You want your proof fine heres all your proof wwwmetalarchivescombandphpid httpwwwspiritofmetalcomgroupegroupeEpicalenhtml httpmusicbrainzorgartistbbdfebbbbahtml httpwwwmetalstormeebandsbandphpbandidbandnameEpica httpwwwthegauntletcombioEpicahtml Heck here they are listed as Prog Metal Not Gothic I wonder why could be that they are not Gothic  Five to four showing they are not Gothic metal and have never been Gothic metal