FaceCulture recently conducted an interview with guitarist Mark Jansen of Dutch female-fronted symphonic metallers EPICA. You can now watch the chat below. EPICAs sixth studio album, "The Quantum Enigma", was released in North America on May 6 via Nuclear Blast. Where the 2013 "Retrospect" performance reflected on a decade as one of the leading bands in the symphonic metal scene, "The Quantum Enigma" marks the beginning of a new EPICA: modern, heavy, and without compromises. Says the band: "More than any of our previous albums, this album is a group effort. The only goal we had in mind: creating the album that could lift EPICA up to the next level." "The Quantum Enigma" was produced by Joost van den Broek at the Sandlane recording facility in the Netherlands. The album was mixed by Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT, HATESPHERE). "The Quantum Enigma" was released in five different configurations: 01 - Regular jewel case 02 - 2CD digipack 03 - 3CD earbook 04 - double vinyl 05 - Digital download "The Quantum Enigma" track listing: 01. Originem 02. The Second Stone 03. The Essence Of Silence 04. Victims Of Contingency 05. Sense Without Sanity (The Impervious Code) 06. Unchain Utopia 07. The Fifth Guardian (Interlude) 08. Chemical Insomnia 09. Reverence (Living in the Heart) 10. Omen [The Ghoulish Malady] 11. Canvas of Life 12. Natural Corruption 13. The Quantum Enigma (Kingdom Of Heaven Part II) Digipack additional track: "In All Conscience" Earbook additional track: "Dreamscape" Vinyl additional track: "Memento" iTunes additional track: "Banish Your Illusion" Disc 2 (digipack and earbook only): 01. Canvas Of Life [acoustic version] 02. In All Conscience [acoustic version] 03. Dreamscape [acoustic version] 04. Natural Corruption [acoustic version] Disc 3 (earbook Only): 01. Originem [instrumental] 02. The Second Stone [instrumental] 03. The Essence of Silence [instrumental] 04. Victims Of Contingency [instrumental] 05. Sense Without Sanity [instrumental] 06. Unchain Utopia [instrumental] 07. The Fifth Guardian [instrumental] 08. Chemical Insomnia [instrumental] 09. Reverence [instrumental] 10. Omen [instrumental] 11. Canvas Of Life [instrumental] 12. Natural Corruption [instrumental] 13. The Quantum Enigma [instrumental] In a recent interview with LiveReviewer, EPICA guitarist Isaac Delahaye stated about the making of "The Quantum Enigma": "It was very much our intention to really make songs. It was because we started with putting a lot of effort into the basics and we gave a lot of attention to the band part, more so than before. And, of course, Jacob Hansen mixed it and he knows how to do these things. We tried out several people and had them do a test mix of certain songs and he came out on top. It's become a heavy album, yet all the details are there. Previously, we used to go to the studio, tune our stuff and then we recorded an album. This time we did a long pre-production in the studio and we got to check out a lot of different combinations of amps and then we could record it. Previously, we just did everything in our home studios and sent each other the parts. And after that we would go into the studio and that's it. But now we sat down together and discussed a lot more, it was more of a band effort. It was working together, rather than reacting. Everyone brought songs to the table, which was very cool. With the previous album, it was mostly Mark, Coen and me writing a lot. And now even Ariën joined in and that made it all feel refreshing. It's odd to say, but it's kind of a new beginning." Longtime EPICA collaborator Stephan Heilemann once again created the stunning artwork to accompany the ideas behind the lyrics. Once you lay your hands on the album artwork, you will see that the cover is part of a bigger picture.
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