Epica

The Dutch metal band Epica is a band of extremes. Female vocals, curtsey of lead singer Simone Simons, provide a matronly quality to the music, but with aggressive instrumentation and occasional death grunts, the band's songs are well balanced pieces of composition. The band has been referred to as power metal, progressive metal, gothic metal as well as symphonic metal; and for those of us who don't know (and honestly don't care) about the differences between these genres the group's music might just be perceived as hard rock with a clearly defined Scandinavian back bone.