Epinikion are a Dutch Symphonic Metal band. The band was founded in 2020 by keyboardist Renate de Boer and guitarist Robert Tangerman, originally planned as a Rock Opera project. Their debut album ‘Inquisition’ was released in 2022. It took almost four years to complete the follow-up, ‘The Force of Nature’. During this time, a completely new line-up was put together, except for the two masterminds. Now it’s time to ask the musicians some curious questions. Renate answered my questions.
Hello. My name is Rainer and I write for Keep on Rocking and Metalheads Forever Magazine. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview with me. How are you? You are still a young and relatively unknown band. Please introduce yourselves briefly.
Thank you, Rainer! We are very happy that you support us by having this interview with us and will give you the answers as good as we can! We are Rutger (bass), Renate (keys), Robert (rhythm guitar), Maarten (lead guitar), Michal (drums) and Kimberley (vocals). Let’s not forget our backing vocalist Nala, the white shepherd, haha!
I read that the two founders of the band, Renate de Boer and Robert Tangerman, are former athletes. How did you come up with the idea of making music and starting a band?
After our athletic careers ended, we continued making music. We both really enjoyed it, and since we also did a lot of sports together, it was an obvious choice to continue working together. And so it happened.
‘Epinikion’ comes from the Greek and means ‘hymn for the winner’. How did you come up with this name?
The birthplace of athletics is, of course, Greece, where many sporting events related to this sport were founded. The grand winners of these events were assigned a kind of victory song, in which their heroic deeds and hard work were sung at length, accompanied by music and dance. In our logo, a phoenix appears through the word Epinikion, symbolizing us as athletes who, like musicians, have risen from the ashes of their sport.
How did you acquire your musical knowledge? Did you have musical training?
Yes, we’re all musically trained, in very diverse fields and sometimes even on different instruments. Kimberley still takes singing lessons, both classical and modern. She’s a relatively new singer, having only started as an adult, and is still developing.
Epinikion were originally conceived as an Opera Metal project. Nowadays, the band is classified as Epic Symphonic Metal. Is that what you wanted to do from the beginning?
Yes, our debut album is essentially a rock opera, but besides that and above all, it is an album. Our initial intention was to make that album, even though it had a clear story and featured the various scenes of a rock opera. We’ve been playing epic symphonic metal from the beginning, and we still do. I think we always will because it’s truly our thing. Of course, there wasn’t a permanent lineup at the start because nobody knew us. That’s why we were forced to work with session musicians, as it’s not easy music to play. Only after we’d been playing for a while and had searched diligently for serious musicians who also wanted to be permanent member, willing to invest, did a permanent lineup emerge. That’s only been the case for two years.
How would you describe Epinikion’s current sound?
The music is characterized by “walls of sound” formed by harmonic and bombastic orchestral lines that merge with heavy guitar riffs. Kimberley’s clear vocal style ranges from delicate moments to powerful, soaring eruptions. Our songs are mostly big and bombastic but interspersed with vulnerable and intimate moments. We do have a typical sound of a symphonic metal band, but it is very varied and colored with a personal touch, which means we are absolutely not a copy of other symphonic metal bands. We would not want to be labelled as such in any way, we have too much respect for others for that.
Your second album, ‘The Force of Nature,’ was recently released. Where did you get the ideas for the music and lyrics?
Our music often explores deeper emotional and nature-related themes, as heard on our albums. The lyrics certainly relate to my background as a psychologist, but they also connect to the right to be yourself and leave the past behind. Kimberley also has her own themes that are used in the songs.
After the debut album ‘Inquisition’, there were a lot of changes in the line-up. Was it difficult to find new band members?
There haven’t been any lineup changes. There have always been session musicians until two years ago who, while they played with us (Robert and Renate), didn’t do anything other than their musical contributions to our music, so they played on a session basis. The current members are true team members, and we work together as a band with a fixed lineup and all the investments a regular band member normally makes. On all fronts.
Are you satisfied with the current album?
Yes, we’re incredibly proud of the fantastic result of our second album. We’ve squeezed everything out of it, and it’s wonderful that so many people are already saying that they can hear how hard we worked on it. We look back with great gratitude on the collaboration with fantastic people who achieved this together with us.
What were the reactions of the fans and the press?
We’ve been surprised by the overwhelmingly positive reactions to our album from the press. Of course, everyone has their own opinion, but we’ve received so much positive feedback, and according to the press, we’re well on our way to a strong position in the symphonic metal scene. That’s fantastic to hear!
When you compare ‘Inquisition’ and ‘The Force of Nature’, what are the differences between the two albums?
The technical differences in production and arrangements are clear. It’s still a debut album, and we started with no significant experience in that regard. We really enjoyed creating a concept album with a storyline and a basis in Dutch history. With ‘The Force of Nature,’ there’s a theme but no storyline and certainly no historical basis. A completely different approach, in other words. Both albums have their own charm and uniqueness; everyone agrees on that.
You released both albums independently. How difficult was it to balance working on the album with your day jobs?
What an interesting question! We haven’t been asked that before, even though it’s such an important topic! We’re very enthusiastic and driven, so it’s a risk that we, as driving forces (Kimberley, Robert, and Renate), take on far too much. We do challenge each other on that, but let’s be honest: if you want to get ahead in sports or music, you have to work incredibly hard. That requires a certain mentality, and we simply have that. We’re more likely to do too much than too little. That’s in our nature, and it always will be. Finding the balance is a struggle, but that’s okay because the results speak for themselves.
Will you also be performing your songs live outside the Netherlands?
Absolutely, we’ve been abroad many times because the music is well received there. We also enjoy traveling and meeting people from all kinds of cultures. We’ll be venturing into Central Europe soon, and we’re very curious to see how the live performances are received there.
What does the future hold for Epinikion? Are you already working on new song material?
No one knows exactly what the future holds, but if the reactions and feedback we’re already receiving are anything to go by, Epinikion has a bright future ahead of it. That would be fantastic, of course, because we want nothing more than to perform and share our energy with the audience. Hopefully, we’ll get more festival appearances and grow to a position where we have the opportunity to perform in countries with a greater affinity for symphonic metal. In the Netherlands and Belgium, that genre is much less appreciated than in countries like Germany, France, or Greece. If we had the right support, we’d love to go there. Unfortunately, that’s only possible to a limited extent at the moment.As the creator of the songs, I always have something on the shelf. These are the basic elements from which we compose complete songs, and I make sure they’re documented so we can develop them when the time comes. Right now, everything is focused on the release of the second album, and that’s where most of our time and energy is going. All in good time.
Thank you once again for the interview. Would you like to say anything to the fans before we finish?
We want to thank our fans immensely for their support and enthusiasm, and we realize it’s thanks to them that we can continue our music and performances so vigorously. All praise and love to them!
Epinikion are:
Kimberley Jongen – Vocals
Maarten Jungschläger – Lead Guitar
Robert Tangerman – Rhythm Guitar
Renate de Boer – Keyboard
Rutger Klijn – Bass
Michal Gis – Drums
Discography:
In the Middle of the Night – Single 2021
Strangers in the Dark – Single 2021
False Faced Demon – Single 2021
Inquisition – Album 2022
The Force of Nature – Single 2025
Lessons in Life (Are for Free) – Single 2025
Run with the Wolves – Single 2026
The Force of Nature – Album 2026
Social Media:
Bandcamp – https://epinikion.bandcamp.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/epinikion
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/epinikionofficial/
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbzGgWkQeY46mgTEIpCLKSw
Homepage – https://epinikion.org/
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/music/player/artists/B08T67548X/epinikion
Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/artist/epinikion/1549191737
