Simone Simons is like the biggest winner in the genetic lottery, getting both beautiful looks and an equally beautiful voice. And she looks and sounds even better at the age of 37 than she does here. AND, even though she dropped out of high school to tour with Epica, she speaks 5 languages and talks more like a university professor than a high school dropout. Being Simone Simons is like rolling up a D&D character and getting all 18s. 😀
@@Cynthia_Blackraven_666 Yeah, I know! Have you ever tried reading the lyrics for some of their longer songs? There are a LOT of words there, and some of them are in Latin! She has to memorize all of that in order to perform live. And Mark is not good at writing lyrics. Often there's no rhyme scheme...it's just him writing down his thoughts. No way *I* could memorize the words for one of their 11-minute songs like "The Quantum Enigma."
@@Cynthia_Blackraven_666 we ALL love Simone, but come on, she doesn't wrote a single note, Epica is what it is also in big part because of Mark and Coen
I think it's just coincidence, but maybe it's the combination of a country with a strong musical tradition and being very progressive in terms of equality for women. For example, prostitution has been continuously legal there since the 14th or 15th century. Also doesn't hurt that it's one of the richest per capita countries in the world.
Simone is an unbelievably beautiful woman, as well as my most favourite female voice of all time. And of course, Epica music is in a league of their own. Best musical discovery of my life. Incredible!
The really unbelievable part is that she gets MORE beautiful as she ages. If you compare this to the Retrospect concert, she goes from being a pretty girl to a beautiful woman. And in the videos she did for Transitus about a year ago, she's stunning. I don't know how she does it. Beautiful voice too.
This is a great song...the opera vocals that Simone does at the end give me chills like very few songs I've ever heard. But this song can't be extricated from 9/11, and it's morally questionable for a band to be making money off the deaths of thousands of people. They handle it very well in this concert...it comes off as a respectful memorial to the people who died, but now, 20 years later, it would not be okay.
@Adolfo Albornoz It’s a little hard to explain, because it's based on my feeling about how other people who are not me would feel if they did. I think that back in 2005, 9/11 was still in everyone's minds, so making art out of it and even making money off it was okay. It was part of the Zeitgeist. But 20 years later, half the audience is too young to remember what it was like when it happened, so it's sort of dredging a tragedy out of the past, in order to make entertainment out of it. Does that make sense?
Pfffff estaba durmiendo mientras se reproducían diferentes vídeos de Épica y woooow me despertó está canción pues tuve que abrir mis ojos para ver el vídeo y fue espectacular ver esa fascinante belleza de Simone Simons tanto física como vocalmente hablando me encanta simplemente es maravillosa 😍
I am from this generation. I look at these guys in the past and I think that there is something special about the character of this generation. Something open to the world, they look like young crusaders, selflessly rushing in a last attempt to win over the world to their side.
Bellísima es poco, sinceramente todos los integrantes tienen hermosas cualidades físicas pero ella parece sacada de un cuento. Espectacular banda impecables
Ce concert date de 2006 quand elle sortait de l'école de chant et qu'elle s'entrainait un peu à chanter. Maintenant c'est un peu bâclé et n'arrive plus à poser sa voix. Trop d'ampli trop de son fort pour sa voix délicate pas vraiment faite pour l'hyperpuissance que l'on voit de plus en plus.
@@Kelly-pp1et yeah serves a purpose alright - to ruin the song. And I'm not the only one that can't comprehend it. It's the reason why they're not better known.
@@Kelly-pp1et What ... growling and throat clearing on a song requires another level of consciousness ???!!! No - what it needs is some strepsils, a Honey and Lemon and the ejection of all that phlegm. 🤮
@@Closminding The duality between Mark's harsh vocals and Simone's angelic soprano is called "beauty and the beast", a concept that originated in Gothic metal. It also represent a different view or different character in their songs. Another one is the choir, with their own lyrics (often in Latin), so we can say Epica use 3 different vocals or 3 characters. Most people don't mind very similar voices in movies when some demon or a monster is speaking, but in music it's suddenly a huge problem? This is METAL, not pop or hip-hop! Metal never tried to appeal to the masses. It is usually a harsh music often accompanied by harsh vocals. I personally can't even stand clean male vocals in metal. Female singers in symphonic metal are great, it's typical for this metal sub-genre, but otherwise, harsh male vocals are what I expect in metal. Btw, Mark's vocals got better over years. Compare "The Essence of Silence" (Official Live). It sounds badass and it fits the song perfectly! And for Epica without any harsh vocals, for example "Unleashed" (Official Live)
@@cancelled_user I've heard all Epicas output and seen them live. Growling in Metal always divides. But over 50% of Metal Fans are against it. I'm a Symphonic Metal Fan so growling doesn't define a Metal Head. Some Metal bands avoid it and others use it sparingly or subtly when it can work (like Beyond the Black), old Delain and Clementine Delauney (Exile Eden never used it). Within Temptation never use it and are by far the better for it
