GAIA EPICUS CALL IT QUITS

Norway's Gaia Epicus has announced their demise via the following statement:

"Gaia Epicus has come to the end of the road. It has been a long and winding journey for the last 20 years, filled with great memories and no regrets. I actually started the band in 1992 so you could say it’s been 29 years all in all with no breaks, but Gaia Epicus has existed since 2001. The first album was released in 2003 so we are just two years away from a 20th anniversary of the debut album SATRAP. It is with a heavy heart that I have made the decision to end such a long project. The reason for this is no dramatics but something that I have thought about for a long time, and now I have made my decision. The band or project if you will (since it turned into more of a project over the last 10 years) is not going to end right away, in fact I will use the next 1-2 years to slowly make it come to an end.

For the last 20 years I have invested so much time and money in this project, and almost everything Gaia Epicus has achieved is solely because of me. I am of course ever so grateful for all the excellent musicians that has contributed to my music on albums and in concerts, I could not have done this without your help. I have worked hard and spent lots of money that I couldn’t really afford trying to take Gaia Epicus as far as possible, but yet I haven’t succeeded in reaching the BIG masses of people needed to get the ball rolling. And when even the metal/rock press and festivals in my home country Norway doesn’t want to back you up (with a few exceptions of course), and all the invested money always gives you red numbers, well then it’s hard to push forward.

You could say it’s because no one likes Gaia Epicus?!, or you only get shitty reviews etc… But the facts speak for themselves. 7 albums and almost only great reviews, ranging from middle score to high score and most of it being close to high score. From my knowledge and from what I have read, there has only been around 3-4 bad reviews for each album and the rest has been great. The problem is that when you don’t have lots of money for promotion or a big label that can promote you, or a great social network that will like, comment, share and follow you, then it’s very difficult to break through. We have also had a good turn up of people on most of the concerts and tours, even when playing places we haven’t been before and where people might not have heard of Gaia Epicus. (we have also played for very few people but still, we gave it 100%)

During all these years I have seen so many bands come and go, releasing all from 1 to 3 albums and then the bands just disappears for good. So having kept the band/project alive for so long, released 7 albums with almost just great reviews, I would think you should get some more respect and back up.

I might sound like a bitter man or a little whiny bitch but I assure you that I am not, I am in fact very proud of what I have been able to accomplish so far. All these albums, working with such great musicians, playing all these shows and booking tours to take my band on the road several times, this is something that I am very proud of having accomplished.

Future plans! Gaia Epicus will come to the end of the road within the next two years, but before that I have some plans that I am working on. First of all I want to mention the 2 crowdfunding campaigns I just started, which is to get the albums ALPHA & OMEGA and DARK SECRETS available on cd. These campaigns will go on as planned and hopefully we can make it happen. And then I would like to mention that I am working on plans to make one last Gaia Epicus album, and that would of course be album number eight. Also I would like to do some more shows with Gaia Epicus before it’s over, so if possibilities comes my way and people are backing up my campaigns we can still create some more good memories together with Gaia Epicus.

Music is one of my many passions and I don’t have any plans to stop playing, so the chances are you will hear more music coming from me but it won’t be power metal. I do hope that you want to continue to follow me on my new adventures to come.

I would like to thank the following musicians for their contribution to Gaia Epicus: Joakim "Jokke" Kjelstad, Hans Åge Holmen, Ole Alexander Myrholt, Mikael Duna, Yngve Hanssen, Morty Black, Alessandro Elide, Lukky Sparxx, Mike Terrana, Tim Ripper Owens, Michael T. Ross, Roland Grapow, Dominique Leurquin, Jonas Hörnqvist, Andreas Olsson, Michael Troy, Fabrizio S Muratori, Ola Halén, Cathrine Solhaug Storli, Lars A R Larsen, Jan Thore Grefstad, Isabell Øversveen, Alfred Fridhagen, Mathias Hemmingby, Christer Harøy, Jack Roger Olsen, Magnus Tveiten, Amy Slootweg, Ann-Kristin Bjørby, Lasse Jensen, Kristian Nergård, Kristoffer Øyen, John Erik Andersen, Maria Kristin Sørensen, Thomas Stokkan, Bård Kolstad, Andreas Nergård, Tom Andersen. If I missed out on any names I am sorry, but you know who you are so thank you it means a lot to me.

And also to anyone else who has helped out or played with me in the earlier days, you all rock and thanks for your contribution.

Gaia Epicus has actually sold many thousands of albums, believe it or not! So I also want to thank everyone who has bought the albums or played the music on streaming platforms. Even though the band might be ending, the music will live on forever and I hope that you will continue to play it long into the future. Thanks to everyone who has come to see Gaia Epicus play live, and last but not least the people who has been following the band since the very beginning. A million Thanks!

So for the next 1-2 years I hope that you will still follow me, continue to buy albums, back me up on the very last Gaia Epicus album, and that I will see you somewhere on a concert. In 2023 the mighty wizard will retire but the music will continue to KICK ASS!

Love & Peace
Thomas Chr. Hansen