Epica & Amaranthe / The Beacon / Bristol
Having seen Epica on tour a couple of years ago with Apocalyptica, I knew the 3 hour drive to the Beacon in Bristol, would be well worth it. A stunning venue, the crowds were here in force early for a packed bill, with three excellent bands. Epica are co-headlining the Arcane Demensions tour with the excellent Charlotte Wessls in support too !
First up on stage is Charlotte Wessels, a Dutch singer and songwriter, best known as former vocalist with symphonic metal band Delain. She was with Delain from 2004 to 2021 and they released 6 studio albums.
Since leaving Delain, Wessels has embarked on a solo career releasing the album s ”Tales From Six Feet Under”, “Tales from Six Feet Under, Vol. II”, and her most recent release “The Obsession”.
This was my first time seeing her Charlotte Wessels, who was supported by a band comprising of Timo Somers (guitar/vocals), Otto Schimmelpenninck van der Oije (bass), and Joey de Boer (drums) and Nina van Beelen (keyboards/vocals).
Her solo material is different to Delain, having a heavier edge to it, with riffing mixed with atmospheric passages and quirky vocal arrangement. The set opened with Chasing Sunsets and the first three songs certainly had a pretty rocking style.
Somers big riffs drive many of the songs, and he also found plenty of time to throw in a few big guitar solos. The Crying Room was a slower more mellow segment of the set where Nina’s soft harmonies added a great depth to the vocals. Indeed, in Soft Revolution another softer number, the lighter piece ended with Wessels and van Beelen singing together delivering some sumptuous harmonies. Their voices worked well together.
Next were a couple of new tracks with Tempest being the heavier of the two, with some great counterpoint harmonies from Somers added in at key points, followed by After Us, led by the piano sounds from Nina being the main focus.
The set ends with The Exorcism and Wessels received a great reception from the growing crowd. A fitting opening to the night.
Setlist
Chasing Sunsets
Dopamine
The Crying Room
Soft Revolution
Tempest
After Us, The Flood
The Exorcism
After a break to re-dress the stage, it’s time for Amaranthe, a Swedish heavy metal band The band is notable for their use of three lead vocalists! The band consists of Olof Mörck (guitar/keyboards), Elize Ryd (vocals), Morten Løwe Sørensen (drums), Johan Andreassen (bass), Nils Molin (vocals) and Mikael Sehlin (vocals).
They released their debut album, the self-titled “Amaranthe in 201, and have released six more, the most recent being 2024’s “The Catalyst”.
Amaranthe turned in a strong performance, with the three vocalists ensuring that there was plenty going on, on stage at all times with interplay between Elize Ryd, Nils Molin, and Mikael Sehlin being central to the performance, but guitarist and driving force Olof Mörck impressed with some fantastic guitar solos too
The setlist was a nice mix too, pulling from their full back catalogue, with perhaps most coming from 2020's “Manifest”. The set launches with the songs Fearless and Viral which get the set off to a fun start, but it was perhaps with Damnation Flame where the set really felt like it was motoring. Here, Sehlin’s harsh vocals were the highlight, but he delivered an impressive performance all night.
On songs like Maximize and the slower-paced Strong Elizes’ vocals were dominant, whereas Nils and Mikael took more of the lead on some of the heavier pieces like PvP and BOOM!1, where Sehlin half rapped/half growled his vocals during the verses whilst Molin joined in during the chorus.
A new track Chaos Theory had a heavier feel at its core that other Amaranthe material, and perhaps an indication of the direction the new album is heading.
As the set draws to a close we enjoy a selection of the older big hitters the highlight of these had to be the rendition of the ballad Amaranthine, where Mörck played the first verse and chorus of the song on the piano, while Ryd sang in a delicate and emotive manner. A real crowd pleaser, that had the audience singing along heartily.
The set is rounded off by The Nexus and Call Out My Name. After a brief exit from the stage, they returned for a three song encore which kicked off with the heavier Archangel, before a lighter feel dominates the final two, with the anthemic That Song (which included a section of Queen's We Will Rock You) before the groovy industrial sound of Drop Dead Cynical.
