Ariën van Weesenbeek — born in the Netherlands in 1980 — has been Epica's drummer since 2007, and is also responsible for part of the band's guttural vocals. That double function is unusual and says much about how Epica works. The group builds its effect on the contrast between lyric soprano and guttural growl; having a second guttural vocalist besides Mark Jansen widens that device, allowing passages in which the low voices overlap or answer each other. Doing that while playing drums at the same time, in a repertoire of complex structures, is a considerable technical demand. As a drummer, his task is to hold up arrangements that include real orchestra and choir. That means playing against a sonic mass already occupying much of the spectrum, keeping speed and precision without burying the orchestral layers or vanishing beneath them — a problem that does not arise in conventional metal bands. He came from God Dethroned, the Dutch death metal band, and also belongs to MaYaN, Mark Jansen's side project. He has recorded from The Divine Conspiracy (2007) onwards.
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