Mayan | Recording debut album

MAYAN, the new band featuring EPICA guitarist/songwriter Mark Jansen alongside Jack Driessen (ex-After Forever) and Frank Schiphorst, will release its debut album, Quarterpast, on May 20 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD is being recorded and mixed by Sascha Paeth.


Quarterpast will feature vocal contributions from musicians as:

• Mark Jansen (EPICA, ex-After forever)
• Ariën van Weesenbeek (Epica)
• Jack Driessen (ex-After forever)
• Floor Jansen (Revamp, ex-After forever)
• Simone Simons (Epica)
• Henning Basse (Sons Of Seasons)
• Laura Macrì (Italian opera singer)

When asked if the Mayan material will — conceptually and lyrically — be similar to Epica, Mark replied, "Lyrically, you will find a lot of comparisons because it's my style of writing. I didn't attempt to write about completely different stuff. It could have been lyrics for an Epica CD as well but music-wise it's completely different. It contains way more grunts and it's way more heavy. It is still symphonic because I love that kind of music. It's like a mixture of Symphony X and Opeth style. That kind of direction."


MAYAN is:

• Mark Jansen (Epica, ex-After forever) – Guitar, Vocals
• Jack Driessen (ex-After forever) - Keyboards
• Frank Schiphorst - Guitar, Vocals
• Jeroen Paul Thesseling (Pestilence, Obscura) - Bass
• Isaac Delahaye (Epica) - Guitar
• Ariën van Weesenbeek (Epica) - Drums

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