Epica - Saga - The Embrace That Smothers

The Embrace That Smothers is the collective title for a series of songs written largely by composer Mark Jansen and with help from Simone Simons, Ad Sluijter, Coen Janssen, and Yves Huts. The songs are performed by After Forever and Epica and spread out over three different albums.

The theme of the series is the danger involved in organized religion. The songs therefore contain ideas that could be considered "anti-religious". The songs contain lyrics in both English and Latin.

The first four songs were released on After Forever's 2000 album Prison of Desire. The next album by After Forever, Decipher, did not contain any songs from the series. After that album Mark Jansen departed from After Forever, but continued The Embrace That Smothers with his new band Epica. The next three parts in the series were released on Epica's 2003 debut album, The Phantom Agony. In 2007, on Epica's The Divine Conspiracy, the final three parts of the series were released.

Related songs

There are two songs in Epica's repertoire that reference an 'embrace' in their titles: 'Adyta - The Neverending Embrace,' (The Phantom Agony) and 'La‘petach Chatat Rovetz - The Last Embrace.' (The Divine Conspiracy) Despite the allusion to an embrace, which could possibly be a reference to The Embrace That Smothers, neither song is recognized as part of The Embrace That Smothers. 'La‘petach Chatat Rovetz - The Last Embrace,' is, however, used as an introduction to part 7 of The Embrace That Smothers, 'Death of a Dream.'

Song listing

#	Title	Length	Band	Album	Year
Prologue	Mea Culpa	2:00	After Forever	Prison Of Desire	2000
1	Leaden Legacy	5:07	After Forever	Prison Of Desire	2000
2	Follow In The Cry	4:08	After Forever	Prison Of Desire	2000
3	Yield To Temptation	5:53	After Forever	Prison Of Desire	2000
4	Cry for the Moon	6:44	Epica	The Phantom Agony	2003
5	Façade of Reality	8:12	Epica	The Phantom Agony	2003
6	Seif al Din	5:47	Epica	The Phantom Agony	2003
7	Death of a Dream	6:03	Epica	The Divine Conspiracy	2007
8	Living a Lie	4:56	Epica	The Divine Conspiracy	2007
9	Fools of Damnation	8:42	Epica	The Divine Conspiracy	2007