Do you think Simone will leave Epica after their next album?

So as we all know, Simone is pregnant. Congrats to her once again. She's confirmed that she will be on the next album with Epica next year, but what about after that? Will Simone want to leave Epica and spend time with her new baby? This is just a hypothetical question by the way, to generate some discussion. So what do you all think? We must also keep in mind that Oliver is in Kamelot. Someone's going to have to compromise I'm afraid.

Another point is...Simone has now been in Epica for about eleven years. I believe she joined right after she turned 17...she's now been 28 for a few months! That's a long time, and she joined the band really young.

And to add to this, if Simone ever left, what do you think Mark would do? Find a new female vocalist, form a new band, what?

I've gone with maybe, I don't think anyone can say for certain except her! I imagine she'll give it a go and see what happens. She said in an interview that she'd been speaking with people like Tarja who told her that it's possible to go touring even though you have a baby. Maybe they'll work out some kind of arrangement like Sharon and Robert have.

I don't think Mark would form a new band if she left, since he already has MaYaN as his second band. I think he'd probably continue with a new singer or just go to MaYaN permanently.

Too many what ifs!