Original Cover Design
- Sleeve 027/100: Omega (2021)
- Studio Album by Epica
- Label: Nuclear Blast
- Genre: Symphonic Metal
- Original Cover: Artwork by Stefan Heilemann
Sleeve #27 for my project #100albumsleeves is my current metal obsession 🤘🏽
I’ve been an Epica fan for more than a decade and I haven’t been this obsessed with one of their albums (as a whole) since the release of “Requiem for the Indifferent” in 2012.
There’s not a single skippable track on this album. A masterpiece from Alpha to Omega. To me, it feels like the best of all the Epica facets.
Despite how much I was enjoying the music I didn’t have a clear idea of what to create this week. This album is full of symbolism: the yin and yang, the omega point, good vs evil, mother nature, life after death, infinity, religion/spirituality, embracing our shadows…
I would normally spend 1 or 2 hours a day, from Monday to Thursday, working on this project. This time I spend 4 hours in a row on Thursday night. It was up until the last minute that something occurred to me.
The lyrics “What is above so is below” from the song “Kingdom Of Heaven Pt. 3 – The Antediluvian Universe” kept repeating in my head.
And the idea suddenly became clear: to fusion the mysterious universe (the above, the end) with the water depths (the below, the beginning), tied by the human consciousness (The noosphere).
I wanted to represent the Omega Point as a black hole (The Omega Point is a supposed future when everything in the universe spirals toward a final point of divine unification). I also chose water to represent “the below” in honor of the song “Rivers“.
Album Cover Redesign by franzmori. This is fan art, no copyright infringement intended.
The sketch vs the final illustration
I used a picture of Simone Simons as a reference but the woman in my painting looks nothing like her🙃.
After I was done I had the thought my piece looks like a mashup tribute to “the Quantum Enigma” and “The Holographic Principle” album covers 😂
Would you like your own Album Cover design?
I’m available for commissions!
Listen to the art! I’ll be adding a new album each week to this Spotify playlist HERE.
To know more about my personal project and see the rest of the cover designs in this series, go HERE.