Epica – We Still Take You With Us: An 11LP Symphonic Metal Treasure
Hi, Phil Aston here from Now Spinning Magazine, and this time it’s a proper deep dive into symphonic metal territory with Epica. What I’m looking at today is a truly impressive 11LP vinyl box set titled We Still Take You With Us, focusing on the band’s early years – and honestly, this is one of those sets that reminds you exactly why physical media still matters.
This box arrived only recently, so bear with me as I relive that first-opening excitement. The set is housed in a beautifully glossy, solid box, and inside you’ll find five core releases spread across eleven records. It’s also worth saying up front: this is apparently available in other formats too, possibly as a CD mediabook, but I’ve never seen that version. Vinyl was calling me here – and I’m glad it did.
Inside the Box: Albums, Pressings, and Packaging Joy
Lift the lid and you’re greeted by the albums neatly stacked inside. Every single release comes in gatefold sleeves, and yes – I checked – every record is housed in proper poly-lined inner sleeves. You know how important that is to me. This is a box set done by people who clearly care.
The journey starts with We Will Take You With Us and The Early Years material, presented as double albums. The presentation is superb, and several of these releases include lyric inserts, which is essential when you’re dealing with music this rich and layered.
Next up is Consign to Oblivion, an early Epica classic that I already owned on CD. Having it on vinyl feels like a real upgrade – again, double LP, gatefold sleeve, poly-lined inners, lyrics included. It’s exactly how this album deserves to be treated.
The Phantom Agony follows, another cornerstone of the band’s catalogue. Once again, beautifully presented, with some versions including extra tracks, acoustic takes, or piano versions, which really add depth and context to this era of the band.
Then there’s The Score – An Epic Journey. This is also a double album and sounds fantastic on vinyl.
Finally, right at the bottom of the box, is Live at the Paradiso – a triple LP live album, capturing Epica in their formative years on stage. All three records come in poly-lined sleeves, and it’s a brilliant live document that rounds the set off perfectly.
Epica are a band I deeply admire, even though – and you’ll probably guess this – the growled death-metal vocals paired with Simone Simons’ pure soprano voice took me a while to fully embrace. But that tension, that almost good-versus-evil dynamic, is exactly what makes the band so compelling. Once it clicks, it really clicks.
What truly sets Epica apart for me is how genuinely symphonic they are. This isn’t just metal with a few orchestral flourishes. They fully embrace classical structures, orchestration, and even complete orchestral reinterpretations of their own material. They sit right on that boundary between metal and classical music – and sometimes they cross it completely. Albums like The Classical Conspiracy are a perfect example of that, and it’s something Sue and I will be talking about properly very soon.
Phil Aston | Now Spinning Magazine
