Dutch symphonic metal stars Epica are celebrating the 10th anniversary of their fourth studio album “Design Your Universe” this fall. In November 2018, they announced five special anniversary shows taking place in Germany, The Netherlands, France, Turkey and Russia. Due to huge demand, the band has decided to bring the party to Latin America, too. Although, the celebrations don’t end with the anniversary tour. Epica will re-release “Design Your Universe” album with extra material later this year.
“We have recorded some really cool acoustic versions for a few songs,” revealed keyboardist Coen Janssen in a recent interview at Download Festival. According to guitarist Isaac Delahaye there’s gonna be a “new mix/master version with some extras on it. So there’s a bonus CD with a couple of acoustic versions of some of the songs.” “Five acoustic songs,” specified Coen Janssen.
As for the tour, Epica promises a special setlist focusing on the album, including fan-favourites such as “Kingdom Of Heaven” and “Design Your Universe”. Guitarist Mark Jansen states: “The title track shows us that we can all create our destiny and it’s still one of my favorite tracks to play live. Also, quite a few other songs of the album deserve to be played again and we will! Our set is gonna be filled with DYU songs so don’t miss one of these opportunities.”
The band’s been taking a break from heavy touring for a couple past months, concentrating on family and other projects. However, some of the members have already started working on a new studio album, the follow-up to 2016’s “The Holographic Principle”, behind the scenes. Regarding the release date, Isaac Delahaye said: “Probably next year. End of 2020.”
Edit: The special “gold edition” of “Design Your Universe” will be re-released as a 2-CD version and a digital version on October 4th via Nuclear Blast Records. Next to that, the acoustic songs will be released as a separate Picture Disc. Pre-orders will start on August 9th.
Simone Simons, the vocalist of the band, comments: “’Design Your Universe’ is an album that is very dear to me not only because of the music but also because of the message behind it. I am looking forward to the anniversary release and all the upcoming shows. The bonus CD is a worthy addition to DYU and I can’t wait for you all to hear the songs!”
Metal Goddesses 
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