Mark Jansen

AM : Hi Mark, Simone, and all @ Epica and welcome backon Ars Metallia, "Mirror Palace" is a killer ! First, I'd like to know how was received "Consigns to Oblivion" by the fans and the medias?

Mark : I have the impression that the majority of our fans prefer The Phantom Agony above Consign to Oblivion but that the latter sounds more mature and professional. But the favourite song of the fans is also still on Consign to Oblivion (the song Consign to Oblivion). The media wrote good reviews but not as good as the reviews from TPA. So I think we made progression as a band but we kept on playing the old songs live as well as we want to listen to the fans.

AM : Tell us a bit about your project 'The score, it was an original motion soundtrack ? Do you want to repeat this experience ?

Mark : Composing the score was a great experience for Yves and me but next time I only do it again if it's for a professional movie, unfortunately dutch movies often have a small budget so there are not much possibilities. Nevertheless Transmission Records payed as well for the production costs so it was still possible to record a professional soundtrack. Unfortunately the moviemakers changed a lot of my music in the movie so I was not happy anymore with the endresult and we decided to release the Score without any link to the movie. That was a good decision as the movie became a flop and the score still sold very well. Still I gained a lot of experience by this project so if there's another chance in the future again for me I'll take this chance. But it needs to be a professional company

AM : Why did you leave Transmission and how did you get a deal with Nuclear Blast, why them ?

Mark : Transmission Records is bankrupt. When they went bankrupt it was very soon known by the other companies in the metal industry that Epica was unsigned. So a lot of metallabels showed their interest since November last year. We were very close to a deal with Century Media but suddenly Nuclear Blast showed renewed interest and came up with the dreamdeal. Simply an offer we couldn't refuse ;-)

AM :Mark, I have to say that you are an honest guy, in our last interview, in 2005, you promised us a new album two years later, and a heavier one, and this is exactly what wet got ! Many bands tend to become softer and more accessible with time, especially in this genre of metal, but you obviously don't ! :) We have even blast beats and more screams and grunts than before, longer and even more epic compositions… your music is even more unique and personnal too

Mark : Yes, that's indeed what we had in mind and fortunately we realised it. This is where our heart goes to, more heavy music and complexer structures. We live in a society where everything seems to be fast and in a hurry. Easy food (MC Donalds), easy tv (soaps) and easy music (top 40), we don't want to go with the flow. Composingwise it was not an easy album to make but I'm more than happy with the end result.

AM : The new album is also more symphonic and bombastic than ever, how did Sascha Paeth manage to record so many tracks, is there a true symphonic orchestra on this record ?

Mark : There is a real choir singing but for all orchestra elements we have used samples. It's very hard to mix down so many tracks and sometimes you have to make hard decisions as it's impossible to hear everything. But sascha has a lot of experience with this kind of bands so he knows how to handle the job :)

AM : It's a concept album about God who sent all various religions on Earth to see if we could find the real one, tell us a bit about this, why this choice ? We also find the end of "The embrace that smothers", from which the first episode came … on the first After Forever album !

Mark : It's not to find the real one, the test is that people have to find out that all religions have the same source, in case people won't find out they will go on killing each other in the 'name of god' and try to persuade people from other beliefs to make a switch. It's important that we respect each other more.

AM : What is your planning after the release of "The divine conspiracy" ?

Mark : The plan is to tour a lot, we have several big tours booked yet and I look vey much forward to them!!!

AM : Mark, tell us about your support to the WWF and the cycle marathon you did for them in France ? Did you take dopes like the bikers of the Tour de France ? ;)

Mark : haha not at all and that's the reason probably why I suffered so much ;-) the last coll was terrible. To start from the beginning: Last year during my holidays I was watching cyclist who were riding La Marmotte and I wanted to do the same. Cycling has always been my passion and even though I'm kind of in a good shape, this marathon over 4 big mountains is known as a death race. I'm always into challenges and searching for my limits. I got in touch with WNF and they liked the idea of me riding that race and looking for sponsorship. I started training right away and because we didn't have that many tours the first half of 2007 it was possible for me to train on a regular base. I collected almost 4.000€ and finished the race :)

AM : To end this interview, I'd like to know what are the last cd's (or mp3's) you've bought ?

Mark : I recently bought the new cd of Symphony X and I love the album. Great songs, catchy choruses and progressive guitarparts.

AM : Thanks for the interview and all the best for this third Epica album ! Last words are yours…

Mark : Stay metal and fuck the commercial radio!