Thoroughly enjoyable.
Setlist
Fearless
Viral
Digital World
Damnation Flame
Maximize
Strong
PvP
Crystalline
Boom!1
The Catalyst
Re-Vision
Chaos Theory
Amaranthine
The Nexus
Call Out My Name
Encore:
Archangel
That Song
Drop Dead Cynical
And finally, it’s time for Epica to take to the stage. Epica are a Dutch symphonic metal band founded by guitarist and vocalist Mark Jansen after his departure from After Forever. They released their debut album “The Phantom Agony” in 2003 and have released nine in total, the most recent being 2025’s “Aspiral”.
Epica’s current line up is Mark Jansen (guitar & vocals), Coen Janssen (keyboards), Simone Simons (vocals), Ariën van Weesenbeek (drums), Isaac Delahaye (guitar) and Rob van der Loo (bass).
The lights are out and the band head on to the stage, and brilliant white spots shine through the mist, highlighting Simone standing on the centre of the rear riser platform, with either a shawl or veil, silhouetted against the bright rear lights.
Epica open the set up with two tracks from the latest album “Aspiral” in Apparition
and Cross the Divide. Apparition is a groovy number as Simone walked out to the mic, in a black dress and shades, giving off cyberpunk gothic vibes. Cross the Divide is more dramatic and up-tempo.
What I love about Epica is how much they seem to enjoy playing live, especially Coen on keyboards. His main keyboard is mounted on a mechanism that allows him to spin it completely round on its axis and he also uses a curves keytar which allows him to move fluidly round the stage waving and gesturing to the crowd.
Simone is on the move constantly, interacting with the other band members and waving to the audience, and as always, she delivers a stunning vocal performance, supported by Mark Jansen whose growls were as potent as ever. I really enjoyed the The growl battle between him and Isaac Delahaye during the next track Martyr of the Free Word which has a distinctly death metal vibe to it.
Eye of the Storm has a more symphonic feel to it in which Jansen delivers some growls during the verses as Simons handled the massive chorus sections. It was great to see fan favourite Unleashed, return to the live setlist with the opening verse sung against the backdrop of Janssen's piano and strings. It gave the song a different feel, but once the rest of the band kicked in after the first chorus it grew in depth and ended powerfully.
One of my favourites had to be Sirens (Of Blood and Water) which saw Charlotte Wessels return to the stage to duet with Simone, and the duet made the gothic, slow-burning number really shine.
But the end of this stunning vocal moment was spoilt as shortly after the song ended a fire alarm went off, and although the venue did not need to be evacualted, it led to a long 10 minute break.
A potential atmosphere killer, but no ! The band took to the stage again and continued where they left off. A mellow return to warm us all up with the ballad Tides of Time, featuring just Simons and Janssen, before the energy is returned with the epic The Grand Saga of Existence which proved to maybe be the song of the night, with it’s huge chorus sections made for cavernous venues.
The ever popular Cry for the Moon prompted the Bristol crowd to burst into song before another new song in Fight to Survive (The Overview Effect) kept things fresh.
Epica didn’t leave the stage, taking the applause and waving to the crowd, before delivering a two song encore starting with old favourite The Last Crusade before ending on the upbeat and decidedly funky tones of Beyond the Matrix packed with power a great way to close the set.
Epica never disappoint, and tonight they delivered a performance for the ages.
All three, Charlotte Wessels, Amaranthe and Epica were outstanding and are a live match made in heaven. A night that will live long in the memories of everyone present.
A three hour drive home, and the double flash from a camera under a motorway bridge could not dampen my night….. totally worth it !
Setlist
Apparition
Cross the Divide
Martyr of the Free Word
Eye of the Storm
Unleashed
Never Enough
Sirens - Of Blood and Water (with Charlotte Wessels) (~10 minute break after song due to fire alarm going off)
Tides of Time
The Grand Saga of Existence – A New Age Dawns, Part IX
Cry for the Moon
Fight to Survive
The Last Crusade
Beyond the Matrix
