Epica The Quantum Enigma Interview
Interview conducted by phone w/ lead vocalist: Simone Simons April 7, 2014

For me, a new Epica album signals an all new musical jigsaw puzzle to puzzle over. With every subsequent release from this very talented Dutch metal act, listeners are always guaranteed to hear something that carries substance. depth, and mystery, which are the distinguishing elements of skillful art.

Their newest album-The Quantum Enigma- is appropriately named, since the concept behind each of the album’s songs are shrouded in mystery. When you first listen to it, the listener observes different things in each of the complex, symphonic-metal tracks on the album. Essentially, the songs themselves reflect the erratic, ineffable nature of quantum physics, in that the observer of a certain subatomic particle reaction always sees that reaction behave in a different, unpredictable way each time it is observed.

Book Review & Interview with Jill Hughes Kirtland

Not Just Tits in a Corset. If there’s one phrase that really sums up the state of female-fronted metal in today’s world, that would be it. It also happens to be the title of a new book by Jill Hughes Kirtland, journalist, band manager, and former owner of the online magazine USA Progressive Music. Not Just Tits in a Corset: Celebrating Women in Metal is an amazing collection of interviews and photographs of not only the great female musicians that play in our favorite bands, but also the women working behind the scenes in the music industry to promote women in metal music.