A Restored Window Into Epica’s Formative Years

Run for a Fall returns in vivid form with a newly remastered official live video taken from Epica’s We Will Take You With Us. Captured during the band’s first major television appearance, the performance has been hard to find in physical formats since 2007. It now re-emerges as part of We Still Take You With Us, a career-spanning collection that gathers this TV-session recording alongside the long-circulating yet previously unreleased Live at Paradiso, and the Dutch symphonic metal group’s first three studio albums: The Phantom Agony, Consign to Oblivion and The Score.

The reissue places an essential early document back into circulation, mapping how Epica’s hybrid of metal and orchestral heft cohered onstage even in their earliest high-profile moments.

The Song’s Core: Lament, Resolve and Cinematic Scale

Run for a Fall has long sat near the emotional center of Epica’s early work. Originally known to fans from The Phantom Agony, the composition balances intimate reflection with a sense of looming consequence. Its lyrical language deals in fracture and self-preservation, the need to step away before the ground gives out. The musical trajectory mirrors that arc: a patient opening unfurls through piano and atmospheric keys, then crests into a powerful chorus where orchestral layers and guitars move in lockstep.

Simone Simons’ voice is the anchor, shifting from poised vulnerability to a fuller, commanding resonance as the arrangement builds. Mark Jansen’s guitars reinforce that ascent, lending weight and contour without crowding the song’s melodic line. Keyboards and choral textures fill the periphery, offering a widescreen backdrop that keeps the track tethered to Epica’s symphonic DNA even when the performance leans into restraint.

Live Dynamics That Define Early Epica

This We Will Take You With Us rendition underscores the band’s command of dynamics. The first passages breathe, led by clear vocal phrasing and piano figures, before drums and rhythm guitar lift the mid-section with crisp forward motion. Strings and choirs, whether performed live or channeled through carefully arranged keys, enhance the sense of scale without blurring the rhythm section’s punch.

The arrangement’s strength lies in contrast. Quiet verses open space for sentiment and diction, while the climactic passages benefit from tightened riffs and a focused low end. The result is both intimate and cinematic, a balance Epica would refine across subsequent releases.

From Television Archive to Curated Box Set

The performance in question, the band’s first major TV appearance, has been out of physical print since 2007. Its restoration within We Still Take You With Us corrects a long-standing gap for listeners who follow the group’s early output. The collection frames the concert within a broader context: Live at Paradiso, a fan-favorite show finally granted a full release, and the first three studio records that defined the core of Epica’s identity.

Taken together, these materials trace how the band evolved from intricate studio productions into a unit capable of translating orchestral ambition to the stage, using smart arrangement choices and a tightly drilled rhythm section to support expansive melodies.

Release Formats and Availability

We Still Take You With Us arrives in multiple physical and digital configurations to suit different listeners and collectors. Options include:

  • An 11-disc vinyl box set covering the archival live performances and the early studio era.
  • An Earbook edition with 36 pages and 8 discs, combining music and archival materials in a hardbound volume.
  • A 4-CD clamshell box for a compact, comprehensive audio overview.
  • Standalone availability for Live at Paradiso and We Will Take You With Us via download and streaming.
  • A dedicated 2-CD + Blu-ray release for Live at Paradiso.

Each format restores access to recordings that have either circulated piecemeal or remained difficult to obtain, giving longtime followers and new listeners a practical route into the band’s foundational years.

Remastering That Serves the Performance

The video is newly remastered by HDFactory, with improved clarity and color balance that respect the look of the original broadcast. Audio remastering emphasizes separation and headroom, allowing the vocal lines, piano and guitar textures to sit more naturally within the mix. Rather than aiming for a modern over-polish, the update preserves the live immediacy that made the performance resonate in the first place.

Position Within Epica’s Early Catalog

Viewed alongside The Phantom Agony, Consign to Oblivion and The Score, this rendition of Run for a Fall pinpoints the elements that would become enduring markers of Epica’s style: thematic ambition, a patient sense of build, and the interplay between luminous melodies and rhythmic muscle. It shows how the band leveraged classical timbres and choir-like layers to frame hooks that are unmistakably metal at their core.

For fans tracing the arc from studio conception to stage realization, this video and its companion releases outline a blueprint: careful orchestration on record, translated live through orchestral keys, choral voicings, and rhythm section discipline, with Simone Simons’ timbre providing a bright through-line.

Who This Release Will Speak To

  • Longtime followers seeking a definitive, polished version of a milestone TV performance.
  • Listeners interested in the early-2000s symphonic metal surge, looking for primary documents that capture the movement’s aesthetic at the source.
  • Newcomers curious about how Epica blends operatic vocals, cinematic arrangements and tactile riffing in a live context.

Closing Perspective

Run for a Fall, as presented on We Will Take You With Us, distills what made Epica’s rise compelling: clarity of voice, orchestrated intensity and a compositional arc that rewards patience. Its reappearance within We Still Take You With Us restores a missing piece of the band’s story and offers a focused portrait of Epica at the moment their grand design began to resonate beyond the studio. For a group defined by scale, this is a crucial close-up.



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