (A New Age Dawns, Part III)." A beautiful finish to an amazing show. When the song finished, Epica thanked the audience for coming out, posed for pictures, threw out guitar picks, drumsticks, and setlists to their adoring fans. Even though they just passed through, hopefully it’s not long before Epica comes back to their loyal LA fans.
