With their latest masterpiece, Epica set new standards. 2016’s The Holographic Principle is the most epochal, multi-layered, courageous and successful record of the band, reaching top 10 chart position entries in the German, Dutch and Swiss album charts.

Accordingly, all the tracks written for the album process are high-quality, but not all songs have been put on the album. "This is only based on the fact that the record should not exceed 76 minutes," explains Mark Jansen.

Since the band didn’t like the idea of a double CD, they finally decided to release an EP with six brand-new numbers, which were created during the creative phase of The Holographic Principle. The Solace System EP will be released on September 1st via Nuclear Blast.

Mark Jansen about the songs: "The listeners can expect a high-quality EP - with songs that are far too good to use them only as bonus tracks. We wanted to publish these songs together in a context. It is always hard to decide at the end of a recording process which songs will be on the album, because this means that you have to miss some songs with best quality, just because they do not fit quite well into the overall flow of the record or because there are other songs that are more suited to the lyrics.”

So much the better then that Epica have chosen to publish those songs in an EP. Due to this EP, no one has to miss these damn strong songs that, just like the album, consist from a contrasting versatility, equally opulent, bombastic moments, as well as filigree emotionality.

This is proven in the new music video to the title track “The Solace System” produced by anime-master Davide Cilloni, which you can see below.

The Solace System was recorded, mixed & mastered by team Joost van den Broek and Jacob Hansen. The splendid artwork is once again by the hand of Stefan Heilemann.

Simone Simons (vocalist) comments on the EP: "During the early writing process of The Holographic Principle we found out that we were blessed with a huge amount of songs. The songs that didn't fit on our album are now available for you on this special EP! I hope you guys will enjoy these songs as much as we do!"

And if that wasn't enough, you'll be also able to purchase the new EP, The Solace System, together with the CD of their recent studio album The Holographic Principle as a box set! It will be called The Holographic Principle - The Ultimate Edition.

The box set, The Holographic Principle - The Ultimate Edition as well as the The Solace System EP are now available for pre-order here for physical or here for digital.

Tracklisting:

“The Solace System”
“Fight Your Demons”
“Architect Of Light”
“Wheel Of Destiny”
“Immortal Melancholy”
“Decoded Poetry”

“The Solace System” video:

Epica will return to North America this August and September for the North American leg of The Ultimate Principle Tour, the band’s biggest North American tour to date. The band will be joined on this tour by Italian Gothfathers Lacuna Coil, their friends in Finnish melodic death metal Insomnium and newcomers Elantris.

Dates are listed below.

August
31 - Royale - Boston, MA

September
1 - Metropolis - Montreal, QC
2 - Imperial Theater - Quebec City, QC
3 - Opera House - Toronto, ON
5 - The Agora - Theatre Cleveland, OH
6 - The Forge - Joliet, IL
8 - Ogden - Theatre Denver, CO
9 - The Complex - Salt Lake City, UT
11 - The Showbox - Seattle, WA
12 - The Hawthorne Theater - Portland, OR  
14 - The UC Theater - Berkeley, CA
15 - The NOVO - Los Angeles, CA
16 - The Observatory - Santa Ana, CA
17 - Marquee Theatre - Phoenix, AZ
19 - Alamo Music Hall - San Antonio, TX
20 - Gas Monkey Live! - Dallas, TX
21 - Warehouse Live - Houston, TX
23 - Revolution Live - Ft Lauderdale, FL
24 - The Plaza Live - Orlando, FL
25 - Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
27 - Ram's Head Live! - Baltimore, MD
28 - Trocadero Theatre - Philadelphia, PA
29 - Playstation Theater - New York, NY

VIP tickets for this tour including a meet & greet, photo opportunity with the band, exclusive merchandise and more are on sale now through epica.vip.

Epica have launched a video trailer for the European leg of the band’s The Ultimate Principle Tour, kicking off on November 9th in Poland and featuring support form Vuur and Myrath. Watch the clip below.

Tour dates:

November
9 - Klub Studio - Kracow, Poland
12 - Kesselhaus - Berlin, Germany
13 - Markthalle - Hamburg (Altstadt), Germany
14 - Essigfabrik - Cologne, Germany
15 - La BAM - Metz, France
17 - Stereolux - Nantes, France
18 - Krakatoa - Mérignac, France
20 - La Riviera - Madrid, Spain
24 - Razzmatazz 1 - Barcelona, Spain
25 - Le Moulin - Marseille, France
26 - Le Transbordeur - Villeurbanne, France
29 - Backstage - Munich, Germany

December
3 - L'Aeronef - Lille, France