Dutch symphonic rockers EPICA have issued the following update:

"Epica's North-American leg of the Design Your Universe Tour with THREAT SIGNAL and BLACKGUARD will start next week. Coen (Janssen / keyboards) will not be joining Epica because of personal reasons. He will be replaced by Oliver Palotai (KAMELOT, SONS OF SEASONS, DORO).

A statement from Coen can be read below.

The pre-sales are going very well! Virginia, NYC, Montreal and Worcester are on their way to sell out! If you don't have your tickets yet, be sure to check out www.epica.nl for tickets with no shipping costs and the lowest service charges anywhere. We hope to see you all on the road!"

Janssen's statement:

"Dear Fans,

I wanted to inform you all about the fact that I will not be joining Epica on the road during the North-American leg of the Design Your Universe tour. Having been in the band from the start and never having missed a single show made this a very hard decision, but a decision I had to make.

I feel blessed being in a band like Epica, with whom I can make the music I like, play great shows all over the world, meet a lot of people and live the rock & roll life. However, if I had to name one negative thing, it would be combining "work" with my private life. It is always a struggle which of the two comes first. As you probably agree, most of the times the band wins. That is why you are always on the road when it's your girlfriend's birthday or your parents' anniversary. Luckily for me the homefront is, and has always been, very supportive of me and they let me do whatever needs to be done to get Epica to a higher level. This time however, I have to choose the other way.

As you might have heard I am getting married to my girlfriend Linda in April of this year. Having released Design Your Universe last October and basicly having been on the road promoting the album ever since, we found ourselves lacking the time to get everything arranged properly. Because Epica's schedule is very tight, there was also no room anymore to 'live towards the moment' together that should be one of the most important days of our lives. I gave this a lot of thought and finally have decided that I had to choose for the homefront for once.

Fortunately, the band reacted very positive towards my decision and a replacement was found pretty easily. I'm very honoured that Oliver Palotai (Kamelot, Sons Of Seasons, Doro) will guard the Epica keys during the tour. As I know Oliver, I am sure he will do his utmost to give the crowd what it needs and even make Epica a bit more handsome at the same time...

I hope that my guys and girl will have a lot of fun in the USA and Canada and I will follow their adventures closely. I was really looking forward to rock the States, see the fans and have breakfast at McDonald's with Willem. I'll surely miss being on stage with the guys and I wish them all the success they need!!

See you all next tour!"

Cheers,

Coen

Epica's upcoming North American tour schedule is as follows:

January

26 - Jaxx - W. Springfield, VA
27 - Trocadero - Philadelphia, PA
29 - The Blender Theater at Gramercy - New York, NY
30 - The Palladium - Worcester, MA
31 - Club Soda - Montreal, QC

February

1 - MOD Club - Toronto, ON
3 - Peabody’s - Cleveland, OH
4 - The Pearl Room - Mokena, IL
5 - The Rave - Milwaukee, WI
6 - Station 4 - St. Paul, MN
8 - Royal Albert Arms - Winnipeg, MB
10 - Starlite Room - Edmonton, AB
11 - Warehouse - Calgary, AB
13 - Sugar Nightclub - Victoria, BC
14 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
15 - Hawthorne Theater - Portland, OR
17 - Slims - San Francisco, CA
18 - The Key Club - Hollywood, CA
19 - U.B’s Bar - Mesa, AZ
20 - The Rock - Tucson, AZ
22 - Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO
23 - Marquee - Tulsa, OK
24 - Scout Bar - Houston, TX
25 - Scout Bar - San Antonio, TX
27 - Volume 11 - Raleigh, NC
28 - The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA

As previously reported, Epica's February 5th date at The Rave in Milwaukee, WI will be available for free streaming online at this location.