Epica singer Simone Simons announces debut solo album Vermillion, lead single Aeterna now streaming

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Epica’s lead vocalist is going it alone, with help from Ayreon mainstay Arjen Lucassen

Simone Simons in 2024
(Image credit: Press)

Epica singer Simone Simons has announced her debut solo album Vermillion.

The Dutch symphonic metal vocalist will release the record via Nuclear Blast on August 23.

The artwork is available below.

Vermillion’s lead single, Aeterna, is now streaming.

The song is a collaboration with Ayreon mastermind Arjen Lucassen.

Simons and Lucassen comment on the new track: “Aeterna is the big, epic opener of the album and it comes with this amazing video too, directed by Patric Ullaeus.

“It definitely sounds the closest to  Epica and Ayreon, blending powerful Latin lyrics with a touch of an oriental feel. We’ve tried to strike a balance between the mighty, bombastic sounds and the more atmospheric parts.

“Since it’s the first track people will hear from this album, it’s super important to us and we’re really excited for people to hear it!”

They continue: “Aeterna takes the point of view of a star about to go supernova to explore how everything in the universe is interconnected, like a cosmic web made from stardust.

“It deals with our deep emotions, consciousness and other mysteries of life that science still can’t fully explain. Essentially it’s a reflection on our place in the vast universe and the connections that bind us together, as we’re all, to quote Carl Sagan, ‘made of starstuff’.”

Epica released their latest full-length album, Omega, in 2021 and the EP The Alchemy Project in 2022.

In March, Simons told Summa Inferno that a new Epica album will be released in 2025.

“I love the songs so far that we’ve written,” she said (per Blabbermouth).

“There’s more [songs that have been written] than fit on the album. So it’s gonna be cool. And we won’t tour that much this year. So we are focusing on the Epica album and the Symphonic Synergy shows [where Epica will play alongside an orchestra], which is a lot of work.”

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Simone Simons Vermillion album cover

(Image credit: Nuclear Blast)
Matt Mills
Matt Mills
Online Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.