The Holographic Principle
2016 album by Epica
The Holographic Principle is the seventh studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Epica, released on 30 September 2016. The album was produced by Joost van den Broek and mixed by Jacob Hansen. The release date along with the album's title and cover was revealed on Epica's website on 3 June 2016, the tracklisting was revealed on 17 June 2016.
The album is notable for being the only release without band leader Mark Jansen as guitarist, as he only provides growled vocals; Isaac Delahaye played all guitars on the album.
No reason has been given for this, either from Jansen or Delahaye.
The theme is the idea that the universe might be a digitally-generated hologram.
The tracks "Universal Death Squad" (released on 29 July 2016) and "Edge of the Blade" (released on 8 September 2016)., appeared as singles.
Background, recording and writing
After Epica's 2014 album The Quantum Enigma was well received and the band toured Europe, Asia, Africa and both South and North America, halfway through 2015, Epica started a new journey – writing and recording their seventh studio album The Holographic Principle. "In between touring, we spent our time in the Sandlane Recording Facilities with producer Joost van den Broek" explained guitarist Isaac Delahaye. The songwriting process took a year, and resulted in 27 songs written, but 18 songs recorded; 12 were featured on the album, with the additional six songs recorded for a later release.
“The Holographic Principle” enters the record as 2016 album by Epica. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Holographic, Principle and album can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“The Holographic Principle” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Holographic, Principle and album provides the most credible route into that argument.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q24262419. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2016, 2014 and 2015.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Holographic Principle”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Holographic Principle primary sources, The Holographic Principle archive and Holographic research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Holographic Principle”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The Holographic Principle” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.