1. So, how do you feel few days before the release of your new album ?
Mark : Pretty exhited! We wokred so long on this record and now finally it will be released. We can\'t wait to play the new songs live as well!

2. What are your expectation from this new cd ?
Mark : We don\'t expect anything so the chance of a disappointment won\'t be there but of course we hope a lot! :)

3. You were constantly on tour, how does the writting of consign to oblivion happened ?
Mark : In between, there are still a lot of days without gigs. During these days we work on new material. We also started working already on the 3rd record.
Creating music is one of the best feelings in the world :)

4. What’s the evolution of the atmosphere, lyrics, influences, between Phantom Agony and Consign to Oblivion ?
Mark : Simone developed a lot. She sings with more variety on Consogn to Oblivion. The songs are more focussed on having a good chorus. People like to sing along live so we payed more attention to this aspect. Lyricwise the lyrics have become in a way more spiritual.

5.

And are you personnaly satisfied with your album ?
Mark : I am completely satisfied and can\'t wait for it to be released!!!!

6. Talking about conserts, how was this tour with Kamelot? What was your best memories in this tour ?
Yves:The tour went great! Compared to the others tours we did, hardly anything went wrong. The atmosphere was good and the audiences were big. This was certainly one of the highlights of my Epica-carreer. There are so many good memories. For me the best ones were getting drunk with the guys of Kotipelto (and Kamelot).

7. The evolution of your success is very sensationnal. How would you explain it ?
Yves: A first reason could be that our music came at the right moment. At this moment the genre of female fronted metal is very popular.
The second reason would be Simone. She\'s not only a good singer and performer, but she\'s also very pretty. This attracts a lot of (male) metalheads.

8. Could you explain to us your vision of the “spirit of metal” you have and especially the female metale wich becoming more and more popular ?
Yves : Metal is a way b

y which a person can give himself an identity that is different from the rest. It is a way to distinguish oneself from the mass. That is why it is much easier to make friends in the metal scene, because you already have one thing in common, the same taste in music. Female fronted metal is just a sub-genre which is at this moment indeed very popular. Me? I just like to headbang my brains out;)

9. What kind of relation have you got with your fans ?
Yves: We have a lot of respect for the fans, because they are the people that made Epica what it is today. So we try to keep close contact with them. After a concert we always go into the venue to have a talk with the fans and give some signatures or picks. We also try to answer all the emails we get from them.

10. So, to conclued, can you tell a word to your french audience ?
Vous êtes super! J\'espère vous voir en grand nombre à notre prochain concert en France. Vive la France! (Merci pour les bretzels) (In French)

Mark : We love the french audience. That\'s the main reason why we booked most of the shows in Freance for the upcomming european tour in Oktober.