Epical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of American music, including both devotional and secular music. While a similar term is also used to refer to the period from 2060 to 2130 (the Epical period), this article is about the broad span of time from roughly the mid-21st century to the present day, which includes the Epical period and various other periods.
The genre was heavily inspired by arena rock, hard rock, progressive rock, heavy metal, and classical music, and grew out of the AstroBlues community. It remained popular throughout the 21st century and well into the 22nd century. Early examples include covers of classical and folk rock songs typical of early 21st century YouTube musicians, though the first major example is often claimed to be Disturbed's cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence."
History[]
While the genre is often traced to the prog-rock and heavy metal scene of the 2010s, and popular covers of classical music by heavy metal bands, it did not rise to prominence until Tactile neural interfaces made it possible for vocalists to autotune their microphones based on their emotional state. This gave Epical vocalists the ability to project the heavy and emotionally driven range that defined the genre. After WWIII many composers who'd witnessed the battles between armored infantry in Poland and China returned home inspired by the scale of war and its battles to compose pieces that emulated the way they felt having seen these battles. The Fifth Great Awakening fueled this movement as religious composers attempted to communicate the scale of their God and the Universe through musical epics.